Round Eighteen

Left (Tie)

すみよしのきしかたのよにひきかへてはなさくまつのみともならばや

sumiyoshi no kishikata no yo ni hikikaete hana saku matsu no mi tomo naraba ya

On Sumiyoshi’s Shore, for the coming world I would exchange— Waiting for blossom to bloom upon the pines— Myself, that’s what I long for…

Koretsuna
135

Right

たのみこしかみのしるしにうきよをもすみよしとだにおもひなりせば

tanomikoshi kami no shirushi ni ukiyo o mo sumiyoshi to dani omoinariseba

I have come to rely On a sign from the God, That this cruel world, too, Even become a pleasant place to dwell— Or so I have come to think…

Suesada
136

Both the Left and Right this round only appear skilled in their use of diction. The poem on blossom probably needs a little more work, I think, but they really are about the same.