Left
秋のせみさむき声にぞきこゆなる木のはの衣を風やぬぎつる
aki no semi samuki koe ni zo kikoyunaru ko no ha no kinu o kaze ya nugitsuru In the autumn, the cicadas’
112[1]
Right
あきの夜の月の影こそ木の間よりおちてはきぬとみえわたりけれ
aki no yo no tsuki no kage koso ko no ma yori ochite wa kinu to miewatarikere On an autumn nightDoes come a’falling Everywhere, it seems.
113
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 109/Fubokushō XIII: 5422
Left
秋のよのあまてる月の光にはおく白露を玉とこそ見れ
aki no yo no ama teru tsuki no hikari ni wa oku shiratsuyu o tama to koso mire On an autumn night
98[1]
Right
あきののにおける露をばひとりぬる我が涙とも思ひしれかし
aki no no ni okeru tsuyu oba hitori nuru wa ga namida to mo omoishire kashi Upon the autumn fields
99
[1] Shinchokusenshū V: 281/Shinsen man’yōshū 95
Left
あき風にほころびぬらむ藤ばかまつづりさせてふきりぎりす鳴く
akikaze ni hokorobinuramu fujibakama tsuzurisase chō kirigirisu naku The autumn wind
Ariwara no Muneyana
Right
秋の夜のあめときこえて降りつるは風に散りつる紅葉なりけり
aki no yo no ame to kikoete furitsuru wa kaze ni chiritsuru momiji narikeri On an autumn night
95
風寒みはだれ霜降る秋の夜は山下とよみ鹿ぞ鳴くなる
kaze samumi
How chill the wind
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
This poem is also included in the Horikawa Hyakushū .
Left.
古の人を聞くにも秋の夜の窓打つ雨はさびしかりけり
inishie no
Long ago
Lord Kanemune .
367
Right.
軒近き松の風だにある物を窓打ち添ふる秋の村雨
noki chikaki
Close by my eaves,
Ietaka .
368
The Right complain, ‘In the Left’s poem, the poet seems to hear of the appearance of “long ago ladies”, but what is it that he hears – one would usually expect more, would one not?’ The Left have no criticisms of the Right’s poem.
Shunzei broadly agrees: ‘The Left’s poem, in saying “ladies, I hear” would certainly seem to be recollecting the concubines at the court of Xuanzong , but I wonder if this is clearly enough expressed in the poem? The Right’s final section “The window, beaten by Autumn showers” (mado uchisouru aki no murasame) sounds particularly fine. Thus, the Right wins.’
'Simply moving and elegant'