Left (Tie).
生けらばと誓ふその日も猶來ずはあたりの雲を我と眺めよ
| ikeraba to chikau sono hi mo nao kozu wa atari no kumo o ware to nagameyo |
Had I lived…think on That day you vowed, and Yet came not; On the clouds close by Gaze and think of me… |
679
Right.
言の葉にしばしもとまる露の命かけんかけじは君にまかせつ
| koto no ha ni shibashi mo tomaru tsuyu no inochi kaken kakeji wa kimi ni makasetsu |
Words that Remain so briefly – A dewdrop life – To give them, or give them not, That I leave to you! |
680
The Gentlemen of the Right state: there is nothing particularly at fault with the Left’s poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem is not that good.
Shunzei’s judgement: mentioning ‘the clouds close by’ (atari no kumo) and ‘remain so briefly –as does life’ (shibashi mo tomaru inochi) gives both poems a sense of pathos. I would say they are of the same quality.