Round Seventeen

Cuckoos

Left (Tie)

さのみやは心あるべき時鳥ね覚の空に一声もがな

sanomi ya wa kokoro arubeki hototogisu nezame no sora ni hitogoe mogana

Not much of The heart can you know, O, cuckoo, but On waking from the sky I would hear a single call.

A Court Lady
33

Right

やはた山むかひの里の郭公しのびしかたの声もかはらず

yawatayama mukai no sato no hototogisu shinobishi kata no koe mo kawarazu

By Yawata Mountain, At the estate of Mukai, A cuckoo, Fondly remembers someone With a changeless song!

Lord Ietaka
34

The Left’s poem would seem to fail to reflect the essential meaning of the topic of cuckoos by having it not yet being heard, and thus its overall technique seems dreadful. The Right’s poem also lacks any superlative elements, they must tie.