From the poetry contest in 1500 rounds.
見ぬ人をまつの木かげの苔むしろ猶敷島ややまとなでしこ
| minu hito o matsu no kokage no kokemushiro nao shikishima ya yamato nadeshiko | For a man unseen She pines in the shadow of the trees On a mossy bed for Her coverlet, the isles that make Yamato – a pink! |
Kūnaikyō, in service to Former Emperor Gotoba
Left (Win)
大和路や軽の市女に言問はん逢につらさをいかがかふべき
| yamatoji ya karu no ichime ni koto towan au ni tsurasa o ikaga kaubeki | On the road to Yamato, At Karu, of a merchant-girl I do enquire: For a meeting, this pain How can I trade? |
Lord Suetsune
1193
Right
立ちくらす市女もさこそ歎くらめ心をかへて思ひ知るかな
| tachikurasu ichime mo sakoso nagekurame kokoro o kaete omoishiru kana | All day long The merchant-girl does also Seem to grieve; Trade your heart for hers and You will know it, too! |
Lord Tsune’ie
1194
Left and Right state: ‘merchant-girl’ (ichime) is undesirable.
In judgement: both poems refer to a ‘merchant-girl’, and although there does not seem to be a great deal of stylistic difference between them, the Right’s ‘the merchant-girl does also seem to grieve’ (ichime mo sakoso nagekurame) does not make it make it clear what she is grieving about. While the Left’s ‘at Karu, of a merchant-girl’ (karu no ichime) is overblown, ‘for a meeting, this pain’ (au ni tsurasa) makes this clear. The Left should win.
A poem Yamanoe no Okura composed when in China, and thinking of home.
去来子等 早日本邊 大伴乃 御津乃濱松 待戀奴良武
いざ子ども早く大和へ大伴の御津の濱松待ち戀ひぬらむ
| iza kodomo payaku yamato pe opotomo no mitu no pama matu matikopinuramu | Hey, now, everyone! Let’s haste back to Yamato! In Ōtomo Upon the beach at Mitsu, the pines Must long for our return… |