Composed on Love after Parting during the reign of Former Emperor Nijō (1143-1165; r. 1158-1165).
水無瀬川流れてとこそ思ひしかこはいかにしてたえはじめけむ
| minasegawa nagarete to koso omoishi ka ko wa ika ni shite taehajimekemu | The River Minase Rapidly runs – did I think that once? Now what am I to do That our parting has begun? |
Minister of Justice [Fujiwara no] Norikane
刑部卿範兼
Left (Win).
いつかさはまたは逢ふ瀬を松浦潟此河上に家は住むとも
| itsuka sa wa mata wa ause o matsu’uragata kono kawakami ni ie wa sumu tomo |
Sometime it may be that Again we’ll meet, so I await, though on Matsura Inlet’s Upper reaches Does my house lie… |
Lord Sada’ie
987
Right.
水無瀬川淺き契と思へども涙は袖にかけぬ間ぞなき
| minasegawa asaki chigiri to omoedomo namida wa sode ni kakenu ma zo naki |
The River Minase runs Shallow as our vows I feel, yet Tears upon my sleeves Fall without a single pause… |
Lord Tsune’ie
988
The Right state: we are unable to admire the Left’s poem. The Left state: if the initial part of the poem has ‘shallow’ (asashi), we would like there to be ‘deep’ (fukashi) in the concluding section. In addition, is the poem suggesting that the shallows do not give rise to waves? The initial and concluding section of the poem do not match and the whole is old-fashioned.
In judgement: the Gentlemen of the Right state that they are unable to admire the Left’s poem. It also sounds like there are a number of accumulated criticisms of the Right’s poem. This is enough to cause me quite some perplexity. I am unable to identify any faults in the Left’s poem which render it unworthy of appreciation. Thus, the Left wins.