A spring poem, presented in a hundred poem sequence during the reign of former Emperor Sutoku.
若菜摘む袖とぞ見ゆるかすがのゝとぶひのゝべの雪のむらぎえ
| wakana tsumu sode to zo miyuru kasugano no tobu hi no nobe no yuki no muragie |
Plucking fresh herbs, Sleeves do I seem to see On the plain at Kasuga, Where the sun dances in the fields On the patchy snow… |
Former Consultant Norinaga
Left (Win).
変れただ別るる道の野辺の露命に向ふ物も思はじ
| kaware tada wakaruru michi no nobe no tsuyu inochi ni mukau mono mo omowaji |
O, change Upon our parting! The path Through the dew dropped fields – How like life: I would not think such thoughts! |
713
Right.
別れ路のありける物を逢坂の關を何しに急ぎ越えけん
| wakareji no arikeru mono o ōsaka no seki o nani shi ni isogikoeken |
The path after parting Is such a thing, so Why to Meeting Hill’s Barrier Gate do we Rush to pass in haste? |
714
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the diction in the Left’s poem fails to link. The Gentlemen of the Left state: what novelty there is in the Right’s poem!
Shunzei’s judgement: in the Left’s poem it does not appear to me that the diction of the initial section links poorly. ‘How like life’ (inochi ni mukau) does, indeed, appear in the Man’yōshū and other works, but it does not seem that desirable. As for the Right, while it seems that the appearance of Meeting Hill is well understood, saying ‘why to the barrier gate’ (seki o nani shi ni) is inferior to ‘how like life’.
Left (Win)
都人宿を霞のよそに見て昨日もけふ野邊にくらしつ
| miyakobito yado o kasumi no yoso ni mite kinō mo kyō nobe ni kurashitsu |
Capital folk of Their homes, through the haze, Catch a distant glimpse Yesterday, and again today, Have they spent among the fields. |
69
Right.
これぞこの春の野邊よと見ゆるかな大宮人のうちむれてゆく
| kore zo kono haru no nobe yo to miyuru kana ōmiyabito no uchimureteyuku |
This, For springtime in the fields Is most apt, indeed: Folk from the mighty palace Gathering all together! |
70
For once, the Right describe the Left’s poem as ‘moving’ and have no criticisms to make of it. The Left merely wonder whether ‘folk from the mighty palace’ are entirely suited to the fields.
Shunzei agrees that the construction of ‘Their homes, through the haze,/Catch a distant glimpse’ is particularly good, and that it cannot be said that ‘folk from the mighty palace’ are appropriate for the fields in springtime, but that if they are gathering together, it might be possible. However, in this theme the poet should not be looking on, but be part of the scene, so the Left’s poem must be the winner.