Round One
Haze[i]
Left
くらはしのやまのかひより春がすみとしをつみてやたちわたるらん
| kurahashi no yama no kai yori harugasumi toshi o tsumite ya tachiwataruran | From Kurahashi Mountain’s passes Does the haze of spring Store up the new year as It rises all around, I wonder? |
Asatada
1[ii]
Right
ふるさとは春めきにけりみよし野のみかきのはらをかすみこめたり
| furusato wa harumekinikeri miyoshino no mikaki no hara o kasumi kometari | Around the capital of old Spring is all about. In fair Yoshino Mikaki plain is All covered o’er with haze. |
Kanemori
2[iii]
When both Left and Right had recited their poems, His Majesty spoke to this minor official, saying, ‘You should determine their merits and failings.’ I demurred, saying, ‘My understanding of the thirty-one syllables of waka is not such as to enable me to do this. I humbly request that Your Majesty decides.’ His Majesty, responded, ‘Should you not do this, it will spoil today’s events, and store up resentment. Make your determinations swiftly.’ In the face of His Majesty’s displeasure, I presented my own clumsy opinions.
In the Left’s poem, it is pleasant to describe Mount Kurahashi [Storehouse-bridge] as storing up the new year. In addition, it is certainly the case that crossing a bridge is what one does. The poem’s overall manner is also appropriate. As for the Right’s poem, the reference to being covered with haze seems a bit late, leaving one to wonder why the capital is springlike.
This round, my decision reflected His Majesty’s views. Observing the expressions of the imperial mien, I swiftly declared the Left the winner.
[i] Kasumi 霞
[ii] This poem was included in the third edition of Kin’yōshū (I: 3), although not in either of the earlier two versions. It is also in Shinsen rōeishū (I: 69).