Round Two

Left (Tie)

すみよしときこゆるさとにいとはずはおきどころなきみをやどさばや

sumiyoshi to kikoyuru sato ni itowazu wa okidokoro naki mi o yadosaba ya

A pleasant place to live is Sumiyoshi’s Estate, or so I’ve heard, but If it provide no comfort, then My restless Self might it attract…

Lord Kinshige
103

Right

すぎていにしあきにおくれてしもがるるきくやわがみのたぐひなるらむ

sugite inishi aki ni okurete shimogaruru kiku ya wa ga mi no tagui naruramu

Past and gone is Autumn, but lingering, Frost-burned Chrysanthemums—is my sorry self Just like them, I wonder?

Enjitsu
104

Neither the poem of the Left, nor of the Right, sound as if they have any particular faults. Nevertheless, in the case of such poems the assessment varies depending upon the speaker. While the poem of the Left is, indeed, pitiful, it also sounds a bit crude. It would be elegant, I think, if it were a woman’s poem. As for the Right’s poem, if we take it as an expression of grief over orphanhood, then in the final analysis it’s charming as it matches the conception of a scion of a noble house picturing himself as the monarch of the flowers. Then again, we do have the poem by the Enkyū Third Prince:

うゑおきしきみもなきよにとしへたる花は我が身のここちこそすれ

ueokishi kimi mo naki yo ni toshi hetaru hana wa wa ga mi no kokochi koso sure

You planted them here, My Lord, though gone from this world, These many years past— The flowers and my sorry self Both feel the same…[1]

This would seem to be in the same vein. Given that the speaker of both poems is unclear, for the moment, these tie.

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[1] Composed when viewing the blossom at the Enshūji and recalling former Emperor Gosanjō (KYS IX: 518).