Composed when at a stone hermitage at Ōmine practicing his devotions.
草のいほなに露けしと思ひけむもらぬいはやも袖はぬれけり
| kusa no iFo nani tuyukesi to omoFikemu moranu iFaya mo sode Fa nurekeri | A hut of straw Is dew-drenched You might think, but though Nothing drips into my hut of stone My sleeves are soaked, indeed! |
Archbishop Gyōson
Left.
思ひこそ千島の奥を隔てねどえぞ通はさぬ壺の碑
| omoi koso chishima no oku o hedatenedo ezo kayowasanu tsubo no ishibumi |
My love Has not the Thousand Islands Barring it, yet The barbarians cannot pass The Stone at Tsubo – nor can I write to you! |
Kenshō
871
Right (Win).
思ひやる心幾重の峰越えて信夫の奧を尋ね入るらん
| omoiyaru kokoro ikue no mine koete shinobu no oku o tazuneiruran |
Dwelling on you, My heart numberless Peaks will cross To the depths of Shinobu, Perhaps to visit someone hidden there? |
Ietaka
872
As the previous round.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘Thousand Islands’ (chishima) is a familiar expression from the past, but I do not recall it being used in poetry. I am familiar with the Right’s ‘depths of Shinobu’ (shinobu no oku), so that is better. Again, the Right wins.