Left
こひしきにねざめてみをぞうきなみのよるぞかなしきそでのひつまで
| koishiki ni nezamete mi o zo ukinami no yoru zo kanashiki sode no hitsu made | Filled with love I do awake, but Waves of depression drift, Breaking the night with sadness Until my sleeves are drenched through… |
17
Right
うつつにもゆめにもみえずなりぬればさむるよなよなねをのみぞなく
| utsutsu ni mo yume ni mo miezu narinureba samuru yonayona ne o nomi zo naku | In both reality, and Dreams I see her not— When it comes to that, then On waking night after night Will I simply weep! |
18
Left
うちさめてこひしきひとをおもふよはわがたましひもゆきてつげなん
| uchisamete koishiki hito o omou yo wa wa ga tamashii mo yukite tsugenan | Awaking when My darling girl Filled my thoughts all night, Even my soul Has gone to let her know! |
15
Right
よはにおきてこひぞわびぬるはるのよはゆめにみえつるひとのなければ
| yowa ni okite koi zo wabinuru haru no yo wa yume ni mietsuru hito no nakereba | Arising at midnight, and Suffering love’s fire On a night in spring, For in my dreams I saw My girl, though she’s not here now… |
16
Left
いをしねばゆめにもひとをみるべきをよなよなさむるめこそつらけれ
| i o shi neba yume ni mo hito o mirubeki o yonayona samuru me koso tsurakere | When I’m deep in sleep Even in my dreams, too, her I can behold, but Waking, night after night, Is cruel to my eyes, indeed! |
9
Right
こひわびてこころまどへるねざめにはおもかげをだにあふとたのまむ
| koiwabite kokoro madoeru nezame ni wa omokage o dani au to tanomamu | Desolate with love, My heart just wanders lost; On waking, Even an image of you To meet is all I would ask. |
10
Left
ゆめにだにみるべきものをねざめつつこふるこころはゆくかたもなし
| yume ni dani mirubeki mono o nezametsutsu kouru kokoro wa yuku kata mo nashi | If even in my dreams I could but see her, but Always I awake, and My loving heart has Nowhere to go, at all… |
5
Right
あふことはゆめのうちにもうれしくてねざめののちぞわびしかりける
| au koto wa yume no uchi ni mo ureshikute nezame no nochi zo wabishikarikeru | A meeting In my dreams Brings me such joy, but After waking, truly, I am so sad and lonely. |
6
Composed on the conception of love at a famous location
とよ国の菊のながはま夢にだにまだみぬ人に恋ひやわたらん
| toyokuni no kiku no nagahama yume ni dani mada minu hito ni koi ya wataran | In the land of Toyo, in the western isle, Lies the long beach of Kiku, I hear— Even in my dreams Have I yet to see her, but Will my love for her go on and on? |
454
Left – Bellflower
ゆめのみもかよへどあらぬありきぢかうつつにいかでみるよしもがな
| yume nomi mo kayoedo aranu arikiji ka utsutsu ni ikade miru yoshi mogana | Simply in my dreams Do I go back and forth, yet have no Lover’s path to walk, so In the waking world, somehow, I wish I had a way to see her! |
21
This poem is an acrostic with ‘bellflower’ (kichikau) contained in arikiji ka utsutsu. Old Japanese was written without indicating voicing, so chi and ji would have been identical at the time.
Right – Missing
Round Eleven
Left
ねざめしてうきよをおもひあはすればまどろむゆめにかはらざりけり
| 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.
Round Three
Left
まきのやのしぐれのおとにゆめさめてみやここひしきねにぞぬれぬる
| maki no ya no shigure no oto ni yume samete miyako koishiki ne ni zo nurenuru | Beneath a roof of cypress boards The sound of showers Wakes me from my dreams, and Longing for the capital I drench myself with weeping. |
Chūnagon
55
Right (Win)
たびねするのぢのしばやにおとづれてすぐるはよはのしぐれなりけり
| tabinesuru noji no shibaya ni otozurete suguru wa yowa no shigure narikeri | Sleeping on my travels Cross the plains in a brushwood hut A sound comes calling, Passing by at midnight— A shower. |
Sokaku
56
The style of the Left’s poem is elegant but, in addition to feeling that there may well be cypress roofs in places other than the capital, the final line is insufficient, I think. The Right’s poem has nothing remarkable about it, but it sounds pleasant. I make it the winner.
