Left.
武蔵野に雉も妻やこもるらんけふの煙の下に鳴なり
| musashino ni kigisu mo tsuma mo ya komoruran kyō no kemuri no shita ni nakunari |
Upon Musashi Plain Is the cock pheasant’s hen, also, Concealed? For today from beneath The smoke come plaintive cries… |
81
Right (Win).
妻戀のきゞす鳴なり朝霞晴るればやがて草隱れつゝ
| tsuma koi no kigisu nakunari asa kasumi harureba yagate kusagakuretsutsu |
Longing for his hen The pheasant calls; When morning’s haze Has cleared, how swiftly He hides among the grass. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
82
The Right comment that the Left’s poem resembles Minamoto no Yorimasa’s poem:
霞をや煙と見えん武蔵野に妻もこもれる雉鳴くなり
| kasumi wo ya kemuri to mien musasino ni tuma mo komoreru kigisu nakunari |
The haze Does seem as smoke; On Musashino Plain With his hen hidden A pheasant calls. |
The Left snap back that as Yorimasa’s poem is not included in the imperial anthologies, they could not have seen it, and in any case, what sort of criticism is it to say that it ‘resembles Yorimasa’s poem?’ As for the Right’s poem, ‘do pheasants always hide in the grass come the morning?’
Shunzei comments that it is ‘a bit much’ to avoid Yorimasa’s poem altogether. Although he does then go on to say that ‘there’s no reason to strong arm in examples’ of poems not in the imperial anthologies. However, ‘what’s the point’ of associating ‘today’ (kyō) so strongly with ‘smoke’ (kemuri)? (It was supposed to be used only for particular days, such as the first day of spring.) In the Right’s poem ‘When morning’s haze/Has cleared, how swiftly’ (asa kasumi/harureba yagate) ‘has nothing needing criticism about it’, so the their poem is superior this round.