Left (Win).
干しかねし袂ははやく朽はてゝ戀ぞ涙にあらはれにける
| hoshikaneshi tamoto wa hayaku kuchihatete koi zo namida ni arawarenikeru |
Unable to dry My sleeves have already Rotted away; Love, with tears Is revealed. |
723
Right.
忍びこし思を今は忘れられん外の人目と嘆くばかりぞ
| shinobikoshi omoi o ima wa wasuraren yoso no hitome to nagekubakari zo |
My hidden Love is known, now, but When I am forgotten Others’ gazes will Only cause me grief. |
724
The Right state that the Left’s poem sounds ‘very hackneyed’ [ito, furumekashi], while the Left complain that they cannot hear the link between ‘when I am forgotten’ (wasuraren) and the subsequent material [tsuzukite mo kikoezu].
Shunzei’s judgement: While the Left’s poem may sound hackneyed, there is not a previous example which it resembles closely [sashite sono uta to wa kikoezu]. At the same time, it is extremely tasteful in form [utazama wa yū narubeshi]. Thus, the Left wins.