sumiyoshi no kishikata no yo ni hikikaete hana saku matsu no mi tomo naraba ya
On Sumiyoshi’s Shore, for the coming world I would exchange— Waiting for blossom to bloom upon the pines— Myself, that’s what I long for…
Koretsuna 135
Right
たのみこしかみのしるしにうきよをもすみよしとだにおもひなりせば
tanomikoshi kami no shirushi ni ukiyo o mo sumiyoshi to dani omoinariseba
I have come to rely On a sign from the God, That this cruel world, too, Even become a pleasant place to dwell— Or so I have come to think…
Suesada 136
Both the Left and Right this round only appear skilled in their use of diction. The poem on blossom probably needs a little more work, I think, but they really are about the same.
Around the Ninth Month, when I had gone to stay at the palace for a certain reason, and I heard someone’s voice from the adjoining chamber, wrote this on the edge of my mat and had it left there.
うきよには嵐の風にさそはれてこしやまがはに袖もぬらしつ
ukiyo ni wa arashi no kaze ni sasowarete koshiyamagawa ni sode mo nurashitsu
In this world of sorrows The storming wind Has invited me, and Koshi Mountain’s torrents Have soaked my sleeves.
ukiyo oba mata nani ni ka wa nagusamen hana ni sakidatsu inochi to mogana
In this cruel world Is there yet anything else To console me? Before the blossoms’ departure I would my life do the same…
Court Lady Taifu 15
Right
桜さく春の山風みねこせば雪ふりつもる谷のほそみち
sakura saku haru no yamakaze mine koseba yuki furitsumoru tani no hosomichi
When in cherry-blooming Spring, the mountain breezes Cross the peaks Snow falls and piles high Upon the narrow valley paths.
Moromitsu 16
Both poems are smooth, and on that basis, I would say that the Right is superior, but it has an archaic element, while the Left lacks anything unusual about it, so this is a tie of quality.
