The Beginning of Summer
Left
ふるさとはこだかけれどもきみならぬほととぎすにもうとまれにけり
| furusato wa kodakakeredomo kimi naranu hototogisu ni mo utomarenikeri | Around this ancient estate The trees grow high, yet Not by you alone, By the cuckoo, too Am I despised. |
Tadamine
7
Right (Win)
やまがつのかきほにさけるうのはなはたがしろたへのころもかけしぞ
| yamagatsu no kakiho ni sakeru u no hana wa ta ga shirotae no koromo kakeshi zo | Along the mountain man’s Lattice fence bloom Deutzia: Whose white mulberry Robes are hung there? |
Mitsune
8
Left (Tie).
をのづからなさけぞみゆる荒手組む賤がそともの夕顔の花
| onozukara nasake zo miyuru arate kumu shizu ga soto mo no yūgao no hana |
How natural To be moved: Twined roughly round the fence Outside a peasant’s hut, Moonflower blooms… |
273
Right (Tie).
山賤の契のほどや忍ぶらん夜をのみ待つ夕顔の花
| yamagatsu no chigiri no hodo ya shinoburan yoru o nomi matsu yūgao no hana |
Is it with the mountain man Her time is pledged So secretly? For the night alone, awaiting, The moonflower bloom. |
274
The Right state, ‘it is normal diction to say ‘roughly’ (arate) ‘hang’ (kaku). Is it possible to also use ‘twine’ (kumu)?’ In response from the Left, ‘Yes, one can.’ The Left have no criticisms to make of the Right’s poem.
Shunzei states, ‘Both poems are equally lacking in faults or merits. Whether one uses “roughly” twining or hanging, neither is particularly superlative, I think. “Her time is pledged” (chigiri no hodo ya) seems somehow lacking , too. This round must tie.’
Left.
これやこの人めも知らぬ山賤にさしのみ向かふ夕顔の花
| kore ya kono hitome mo shiranu yamagatsu ni sashi nomi mukau yūgao no hana |
Here Hidden from all eyes, To the mountain man Alone, she turns This moonflower bloom |
267
Right (Win).
賤の男が片岡しめて住む宿をもてなす物は夕顔の花
| shizu no o ga kataoka shimete sumu yado o motenasu mono wa yūgao no hana |
The peasant Hemmed in by hills around His house, Garlands it with Moonflower blooms. |
268
The Right grumble that ‘alone, she turns’ (sashi nomi mukau) is ‘grating on the ear’, while the Left wonder if ‘gardlands’ (motenasu) is appropriate (it’s not standard in the lexicon of poetry).
Shunzei simply says, ‘Both poems are equally lacking in faults or merits, but yet I feel the Right should win.’