Left.
秋といへばさらでも物の悲しきに夕風立ちぬ高円の宮
| aki to ieba sarademo mono no kanashiki ni yūkaze tachinu takamato no miya |
Speaking of the autumn, Or even if we’re not, true Sadness is in The evening breeze At the palace of Takamato. |
377
Right.
物ごとに秋はあはれを分ねども猶限りなき夕間暮かな
| monogoto ni aki wa aware o wakanedomo nao kagirinaki yūmagure kana |
Everything About the autumn is moving Without exception, but Most of all, it is The early evening. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.
378
The Right complain that ‘there is no specific linking expression in the poem with the palace at Takamato’; while the Left criticise the Right’s poem for ‘mentioning “everything” at the beginning, but then simply concluding with “early evening”.’
Shunzei’s judgement: while it is true that there is no specific link with ‘the palace at Takamato’ in the Left’s poem, is it not the case that it is a location redolent with sadness? The Right’s poem recalls ‘Everything/Is sadness/In the scarlet leaves’, and thus does not need to say more than this. However, we need to consider the concluding section ‘early evening’ (yūmagure kana). Just like ‘the palace at Takamato’, it lacks connection. The round must tie.