Left (Win).
都にて馴れにし物をひとり寢の片敷く袖は何かさびしき
| miyako nite narenishi mono o hitori ne no katashiku sode wa nani ka sabishiki |
In the capital I grew accustomed to it, but Sleeping alone With only a single sleeve spread out Is somehow sad… |
Lord Suetsune
891
Right.
妹だにも待つとし聞かば小余綾のいそぐ舟路も嬉しからまし
| imo dani mo matsu to shi kikaba koyurugi no isogu funaji mo ureshikaramashi |
That girl of yours Awaits you – were I to hear that, From Koyurugi’s Rocky shore in haste I’d go, even The sea-lanes filled with joy! |
The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office.
892
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks the essence of love on a journey, and even the sense of sorrow seems insufficient. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no particular faults.
In judgement: what do the Right mean by saying the Left ‘lack the essence of love on a journey’? And is it really right that ‘is somehow sad’ (nani ka sabishiki) is insufficient? The poem is composed to give an impression of someone fooling themselves. The Right’s ‘Koyurugi’ is certainly not an expression which I have not come across. However, the Left should win.