Left (Tie).
脱ぎ代へし蝉の羽衣あつきまでいかになりゆく夏の日數ぞ
nugikaeshi semi no hagoromo atsuki made ikani nariyuku natsu no hikazu zo |
Stripped off to change, A cicada-silk robe, yet Why, this heavy hotness Do I feel? As the summer days go on… |
243
Right (Tie).
橘のにほひも深し夏衣花ゆへたれかいとひそめけん
tachibana no nioi mo fukashi natsugoromo hana yue tare ka itoisomeken |
Orange blossom Scent lies thick Upon my summer garb; For the cherry blossom’s sake Should I begin to hate it? |
244
The Right state they find themselves ‘unable to agree’ with the Left’s ‘Why, this heavy heat do I feel?’ (atsuki made ikani nariyuku), while the Left remark that ‘it is perhaps too similar to introduce a poem with “orange blossom” (tachibana) and conclude it with “cherry blossom” (hana).’
Shunzei simply asks, ‘Can the Left’s “do I feel” really be disagreeble? The Right’s “For the cherry blossom’s sake should I begin to hate it?” (hana yue tare ka itoisomeken) recollects the poem on “regret on changing clothes” by Minamoto no Shigeyuki, does it not? Furthermore, it is not implying that summer garb is necessarily fragranced by orange blossom. I question, though,the Left’s use of “heat”. The round should, therefore, tie.’