Former Director of the Bureau of Carpentry, Toshiyori[i]
Cherry
Round One
Left
みやまにはしひがかざをれはやけれどふもとのはなはことしさくめり
miyama ni wa shii ga kaza’ore hayakeredo fumoto no hana wa kotoshi sakumeri
Deep within the mountains, Brushwood is broken by the wind So swiftly, yet In the foothills the blossom Will bloom this year, it seems.[ii]
Lord Dainagon 1
Right
ちるはなをさそふとみつるはる風のうはのそらにもすててけるかな
chiru hana o sasou to mitsuru harukaze no uwa no sora ni mo sutetekeru kana
The scattered blossoms Look to be beckoned by The spring breezes, Even high up in the skies To be abandoned!
Lord Chūnagon 2
I would say there’s no reason to say that the poem of the Left is superb, yet it does have a little bit of interest. The poem of the Right’s ‘Even high up in the skies /To be abandoned!’ completely fails to exceed vulgar diction. Thus, I make the Left the winner.
The poem of the Left’s ‘Brushwood is broken by the wind’ and so forth cannot be called ordinary and is an extremely charming use of diction. However, if the branches are broken and lost, then it would appear difficult for them to bloom, yet the addition of ‘yet’ to ‘swiftly’ gives the impression that there are branches remaining, thus following this with ‘Will bloom this year, it seems’ appears clumsy.
The poem of the Right has nothing remarkable about it, and no particular errors. Even so, because except in exceptional circumstances, the Left must win the first round, I make the Left the winner.
[i] This match was initially judged by Fujiwara no Mototoshi, but at some point after this, one of the participants, Sōen, submitted an ‘Appeal’ (chinjō) claiming these were unfair, and Toshiyori was asked to re-judge the match. The result is that there are two manuscript traditions for this event, one with Mototoshi’s judgements and one with Toshiyori’s. I am including both sets of judgements here.
[ii] The end of winter-beginning of the Twelfth Month. みやまにははやまのあらしあらげなりしひのかざをれいくそかかれり miyama ni wa / hayama no arashi / aragenari / shii no kaza’ore / ikuso kakareri ‘Deep within the mountains / Across the timber slopes the storm wind / Rages; / Brushwood is broken by the wind / O’er countless tens of trees.’ Sone no Yoshitada (Yoshitada-shū 342)
