Left.
幾夜とも宿は答へず門田吹稲葉の風の秋の音づれ
| ikuyo tomo yado wa kotaezu kadotafuku inaba no kaze no aki no otozure |
How many nights it’s been? My home gives no reply; Blowing ‘cross the field before my gates, The wind among the rice stalks Brings autumn calling… |
393
Right (Win).
わきてなど庵もる袖のしほるらん稲葉にかぎる秋の風かは
| wakite nado io moru sode no shioruran inaba ni kagiru aki no kaze ka wa |
Apart, and yet Sleeves within the watchman’s hut Are drenched; Among none other than the rice-stalks Is the autumn wind? |
394
The Right state that the Left’s ‘Blowing ‘cross the field before my gates’ (kadota fuku) is grating on the ear. In addition, ‘should one really expect an answer from a house?’ The Left simply say that they find the Right’s poem ‘good’.
Shunzei’s judgement: The Gentlemen of the Right have correctly identified two faults with the Left’s poem. The Right’s poem, on the other hand, in both diction and sentiment, is extremely charming, and the final section, in particular is most profound in form. I must make it the winner.