Left (Win).
死ぬばかり嬉しきにこそ知られけれ逢ふに命を換ふと聞きしは
| shinu bakari ureshiki ni koso shirarekere au ni inochi o kau to kikishi wa |
Death will come upon me So great is my joy, I know that now; A meeting for a life In exchange – I’d heard that was the way of it. |
707
Right.
命かは逢ふに心や換へつらん惜しからぬ身ぞ惜しくなり行く
| inochi ka wa au ni kokoro ya kaetsuran oshikaranu mi zo oshikunariyuku |
What is life? For a meeting, my heart would Exchange it, I thought, but One who would have no regrets Is filling up with them… |
708
The Gentlemen of the Right state: being happy enough ‘to die’ (shinu bakari), as in the Left’s poem is not something that would really happen. The Gentlemen of the Left: we have nothing particular to say.
Shunzei’s judgement: when happiness is such that it is painful, one says it’s ‘enough to die’. I don’t see this as a fault. ‘One who would have no regrets is filling up with them’ (oshikaranu mi zo oshikunariyuku) seems to be lacking completion. If you are ‘filling’, then it implies more than a single night. The Left must win.
Left (Tie).
堪ふまじき明日より後の心かな馴れて悲しき思ひ添ひなば
| taumajiki asu yori nochi no kokoro kana narete kanashiki omoisoinaba |
Unendurable will be Tomorrow, and then To my heart henceforth Kindness brings sorrow Or so I feel… |
705
Right.
逢見てはまづと思し言の葉に心の露のなを重きかな
| aimite wa mazu to omoishi koto no ha ni kokoro no tsuyu ni nao omoki kana |
A meeting and the sight of you: My heart thought That I would speak, yet Dew falls on my heart, Growing ever heavier. |
706
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the initial section of the Left’s poem sounds poor. The Left state: the sense of ‘dew falls on my heart’ (kokoro no tsuyu) in the Right’s poem is unclear.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s ‘kindness brings sorrow’ (narete kanashiki) seems little different from ‘The full extent of our love was this night alone’ (koi no kagiri wa koyoi narikeri) in an earlier poem. The Right’s poem ‘dew falls on my heart’ ‘growing ever heavier’ (nao omoshi) sounds charming, but ‘A meeting and the sight of you: my heart thought that I would speak’ (aimite wa mazu to omoishi koto no ha) is somewhat unclear. I do, indeed wonder about the initial section of the Left. Again, the round ties.
Left (Tie).
唐衣重ぬる契朽ちずして幾夜の露をうち拂ふらん
| karakoromo kasanuru chigiri kuchizushite iku yo no tsuyu o uchiharauran |
Cathay robes Piled together mark our vow Unbroken; How many night’s dewfall Will they sleep away? |
703
Right.
夜を重ねかへす衣のうらみても現までとは思はざりしを
| yo o kasane kaesu koromo no uramite mo utsutsu made to wa omowazarishi o |
Night piled on night With robes reversed and Hating you; That it would be real one day I never did imagine! |
704
Left and Right together state they find no faults worth mentioning.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left seems to have taken a poem saying ‘truth has broken not, and now we meet again’ (shin’nyo kuchisezu aimitsuru kana) and deepened the conception. The Right, wearing clothes night after night and not thinking it would ‘become real’ (utsutsu made) seems a rather pointless activity. The poems are of the same quality.
Left (Win).
菅薦の三編には我も寢たれども逢嬉さにしく物ぞなき
| sugagomo no mifu ni wa ware mo netaredomo au ureshisa ni shiku mono zo naki |
Beneath sedge woven blankets Three layers thick Have I slept, yet To the joy of meeting you Nothing can compare! |
701
Right.
戀々てあひみる夜半ぞまさりける人の心の知らまほしさに
| koigoite aimiru yow azo masarikeru hito no kokoro no shiramahoshisa ni |
Long has our love been and Now we meet, at last; In the midst of this night How great are her feelings – That’s what I would know! |
702
Left and Right both say their opponent’s poem expresses the truth of the matter.
Shunzei’s judgement: the Left’s poem, in addition to drawing upon earlier work, seems technically accomplished. The Right’s poem does express a form of truth, yet would one really wish to know so much? The Left wins.
Left (Tie).
果てもなく行方も更に知らざりし戀の限りは今宵也けり
| hate mo naku yukue mo sara ni shirazarishi koi no kagiri wa koyoi narikeri |
Where lay the end, and What would become of it I did not know: The full extent of our love Was this night alone. |
699
Right.
明けば又逢はぬ物故君戀ふといさめし人にかくと知らせむ
| akeba mata awanu mono yue kimi kou to isameshi hito ni kaku to shirasemu |
With the dawn No more will we meet’ My love for you And the one who forbids it, Will so be told. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress Household Office
700
The Right state: the Left’s poem lacks any sense beyond that provided by the source poem. The Gentlemen of the Left state: the Right’s poem has little conception as a Love poem, other than wanting to announce the fact of it swiftly.
Shunzei’s judgement: love, where one does not know ‘what will become’ or ‘the end’, even if limited to a single night, does not sound that memorable. The import of the Right’s poem sounds particularly pitiable for the woman. Both poems lack style. They should tie.
Left.
戀衣しほりし袖はそれながら今宵はつまに重ねつる哉
| koigoromo shiorishi sode wa sore nagara koyoi wa tsuma ni kasanetsuru kana |
My loving clothes’ Sleeves are damp So This night upon her hem Shall I lay them? |
697
Right (Win).
かゝりける涙の色をあはれとは新手枕の袖に知るらん
| kakarikeru namida no iro o aware to wa niitamakura no sode ni shiruran |
My shed Tears’ hue Will he note, Newly pillowed on my arm, What will his feelings be? |
698
Left and Right both state the other’s poem is lacking in thought.
Shunzei’s judgement: saying ‘sleeves are damp, so’ (shiorishi sode wa sore nagara) sounds elegant, but the final section expresses the sense too directly. ‘Newly pillowed on my arm’ (niitamakura) lacks significant strengths or weaknesses, but with its ‘tears hue’ (namida no iro), the Right is superior, I think.