Composed on the conception of coming unexpectedly, but being unable to meet, when people were composing ten love poem sequences at the residence of Lord Toshitada.
おもひ草葉末にむすぶしら露のたまたまきては手にもたまらず
| omoFigusa Fazue ni musubu siratuyu no tamatama kite Fa te ni mo tamarazu | My passion, to the dayflower’s Leaf-tips clings A silver dewdrop Gem—unexpectedly arriving, It will not fall into my hand… |
Lord Minamoto no Toshiyori
From the Master of the Right Capital Office, when the pinks were blooming in profusion.
我がそでにうつらばうつれてもやまずつみやいれましなでしこのはな
| wa ga sode ni utsuraba utsure te mo yamazu tsumi ya iremashi nadeshiko no hana | If, to my sleeves It is to shift, then let it! My hand will not cease To pick and I would tuck within A flowering pink! |
Minamoto no Muneyuki
Left (Win).
いかなれば程なき中の通ひ路も逢ひ見ぬ夜半は苦しかるらん
| ika nareba hodo naki naka no kayoiji mo aiminu yowa wa kurushikaruran |
Why is it that We are so close in love And distance, yet Those nights we cannot meet Are so painful still? |
Lord Kanemune
879
Right.
思ひこそ遠き程だにしるべなれ手も通ひなん中の隔ては
| omoi koso tōki hodo dani shirube nare te mo kayoi nan naka no hedate wa |
Love’s flame Across a distance far Is a beacon; though An outstretched hand Is our only separation… |
Lord Takanobu
880
As the previous round.
In judgement: the Right sounds as if the lovers are exceedingly close. The Left, that even when the distance separating you is not that great, it is still painful, is, indeed, the case. Thus, the Left wins.
A poem to lament that his feelings of sadness were proving impossible to abate as the time of his return to the capital grew near.
我が背子は玉にもがもな霍公鳥声にあへ貫き手に巻きて行かむ
| wa ga seko pa tama ni mogamona pototogisu kowe ni apenuki te ni makite yukamu |
You, my friend, are As a jewel; On a cuckoo’s Call would I thread you, and Go clasping you in hand… |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
The above poem was presented by Ōtomo sukune Yakamochi to Secretary Ōtomo sukune Ikenushi. 30th day of the Fourth Month.
Left (Win).
君ゆへにいとふも悲し鐘の聲やがて我世もふけにし物を
| kimi yue ni itou mo kanashi kane no koe yagate wa ga yo mo fukenishi mono o |
For lack of you, I am In sorrow and despite; The tolling of the bell reveals That so swiftly has my life Reached its eventide… |
A Servant Girl.
847
Right.
玉箒手にとる程も思きやかりにも戀を滋賀の山人
| tamahōki te ni toru hodo mo omoiki ya kari ni mo koi o shiga no yamabito |
A jewelled broom I’ll take in hand now, Could that have been my thought? Briefly in love now as The old man of Shiga Mountain! |
Ietaka.
848
The Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘swiftly’ (yagate). The Left state: should one mention a monk in a poem about Love?
In judgement: the configuration of the Left’s ‘In sorrow and despite; the tolling of the bell’ (itou mo kanashi kane no koe) sounds pleasant, so ‘swiftly’ does not seem unsuited. The Left wins.