Left (Tie)
うち頼む人のけしきの秋風に心の底の萱が下折れ
| uchitanomu hito no keshiki no akikaze ni kokoro no soko no kaya ga shitaore |
I did rely on Him, but now in his look, is The autumn wind; in The depths of my heart are Broken, drooping fronds of silver grass… |
Lord Ari’ie
1025
Right
あさましやなどか思のさしも草露も置きあへずはては燃ゆらん
| asamashi ya nado ka omoi no sashimogusa tsuyu mo okiaezu hate wa moyuran |
How strange it is! Why is it that my love’s fires, like Moxa, Not completely covered by the dew Will at the end burst into flame once more? |
Jakuren
1026
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to indicate. The Left state: in the Later Collection of Gleanings there is a poem about Ibuki, which uses ‘burst into flame’ (moyu). We wonder about the suitability of using ‘burst into flame’ without also using Ibuki. The Right, in response: older poems used ‘burst entirely into flame’ (sashimoyu), and this composition is the same.
In judgement: I am not accustomed to hearing ‘the depths of my heart are silver grass’ (kokoro no soko no kaya) as in the Left’s poem. The image in the Right’s poem of moxa not completely covered with dew bursting into flame seems rather overblown. The strengths and weaknesses of the two poems are unclear, so the round should tie.