Left (Tie)
こひわびぬかなしきこともなぐさめむいづれなぐさのはまべなるらむ
| koiwabinu kanashiki koto mo nagusamemu izure nagusa no hamabe naruramu | Suffering the pain of love and Sadness, too, I would be consoled, so Where might Nagusa Beach lie, I wonder? |
27
Right
みぬ人のこひしきやなぞおぼつかなたれとかしらむゆめにみゆとも
| minu hito no koishiki ya nazo obotsukana tare to ka shiramu yume ni miyutomo | An unseen lady Do I love, but why? How strange it is— Is there any might know, Though I glimpse her in my dreams… |
Mitsune
28
Left (Tie)
おとぎきにあやなく人をこひそめてそれとだにみぬことのわびしさ
| otogiki ni ayanaku hito o koisomete sore to dani minu koto no wabishisa | By repute Pointlessly, a lady Have I begun to love, Without even seeing her, That is truly pitiable! |
25
Right
やまびこのおとにのみきくきみなればわれよりさきにとふ人もなし
| yamabiko no oto ni nomi kiku kimi nareba ware yori saki ni tou hito mo nashi | As a mountain spirit Word is all I hear Of you, so Before me Not a man will visit you! |
26
Scarlet Plum Blossom
Left
あひがたき人をばさらにみしころはいのはなれてはねられざりけり
| aigataki hito oba sara ni mishi koro wa i no hanarete wa nerarezarikeri | Hard to meet Her it was, but finally, I saw her once more, then Being parted Robbed me of my sleep. |
Tsurayuki
7
Right (Win)
わすれにし人をぞゆめになほこむはいのはなやかにねられてぞみる
| wasurenishi hito o zo yume ni nao komu wa i no hanayaka ni nerarete zo miru | Forgotten by A lady who to my dreams Does yet come, so In sleep, clearly, When sleeping only do I see her! |
8
Left
住吉のきしによる波夜さへや夢のかよひ路人めよくらむ
| sumiyoshi no kishi ni yoru nami yoru sae ya yume no kayoiji hitome yokuramu | On Sumiyoshi’s Shore break waves; Even at night Upon the path of dreams Can we avoid others’ prying eyes? |
186
Right
夕附夜おぼろに人を見てしより天雲はれぬ心地こそすれ
| yūzukuyo oboro ni hito o miteshi yori amagumo harenu kokochi koso sure | On a moonlit evening Faintly, a lady Did I see, and ever since Heaven’s clouds, unclearing, Weigh on my feelings… |
187
うらみかねさ夜の衣を人しれず思ひかへせどなぐさまぬかな
| uramikane sayo no koromo o hito shirezu omoikaesedo nagusamanu kana | Unable to despise you, On this brief night, my robe, Unknown to all, I did reverse in constant thought of you, but It brought me no comfort, at all! |
Kii, from the Ichijō Palace
31
ひたすらにさよの衣にことよせてうらなき人を恨みざらなん
| hitasura ni sayo no koromo ni kotoyosete uranaki hito o uramizaranan | Truly, On this brief night, your robe Is but a pretext— An unfeeling lady I would not despise! |
The Governor of Mimasaka
32
君にとし思ひかくれば鶯のはなのくしげもをしまざりけり
| kimi ni to si omoFikakureba uguFisu no hana no kusige mo wosimazarikeri | For my Lady did I fondly think, so The warbler’s Comb box of blossom I do not regret at all… |
Ise
It is said that she composed this poem and sent it, together with some budding scarlet plum blossom to the residence of the Kujō Lady of the Bedchamber when Her Highness held a little box match.
Left
頼むなるあさけ神しも幣はせん君が心やわれになびくと
| tanomu naru asake kami shimo nusa wa sen kimi ga kokoro ya ware ni nabiku to | Worship she does The goddess Asake, so should even I make her an offering? Then might my lady’s heart Trail in my direction… |
Kenshō
1153
Right (Win)
鏡山君に心やうつるらむいそぎ立たれぬ旅衣かな
| kagamiyama kimi ni kokoro ya utsururamu isogi tatarenu tabigoromo kana | Upon Mirror Mount Has my heart Found lodging? For In haste to rise and don My travelling garb, I am not! |
Lord Tsune’ie
1154
Left and Right state: there are no faults to mention in either poem.
In judgement: both Left and Right here refer to a ‘person’ (kimi), with the Left’s ‘making her an offering’ (nusa wa sen) that she might ‘trail in my direction’ (ware ni nabiku ya), while the Right’s has left his heart on Mirror Mount and ‘is not in haste to rise and don his travelling garb’ (isogi tatarenu tabigoromo): each of these poems is evocative, and makes effective use of wordplay, with the Left’s ‘make her an offering’ certainly resembling something I have come across previously, but the initial ‘goddess Asake’ is poor. The Right’s ‘Mirror Mount’ (kagami yama) is something I am familiar with, and this has a gentle tone. Thus, the Right wins.