Left (Win).
とけて寢ぬ夢路も霜に結ぼゝれ先知る物は片敷きの袖
| tokete nenu yumeji mo shimo ni musubōre mazu shiru mono wa katashiki no sode |
Falling into sleep Even my dreams are with frost Filled, and First to know it are My lonely sleeves… |
461
Right.
秋の野の千草の色も枯れあへぬに露置きこむる夜半の初霜
| aki no no no chigusa no iro mo kare’aenu ni tsuyu okikomuru yowa no hatsujimo |
The autumn fields Myriad hues Cannot be completely covered When drenched with dew, First frost at midnight. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
462
The Right state that the Left’s poem is ‘difficult to understand completely’ [tashikani kokoroegatashi]. The Left find no fault with the Right’s poem.
Shunzei’s judgement: The Left’s ‘even my dreams are with frost’ (yumeji mo shimo ni) sounds pleasant [yoroshiku kikoehaberu]. The Right’s ‘drenched with dew’ (tsuyu okikomuru) is elegant in configuration [sugata wa yū ni kikoehaberu], but it is unclear: is it dew turned to frost being drenched by dew? The Left must win.