Summer II: 2

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…

Lord Kanemune.

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?

Jakuren.

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.’

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