Mist
Left (Tie)
うすしともみゆるものからさほやまのみねのあきぎりあきたちにけり
| usushi to mo miyuru mono kara saoyama no mine no akigiri aki tachinikeri | Faint Does it appear, so with Mount Sao’s Peak in autumn mists Autumn has come! |
Taira no Tōmi
13
Right
あさぎりはたつともみえずいとどしきをぐらのやまのふもととおもへば
| asagiri wa tatsu mo miezu itodoshiki ogura no yama no fumoto to omoeba | The morning mists Arise, and hidden Even more are Gloomy Mount Ogura’s Foothills… |
Taira no Sanenao
14
Round Six
Left (Win)
山姫はもみぢのにしきおりてけりたちなやつしそ嶺の朝霧
| yamahime wa momiji no nishiki oritekeri tachi na yatsushi so mine no asagiri | The mountain’s princess, Of scarlet leaves brocade Has woven; In your rising don’t despoil it, O, morning mists upon the peak! |
Lord Kinshige
83
Right
しぐれには紅葉の色ぞまさりける又かきくもる空はいとはじ
| shigure ni wa momiji no iro zo masarikeri mata kakikumoru sora wa itowaji | A shower makes The scarlet leaves’ hues Most fine; So, the swiftly clouding Sky I could not dislike. |
Lord Masahira
84
The Right sounds as if the poet has just come to the revelation that, even though a showery sky is charming, can one possibly dislike it, given that it improves the hues of the scarlet leaves. The Left isn’t bad, but it does have two identical sounds ending lines, and this has been called the same-sounding rhyme fault, I believe. With that being said, in the Tentoku Poetry Match, there were some poems with this feature which were criticized, and some which were not, so I wonder if this is not something to particularly worry about. In this poem it doesn’t sound like a defect and, taking this together with the fact that the Right’s poem is poor, the Left should win.
Left
みにそへてもたらぬ秋ををしむとてくれん事こそわびしかりけれ
| mi ni soete motaranu aki o oshimu tote kuren koto koso wabishikarikere | It mounts up, Unreliable, autumn Fills me with regret, and That it fades into dusk, indeed, Is truly sad. |
39
Right
もみぢつつしぐれふりいでてゆく秋をみねの朝霧たちもとめなん
| momijitsutsu shigure furi’idete yuku aki o mine no asagiri tachi mo tomenan | Ever marked with autumn hues The showers fall on Autumn as it goes; The morning mist around the peak Arises, then lingers on. |
40
Left
あさぎりとのべにむれたるをみなへしあきをすぐさずいひもとめなん
| asagiri to nobe ni muretaru ominaeshi aki o sugusazu ii mo tomenan | Amid the morning mists Upon the meadow clusters A maidenflower I’ll not let autumn pass by Without a word to hold her here. |
9
Right
あきかぜのふきそめしよりをみなへしいろふかくのみみゆるのべかな
| akikaze no fukisomeshi yori ominaeshi iro fukaku nomi miyuru nobe kana | Since the autumn wind First began to blow, The maidenflowers’ Hues have simply deepened, Glimpsed upon the meadows! |
10
あさぎりにかたまどはしてなくかりのこゑぞたえせぬ秋の山べは
| asagiri ni kata madowashite naku kari no koe zo taesenu aki no yamabe wa | In the morning mists Having lost their way, Crying, the geese Call out ceaselessly From the autumn mountain meadows. |
27
山ざとはあきこそことにかなしけれしかのなくねにめをさましつつ[1]
| yamazato wa aki koso koto ni kanashikere shika no naku ne ni me o samashitsutsu | In a mountain retreat The autumn, especially, Is lonely. The belling of the stags Continually awakens me. |
28
[1] This poem also occurs in Kokinshū (IV: 214), where it is attributed to [Mibu no] Tadamine.
はまちどりあきとしなればあさぎりにかたまどはしてなかぬ日ぞなき
| hamachidori aki to shinareba asagiri ni kata madowashite nakanu hi zo naki | The plovers on the beach: When the autumn comes, In the morning mists Do lose their way; No day dawns without their cries… |
3
あきくればみやまざとこそわびしけれよるはほたるをともしびにして[1]
| aki kureba miyamazato koso wabishikere yoru wa hotaru o tomoshibi ni shite | When the autumn comes My hut deep in the mountains Is lonelier by far; At night with fireflies For my lantern. |
4
[1] This poem also appears as Fubokushō 5545 where is it is listed as by Ōe no Chisato
Left (Tie)
東路や萱津の原の朝霧に起き別るらん袖はものかは
| azumaji ya kayatsu no hara no asagiri ni okiwakaruran sode wa mono ka wa | On the eastern roads, Upon the field of Kayatsu With the morning mists Does he rise and part, but Are his sleeves as mine? |
Lord Ari’ie
1161
Right
さまざまにうつる心も鏡山影見ぬ人を恋ふるものかは
| samazama ni utsuru kokoro mo kagamiyama kage minu hito o kouru mono ka wa | Many Hearts does she attract upon Mirror Mount, But with one whose face remains unseen Would I fall in love? |
Lord Takanobu
1162
The Right state: the Left’s poem is fine. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to mention.
In judgement: both poems are certainly by men entranced by thoughts of player-girls. The configuration and diction of ‘are his sleeves as mine?’ (sode wa mono ka wa) and ‘would I fall in love?’ (kouru mono ka wa) are both not unpleasant. Thus, I make this a tie.