kazu naranu mi koso omoeba ureshikere uki ni tsukete zo yo o mo itowamu
Not even numbered among folk Am I, thinking that Fills me with joy, but All the cruelties of this world Make me wish to leave it.
Asamune 141
Right
ながらへばかくてのみやははてむとてすぎにしかたはなぐさみもしき
nagaraeba kakute nomi ya wa hatemu tote suginishi kata wa nagusami mo shiki
Should I live on, then Being simply as I am Would I reach my end, I wonder? In days gone by I had some hope of consolation…
Kanetsuna 142
The sequencing of the Left’s ‘Am I, thinking that’ appears elegant. The Right, starting with ‘Would I reach my end, I wonder?’ sounds overly forceful, yet the conception of saying ‘in days gone by’ is still pleasant. Thus, once again, I make this a tie.
nezameshite uki yo o omoi awasureba madoromu yume ni kawarazarikeri
When I awake, with This cruel world my thoughts Occupying, The dream that filled my doze Differed not at all…
Hyōenokami 121
Right (Win)
すみのえのうきにおひたるしをれあしをなみひきたてよかみのめぐみに
suminoe no uki ni oitaru shiore’ashi o nami hikitateyo kami no megumi ni
In Suminoe’s Muddy waters grows, Languishing, a reed: O, waves, lift it upright! To receive the deity’s blessing…
Lord Michichika 122
The poem of the Left appears to have an elegant sequence, saying, ‘This cruel world my thoughts / Occupying’, but the speaker does not appear to be particularly thinking of themselves—they are simply reflecting on the transience of this world and that’s how it is. The poem of the Right begins with ‘In Suminoe’ and then has ‘Muddy waters grows’, linking the particular shore with the content. The Right should win.
