Round Nine

Left (Tie)

秋はぎを草の枕にむすびてや妻恋ひかねて鹿のふすらん

akihagi o kusa no makura ni musubite ya tsuma koikanete shika no fusuran

The autumn bush clover For a grassy pillow Has he woven—is that why Unable to love his mate The stag seems to lie?

Koreyuki
41

Right

妻こふる秋にしなればさをしかの床の山とてうちもふされじ

tsuma kouru aki ni shi nareba saoshika no toko no yama tote uchi mo fusareji

He yearns for his mate In autumn, above all, so In the stag’s Bed among the mountains He cannot lay him down, it seems.

Arifusa
42

The Left isn’t bad, but isn’t there Controller Kore’ie’s poem:

秋萩を草の枕にむすぶ夜はちかくもしかのこゑをきくかな

akihagi o kusa no makura ni musubu yo wa chikaku mo shika no koe o kiku kana

The autumn bush clover For a grassy pillow I weave tonight— Close by, truly, a stag’s Bell I hear! [1]

While there is this earlier example, neither core nor the conceptions of these poems are the same, and as the Right’s poem is not all that good, after careful consideration I make this a tie.

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[1] On hearing a stag at his lodgings. KYS (3) III: 224