Left.
宿ごとに影を映せば七夕の逢ふ瀬は繁し天河波
| yado goto ni kage o utsuseba tanabata no au se wa shigeshi ama no kawanami |
When in every house Light shines, The lovers’ Meet within the waters, numberless as The waves on the River of Heaven. |
313
Right.
誰もみな今日七夕を奠りつゝ祈る心は空に知るらん
| tare mo mina kyō tanabata o maturitsutsu inoru kokoro wa sora ni shiruran |
Everyone, without exception, Today, the lovers’ meeting Celebrates; Are all the secret prayers of all those hearts, Heard within the heavens? |
314
The Right state that the Left’s poem, ‘lacks a spirit of celebration. In addition, we are unable to grasp the point of “meet within the waters, numberless” (au se wa shigeshi).’ The Left merely say that the Right’s poem has a ‘striking spirit of celebration.’
Shunzei, however, states, ‘In his Tanabata poems, Okikaze said “once in a single year” (toshi ni hitotabi), and Mitsune “the numbers of nights sleeping” (nuru yo no kazu zo) – in the current poem of the Left, “meet within the waters, numberless”, seems to resemble these in conception. Furthermore, does one not get a sense of celebration from “light shines” (kage o utsuseba)? Does the Right’s poem evoke the relationship? It has been called incomprehensible, but the Left’s poem should win!’