Left
したひもをゆふつけどりのこゑたちてけさのわかれになきぞわびぬる
| shitahimo o yūtsukedori no koe tachite kesa no wakare ni naki zo wabinuru | Underbelt Tying with the cockerel’s Crow, arising, At this morning’s parting I weep, all forlorn! |
34
Right
かぎりとはおもはぬものをあかつきのわかれのとこはおきうかりけり
| kagiri to wa omowanu mono o akatsuki no wakare no toko wa oki’ukarikeri | My limits I have not reached, I think, but At dawn Parting from your bed, Rising is so wretched. |
35
Left (Win)
鳥の音は戀しき人の何なれや逢夜はいとひ逢はぬ夜は待つ
| tori no ne wa koishiki hito no nani nare ya auyo wa itoi awanu yo wa matsu |
The cock’s crow: For my darling, What might it mean? Hated on nights we meet, and Longed for when we do not… |
Lord Kanemune
1049
Right
いかにして空とる程もはし鷹のしばしもこひに身を休むらん
| ika ni shite sora toru hodo mo hashitaka no shibashi mo koi ni mi o yasumuran |
Why, when Hunting in the skies, does The sparrowhawk Briefly in the trees Take his ease? |
Ietaka
1050
The Gentlemen of the Right state: ‘What might it mean?’ (nani nare ya) fails to match. Ending ‘longed for’ (matsu) is overly definite. The Gentlemen of the Left state: what has hunting in the skies got to do with love?
In judgement: it has been said that ‘cock’s crow’ (tori no ne) and ‘what might it mean’ fail to match. Then there is also ‘definite’ (futsugiri). These are nothing but expressions which I do not know and find difficult to understand. ‘The sparrowhawk hunting in the skies’ (hashitaka no sora toru hodo) and ‘take his ease in the trees’ (koi ni yasumuran) both have only a faint conception of love, and I wonder about alluding to hawking. The Left failing to match, too, may be a term used in coursing for deer. Well, even if the deer do not match, as it has the conception of love, the Left should win.
Left
時しもあれ空飛ぶ鳥の一聲も思ふ方より來てや鳴らん
| toki shi mo are sora tobu tori no hitogoe mo omou kata yori kite ya naruran |
Now, when I am wondering, A bird, soaring through the skies, Gives a single call; From whence I love Does it come, I wonder? |
A Servant Girl
1045
Right (Win)
天の戸を明けぬと告ぐる鳥の音も獨寢る夜はさもあらばあれ
| ama no to o akenu to tsuguru tori no ne mo hitori neru yo wa sa mo araba are |
“The gates of Heaven Are open!” announces A cock’s crow, though On a night spent sleeping alone, It matters not at all… |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress Household Office
1046
The Right state: what gives rise to the idea in the Left’s poem? The Gentlemen of the Left state: there are no faults we can find.
In judgement: what sort of bird is it that ‘soaring through the skies gives a single call’ (sora tobu tori no hitogoe)? I wonder if there is a suitable source for this? That being said, I doubt the Gentlemen of the Right’s point is pertinent. It has been stated that the Right’s poem lacks any faults. It must win.