Left (Tie).
吉野山花の故郷跡たえてむなしき枝に春風ぞ吹く
| yoshino yama hana no furusato ato taete munashiki eda ni haru kaze zo fuku |
Upon Mount Yoshino – The home of blossom – Footprints fade away; Now purposeless, the branches, Shudder in the winds of spring. |
179
Right (Tie).
山の端ににほひし花の雲消えて春の日數は有明の月
| yama no ha ni nioishi hana no kumo kiete haru no hikazu wa ariake no tsuki |
Along the mountains’ edge The glow of blossom Clouds has faded; The numbered days of Spring, Revealed by the dawntime moon. |
180
Both teams proclaim themselves moved by the other’s poem.
Shunzei, however, has this to say. ‘The Left’s poem contains “purposeless, the branches, shudder in the winds of spring” (munashiki eda ni harukaze zo fuku), and despite the fact that poems on Mount Yoshino have a somewhat old-fashioned air, and that one might wonder on which peaks it is such clouds of blossom remain, even these moss-covered sleeves have become thoroughly soaked with tears at the thought that the Way of poetry has not reached its end; the Right’s poem has “The numbered days of Spring, revealed by the dawntime moon” (haru no hikazu wa ariake no tsuki), and this has moved even this old heart to thoughts of such a dawning sky, so it is impossible to distinguish between the two in quality. Of old, Spring poems had style, indeed, and to think that such form and spirit still combine to torment the soul is something for which I am thoroughly grateful. Truly, these moss-covered sleeves have been drenched by both Left and Right!’