Left (Tie).
秋田守る賤が庵に宿からんさても此世は過ぬべき身ぞ
| akita moru shizu ga iori ni yado karan satemo kono yo wa suginubeki mi zo |
The autumn paddies warding, A peasant’s hut – there Will I find lodging; And thus, within this world Will I be able to spend my time! |
391
Right (Tie).
深からぬ山田の庵も秋はなを心のはては見つべかりけり
| fukakaranu yamada no io mo aki wa nao kokoro no hate wa mitsubekarikeri |
Not deep at all within The mountain paddies is this hut, yet Autumn, still, My heart, to the brim, Does fill… |
392
The Right complain that the Left’s poem ‘appears to be expressing somewhat outré sentiments’. The Left state on the other hand that the Right’s poem is ‘not bad’.
Shunzei’s judgement: the type of emotional import expressed in the Left’s poem is superlative. In The Tales of Ise, after all, there is the section on ‘gathering fallen ears of rice’ – most charming! To say that this is outré suggests a deficiency of understanding. The Right’s poem, too, conveys an emotional message. I must wonder about the use of ‘Not deep at all within’ (fukakaranu), but still, the round should tie.