Left (Win).
聞わたる契りも深き縁あらば末も絶せじ中河の水
| kikiwataru chigiri mo fukaki enishi araba sue mo taeseji nakagawa no mizu |
Word reaches me Of a bond whose depth Reaches the life before – should it be so Then it will endure to the very end, As do the waters of the Naka River! |
627
Right.
見るめなき磯間隱れに寄る浪の音ばかりにも袖濡らせとや
| mirume naki isoma gakure ni yoru nami no oto bakari ni mo sode nurase to ya |
No algae grows Hidden on this rocky shore Where the breakers fall; Is it their sound alone That tells me to soak my sleeves? |
628
The Gentlemen of both Left and Right state: the other team’s poem lacks thought.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both are most poetic examples of examples of verses using the imagery of waves and waters, and there appears to be very little pointless space between them, but rather than being told to ‘soak one’s sleeves’ with no sight of the lady, the ‘deep bond’ of the ‘waters of the Naka River’ seems superior.