Round Twelve
Left (Win)
ほのかにてあるかなきかにすぐるみやなみまにまがふあまのいさりび
| honoka nite aru ka naki ka ni suguru mi ya namima ni magau ama no isaribi | Faintly, Uncertain if I’m here or not Do I pass through? Entangled between the waves, A fisherman’s torch. |
Lord Suetsune
123
Right
すみよしのなをたのみこししるしありてかへるみやこにおもひいでもがな
| sumiyoshi no na o tanomikoshi shirushi arite kaeru miyako ni omoi’ide mogana | In Sumiyoshi’s Name did I place my trust— Had it some effect then On returning to the capital Happy memories, I would have! |
Takanobu
124
The Left appears to have pleasant configuration and diction, saying ‘Entangled between the waves, / A fisherman’s torch’. Using ‘faintly’ and then concluding with ‘fisherman’s torch’ is extremely charming, but I do wonder about describing a person’s passage through the world as ‘faint’. The Right sounds elegant in style, but saying, ‘On returning to the capital / Happy memories, I would have!’ could be saying that the memories are of the return to the capital itself, and I don’t feel this matches with the initial part of the poem. In addition, is the conception of wanting the deity’s aid for the return? This sounds rather capricious. The Left has a pleasant configuration, and thus it should win.
Round Twenty-Five
Left
うちしぐれものさびしかるあしのやのこやのねざめにみやここひしも
| uchishigure mono sabishikaru ashi no ya no koya no nezame ni miyako koishi mo | A slight shower is All the more lonely In a reed-roofed Hut in Koya, starting awake and Longing for the capital more… |
Lord Sanesada
99
Right
あはれにもよはにすぐなるしぐれかななれもやたびのそらにいでつる
| aware ni mo yowa ni sugu naru shigure kana nare mo ya tabi no sora ni idetsuru | How sad is At midnight a passing Shower! Have you, too, on a journey Into the skies departed? |
Lord Toshinari
100
The configuration of the Left’s poem, beginning with ‘All the more lonely’ and concluding with ‘Longing for the capital more’, has already penetrated the boundaries of mystery and depth. It sounds particularly pleasant. The poem of the Right is the judge’s own meagre work. Thus, in accordance with precedent I shall refrain from rendering a judgement.
Round Twenty-Two
Left
いなむしろしきつのうらのまつかぜはもりくるをりぞしぐれともしる
| inamushiro shikitsu no ura no matsukaze wa morikuru ori zo shigure to mo shiru | A straw mat spread At Shikitsu Bay, where when On the wind through the pines Come dripping droplets I know a shower is falling! |
Lord Kiyosuke
93
Right (Win)
おほぞらもみやこのかたをしのぶらしこよひはことにうちしぐれつつ
| ōzora mo miyako no kata o shinoburashi koyoi wa koto ni uchishiguretsutsu | The heavens, too, Of the capital Think fondly, it seems, For tonight is especially Filled with constant showers… |
Lord Sanetsuna
94
The poem of the Left appears to have a pleasant conception, blending showers with the wind through the pines and saying, ‘Come dripping droplets / I know a shower is falling!’, but it appears that the straw mat has only been spread because of the reference to Shikitsu [spreading] Bay. Considering the actual nature of a straw mat, however, I do not feel that the sense links with Shikitsu Bay, although it would be charming if sleeping on a journey in the shade of the willows beside a river, or even in a hut among the rice-fields. I do not feel it is appropriate to spread a straw mat beneath the pines at Sumiyoshi. In addition, it is only the straw mat here which has the conception of a journey—how should one feel about that? The configuration of the Right’s poem, beginning with ‘The heavens, too’ and following with ‘Of the capital / Think fondly, it seems’, I would say is a poem for a poetry match. While a counter-argument has been made about the Left’s poem, it’s really asking for the impossible, isn’t it. So, I impose victory for the Right.
Round Thirteen
Left
しぐれもるたびねのとこははなぞめのたもとぞさきにまづかへりける
| shigure moru tabine no toko wa hanazome no tamoto zo saki ni mazu kaerikeru | A shower drips upon me As I doze upon my journey-bed; Blossom-dyed, My sleeves, before me, Have first returned to what they were! |
Masahira
75
Right (Win)
はなれゆくみやこをおもふひとりねのなみだをさそふはつしぐれかな
| hanareyuku miyako o omou hitorine no namida o sasou hatsushigure kana | Distant has grown The capital, but it fills my thoughts, Sleeping solo, My tears invited by The first shower! |
Chikashige
76
The configuration of the Left’s poem appears charming, but it would have sounded more so had there been a reason why ‘my sleeves, before’ had returned to the capital on the journey. The diction and conception of the Right’s poem, beginning with ‘distant has grown’ and leading to ‘tears invited’, is extremely pleasant. It seems the Right wins.
