Round Twenty-Two

Left

いなむしろしきつのうらのまつかぜはもりくるをりぞしぐれともしる

inamushiro shikitsu no ura no matsukaze wa morikuru ori zo shigure to mo shiru

A straw mat spread At Shikitsu Bay, where when On the wind through the pines Come dripping droplets I know a shower is falling!

Lord Kiyosuke
93

Right (Win)

おほぞらもみやこのかたをしのぶらしこよひはことにうちしぐれつつ

ōzora mo miyako no kata o shinoburashi koyoi wa koto ni uchishiguretsutsu

The heavens, too, Of the capital Think fondly, it seems, For tonight is especially Filled with constant showers…

Lord Sanetsuna
94

The poem of the Left appears to have a pleasant conception, blending showers with the wind through the pines and saying, ‘Come dripping droplets / I know a shower is falling!’, but it appears that the straw mat has only been spread because of the reference to Shikitsu [spreading] Bay. Considering the actual nature of a straw mat, however, I do not feel that the sense links with Shikitsu Bay, although it would be charming if sleeping on a journey in the shade of the willows beside a river, or even in a hut among the rice-fields. I do not feel it is appropriate to spread a straw mat beneath the pines at Sumiyoshi. In addition, it is only the straw mat here which has the conception of a journey—how should one feel about that? The configuration of the Right’s poem, beginning with ‘The heavens, too’ and following with ‘Of the capital / Think fondly, it seems’, I would say is a poem for a poetry match. While a counter-argument has been made about the Left’s poem, it’s really asking for the impossible, isn’t it. So, I impose victory for the Right.