Left (Tie)
あふことのきみにたえにしわがみよりいくらのなみだながれいでぬらむ
au koto no kimi ni taenishi wa ga mi yori ikura no namida nagare’idenuramu My meetings with You, my lord, have ceased, and From my flesh What a torrent of tears Flow out!
Ise
59
Right
きみこひのあまりにしかばしのぶれどひとのしるらんことのわびしさ
kimi koi no amari nishikaba shinoburedo hito no shiruran koto no wabishiki Loving you Beyond all measure, I kept it secret, yet That folk seem to know Is a cause of heartache.
Tsurayuki 60
On hearing His Highness, the Prince of the Right remark in irritation that the Left’s poem had appealed to His Majesty’s heart, His Majesty composed
ゆきかへりちどりなくなるはまゆふのこころへだてておもふものかは
yukikaeri chidori naku naru hamayū no kokoro hedatete omou mono ka wa Going back and forth Plovers cry from The beach among the spider lilies Do their hearts distinguish Do you think?
His Majesty 61
人しれぬ袖ぞ露けき逢ふことはかれのみまさる山のした草
hito shirenu sode zo tsuyukeki au koto wa kare nomi masaru yama no shitagusa Unknown to all My sleeves are drenched with dew; For our meetings Excel only in being withered As the scrub grass on the mountainside.
[Nakako,] The Suō Handmaid 29
In reply.
おく山の下かげ草はかれやする軒ばにのみはおのれなりつつ
oku yama no shitakagegusa wa kare ya suru nokiba ni nomi wa onore naritsutsu Deep within the mountains, have The grasses growing in the trees’ dark shade Really withered away? Simply beneath your eaves, Is where I ever am…
The Consultant Middle Captain 30
Image by joyfultta from Pixabay
Left.
つれなしと人をぞさらに思ひ河逢ふ瀬を知らぬ身を恨ても
tsurenashi to
hito o zo sara ni
omoigawa
ause o shiranu
mi o uramitemo
How cruel
She is, I ever feel,
My thoughts a river;
No rushed meetings between us –
I hate myself for that, and yet…
Lord Kanemune
991
Right (Win).
遥なる程とぞ聞し衣川かた敷く袖の名こそ有けれ
harukanaru
hodo to zo kikishi
koromogawa
katashiku sode no
na koso arikere
Far, far away
Lies, I have heard,
The River Robe:
For my single spread sleeve
How apt that name is!
Lord Takanobu
992
The Right state: we find the Left’s poem unconvincing. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks any faults.
In judgement: in the Left’s poem, ‘my thoughts a river’ (omoigawa ) is certainly not unconvincing. The latter section of the Right’s poem sounds fine. It should win.
'Simply moving and elegant'