Round Eleven

Left

ねざめしてうきよをおもひあはすればまどろむゆめにかはらざりけり

nezameshite uki yo o omoi awasureba madoromu yume ni kawarazarikeri

When I awake, with This cruel world my thoughts Occupying, The dream that filled my doze Differed not at all…

Hyōenokami
121

Right (Win)

すみのえのうきにおひたるしをれあしをなみひきたてよかみのめぐみに

suminoe no uki ni oitaru shiore’ashi o nami hikitateyo kami no megumi ni

In Suminoe’s Muddy waters grows, Languishing, a reed: O, waves, lift it upright! To receive the deity’s blessing…

Lord Michichika
122

The poem of the Left appears to have an elegant sequence, saying, ‘This cruel world my thoughts / Occupying’, but the speaker does not appear to be particularly thinking of themselves—they are simply reflecting on the transience of this world and that’s how it is. The poem of the Right begins with ‘In Suminoe’ and then has ‘Muddy waters grows’, linking the particular shore with the content. The Right should win.