Left (Tie).

立ちわたる霞ばかりはほのかにてそことも見えずあけぐれの空

tachiwataru kasumi bakari wa honokanite soko tomo miezu akegure no sora

The drifting, Misty haze Blurs all; Nowhere can I see The softly lightening sky.

Lord Suetsune.

109

Right (Tie).

霞もや明けゆく空をおしむらん心ぼそげに立ちわたるかな

kasumi mo ya akeyuku sora o oshimuran kokorobosogeni tachiwataru kana

Does the haze, too, The lightening sky Regret? In sad solitude Does it cover all.

Lord Tsune’ie.

110

The Right team state that, ‘the expression ‘softly lightening’ (akegure) gives the impression that the scene is rather earlier than dawn,’ to which the Left snap back that ‘sad solitude’ (kokorobosogeni) is ‘puerile.’

Shunzei’s judgement is, ‘The comments by both teams are apt. The poems seem of equivalent quality.’