恋恋ひてまれにあふよの天のがは川せのたづはなかずもあらなん
koigoite mare ni au yo no ama no gawa kawase no tazu wa nakazu mo aranan | Ever in love, yet Meeting but rarely, tonight On the River of Heaven’s Rapids, O, cranes, Won’t you cease your cries? |

Left (Tie)
あふことをまつとなげきしときよりもたなばたつめはいまやわぶらむ
au koto o matsu to nagekishi toki yori mo tanabatatsume wa ima ya waburamu | For a meeting Did she pine and grieve, But from that moment The Weaver Maid Now seems filled with lonely sadness. |
5
Right
ながきよにつくすともなきたなばたのこひはそらにやもりわたるらん
nagaki yo ni tsukusu tomo naki tanabata no koi wa sora ni ya moriwataruran | The long night through Did not exhaust at all The Weaver Maid’s Love into the skies Seems to overflow. |
6
Round Twenty-Nine
Left (Win)
君やあらぬ我が身やあらぬおぼつかなたのめしことのみなかはりぬる
kimi ya aranu wa ga mi ya aranu obotsukana tanomeshi koto no mina kawarinuru | Aren’t you who you once were? Aren’t I who I was then? How strange that All we trusted in Has changed. |
Shun’e
57
Right
恋ひしなん命ぞをしきつれもなき人にしも身をかへんねたさに
koishinan inochi zo oshiki tsure mo naki hito ni shimo mi o kaen netasa ni | That I would die of love Makes me regret my life! But for that cruel Girl should I Exchange myself—exasperating! |
Yorisuke
58
I feel the left is old-fashioned, isn’t it? And yet, it is not without feeling. The Right does not have a poor conception, but its diction is insufficient.
Round Twenty-Seven
Left
我が恋はすさの入江のこもり江のおもひこめても年をふるかな
wa ga koi wa susa no irie no komorie no omoikomete mo toshi o furu kana | My love is as Susa Inlet’s Hidden creeks: Ever filling my thoughts As the years pass by! |
Masashige
53
Right (Win)
わが恋はおとなし河の浪なれやおもひかくれどきく人もなし
wa ga koi wa otonashigawa no nami nare ya omoikakuredo kiku hito mo nashi | Is my love As the River Silent’s Waves? Passion fills me, yet She never listens at all… |
Atsuyori
54
The Right’s conception and diction are suitable and the overall impression is not bad at all.
Round Twenty-Six
Left
恋ひしなんいのちを誰にゆづりおきてつれなき人のはてをみせまし
koishinan inochi o tare ni yuzuri’okite tsurenaki hito no hate o misemashi | Likely dying of love, My life, to whom should I Consign? That cruel girl’s Ending—would that show it to her? |
Shun’e
51
Right (Win)
つれもなき人はおもひもすてられでうき身のみこそなげまほしけれ
tsure mo naki hito wa omoi mo suterarede ukimi no mi koso nagemahoshikere | So cruel is That girl, but my passion for her I cannot abandon; It is my pitiful self that I would wish to throw away! |
Kenshō
52
The Left isn’t bad, but it’s a bit cliched. As for the Right, having both ‘abandon’ and ‘throw away’ could be a fault and yet the conception of one ‘abandoning passion’ is different. Whichever way you look at it, it wins.
Round Twenty-Five
Left
恋ひしなん後は煙とのぼりなばたなびく雲をそれとだにみよ
koishinan nochi wa keburi to noborinaba tanabiku kumo o sore to dani miyo | I shall die of love for you, and After as smoke Shall rise, then The trailing clouds Behold and think of me! |
Iemoto
49
Right
我が身だに思ふにたがふ物なればことわりなりや人のつらきは
wa ga mi dani omou ni tagau mono nareba kotowarinari ya hito no tsuraki wa | My sorry self Differs from what I had thought So I suppose It’s natural, isn’t it— That she should be so cruel… |
Moromitsu
50
The Right made me feel that’s how it is. It’s charming.
Round Twenty-Four
Love
Left (Win)
恋しさのなぐさむ方やなからましつらき心をおもひませずは
koishisa no nagusamu kata ya nakaramashi tsuraki kokoro o omoimasezu wa | I wish my love for you My consolation Would be not—for then Of your cold heart I would not have to think… |
Lord Kiyosuke
47
Right
君こずはうちへもいらじはらひつるねやのおもはむ事もはづかし
kimi kozu wa uchi e mo iraji haraitsuru neya no omowamu koto wa hazukashi | You have not come, so I’ll not enter in— Swept clean, Thinking of my bedchamber Is embarrassing, indeed! |
Shun’e
48
Both are elegant, yet what comes after ‘within’ is not something which one would really feel, so I would say the Right loses.