Left.
あさましや何と恨みの添ひぬらん恋ばかりをも歎べき身に
| asamashi ya nani to urami no soinuran koi bakari o mo nagekubeki mi ni |
How unexpected! Why does my despite Increase? Love is the only thing Which should cause me grief… |
Lord Suetsune
759
Right.
思きや逢人も無き恋路より深き恨みに下り立たむとは
| omoiki ya au hito mo naki koiji yori fukaki urami ni oritatamu to wa |
I would not have thought That with no one to meet Upon the paths of love Into the depths of despite I would step down… |
The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office
760
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks thought, and is pedestrian. The Left state: where is it that the poet is ‘stepping down’ to?
In judgement: the initial sections of both Left and Right, ‘How unexpected!’ (asamashi ya) and ‘I would not have thought’ (omoiki ya) fail to link clearly with the sense at the end of the poems, but the Left’s sense is particularly immature. The Right’s ‘stepping down’ is doubtless a reference to the water’s edge. Thus, the Right wins.