Round Twenty-Three

Left (Win)

つのくにのなにはのこともあしのねのこのよはかくてかれはてねとや

tsu no kuni no naniwa no koto mo ashi no ne no kono yo wa kakute karehatene to ya

In the land of Tsu At Naniwa, all things Are ill, as the reeds roots, In this world have I thus Withered all away?

Chūnagon
145

Right

いかでなほまどふうきよをそむきなばまことのみちをふみもたがへじ

ikade nao madou ukiyo o somukinaba makoto no michi o fumi mo tagaeji

Should, somehow, yet This confusing cruel world I depart, then On the path of truth Would I make no mistaken steps.

Sokaku
146

These poems of the Left and Right both appear to have extremely moving conceptions, but with that being said, the poem of the Left, beginning with ‘At Naniwa, all things / Are ill, as the reeds roots’ and following this with ‘In this world have I thus / Withered all away?’ has a configuration and conception that makes me feel the waves of Naniwa Bay upon my sleeves. Thus, the Left wins.