Round Ten
Left (Tie)
くさまくらしぐれもそでをぬらしけりみやこをこふるなみだならねど
| kusamakura shigure mo sode o nurashikeri miyako o kouru namida naranedo | On a pillow of grass The showers, too, my sleeves Have soaked; Longing for the capital These tears are not, yet… |
Hiromori
69
Right
かりいほさすならのからはのむらしぐれあはれはまきのおとばかりかは
| kari’io sasu nara no karawa no murashigure aware wa maki no oto bakari ka wa | Erecting a crude hut, The withered leaves of oak are Struck by cloudbursts; Does sadness in the evergreens’ Sound solely lie? |
Dharma Master Chikyō
70
Both Left and Right appear to have elegant configuration and diction, but the Left seems to presents the soaking of sleeves by showers as something novel, while the Right gives a feeling that it is only the sound of evergreens that makes one sad. Thus, these tie.
Round Nine
Left (Win)
うらさむくしぐるるよはのたびごろもきしのはにふにいたくにほひぬ
| ura samuku shigururu yowa no tabigoromo kishi no hanyū ni itaku nioinu | The bay is cold with Midnight showers, as My traveller’s robe With the shore’s ochre clay Is deeply stained. |
Taifu
67
Right
おもへただみやこのうちのねざめだにしぐるるそらはあはれならずや
| omoe tada miyako no uchi no nezame dani shigururu sora wa aware narazu ya | Simply think of me, when Within the capital You start from sleep— A showery sky is Sad, isn’t it? |
Sadanaga
68
While configuration of the Left’s poem, saying ‘With the shore’s ochre clay / Is deeply stained’ feels crude, it does appear to be in the style of the Myriad Leaves. As for the Right’s poem, its conception is good, but starting, ‘Simply think of me’ begs the question of who this is said to. Such diction is used in poetry exchanges or love poems, in particular. The Left’s poem is most likely superior.
Round Three
Left
まきのやのしぐれのおとにゆめさめてみやここひしきねにぞぬれぬる
| maki no ya no shigure no oto ni yume samete miyako koishiki ne ni zo nurenuru | Beneath a roof of cypress boards The sound of showers Wakes me from my dreams, and Longing for the capital I drench myself with weeping. |
Chūnagon
55
Right (Win)
たびねするのぢのしばやにおとづれてすぐるはよはのしぐれなりけり
| tabinesuru noji no shibaya ni otozurete suguru wa yowa no shigure narikeri | Sleeping on my travels Cross the plains in a brushwood hut A sound comes calling, Passing by at midnight— A shower. |
Sokaku
56
The style of the Left’s poem is elegant but, in addition to feeling that there may well be cypress roofs in places other than the capital, the final line is insufficient, I think. The Right’s poem has nothing remarkable about it, but it sounds pleasant. I make it the winner.
Showers at one’s lodgings on a journey
Round One
Left
しぐれするもみぢのにしきゆかしきにあけてをたたむふたむらのやま
| shiguresuru momiji no nishiki yukashiki ni akete o tatamu futamura no yama | Under the showers The scarlet leaves’ brocade I long to see, so With the dawn let’s set forth To Mount Futamura! |
Jakunen
51
Right (Win)
みやこにもおもひやすらむくさまくらうちしぐれたるよはのねざめを
| miyako ni mo omoiyasuramu kusamakura uchishiguretaru yowa no nezame o | Even in the capital Might you think of me? On a grassy pillow With a shower Awoken at midnight… |
Suke
52
The Left poem’s ‘With the dawn let’s set forth / To Mount Futamura’ sounds charming, but as we can see from Lord Kanesuke’s poem ‘Futami Bay / Let’s see with the dawn’, it is quite pedestrian. Then there is the expression ‘long to see’—this really isn’t appropriate diction for poetry. I will admit that it appears from time to time in imperial anthologies, and so it is certainly permissible depending upon the style of the poem, though. There’s also the term ‘long to know’—one really shouldn’t use diction in a poetry match which doesn’t express the poet’s true feelings. As for the Right’s poem, it’s also quite pedestrian to say that showers fall on one’s way on a journey, but don’t necessarily fall in the capital, but saying that folk there might think of you waking on your journey, well, why wouldn’t they do that? The conception of the poem is pleasant, and I make it the winner.
