Topic unknown.
ねぎ事をさのみききけむやしろこそはてはなげきのもりとなるらめ
| negigoto wo sanomi kikikemu yasiro koso Fate Fa nageki no mori to narurame | Prayers Alone I seem to hear at This shrine, indeed, but In the end, passion to grief’s Grove will turn, no doubt… |
Sanuki
Topic unknown.
冬がれのもりのくちばの霜のうへにおちたる月の影のさむけさ
| fuyugare no mori no kuchiba no shimo no ue ni ochitaru tsuki no kage no samukesa | Withered by winter, The forests’ rotting leaves are Frost covered, upon them The fallen moon Light is cold, indeed.[i] |
Lord Kiyosuke
[i] This poem is an allusive variation on a variant of KKS IV: 184, which appears in some Kokinshū manuscripts: Topic unknown. このまよりおちたる月の影見れば心づくしの秋はきにけり ko no ma yori / ochitaru tsuki no / kage mireba / kokorozukushi no / aki wa kinikeri ‘Between the trees / Dropped moon / Light, seeing it I know / Heart draining / Autumn, has come at last.’ Anonymous.
Left
神南備のもりによをへて鳴く鹿はすぎゆく秋ををしみとめなん
| kamunabi no mori ni yo o hete naku shika wa sugiyuku aki o oshimi tomenan | In sacred Forests spending his nights The belling stag The passing autumn, Regretfully, does seem to stay! |
7
Right (Win)
こゑたててなくしかばかりをしめどもすぎゆく秋はとまらざらまし
| koe tatete naku shika bakari oshimedomo sugiyuku aki wa tomarazaramashi | Belling out The crying stag is, simply, Filled with regret, yet Autumn, passing by, I would not have linger on! |
8
As a poem on willows.
春くれば猶色まさる山しろのときはの杜の青柳のいと
| haru kureba nao iro masaru yamashiro no tokiwa no mori no aoyagi no ito | Spring has come, and Still their hues are beyond fine: In Yamashiro’s Evergreen forests— Pale green threads of willow. |
Round Six
Left
夏山のみねのこずゑのたかければなく郭公こゑかはるかな
| natsuyama no mine no kozue no takakereba naku hototogisu koe kawaru kana | The summer mountain Peaks have treetops So high, that The crying cuckoo’s Calls stand for them. |
11
Right (Win)
おほあらきのもりの下草茂りあひてふかくも夏のなりにけるかな
| ōaraki no mori no shitagusa moriaite fukaku mo natsu no narinikeru kana | In Ōaraki Forest the undergrowth Has grown so thick, that Deep summer is Surely here! |
Mitsune
12
Wind
Left (Win)
おはらきのもりのくずはもふくかぜにもみぢもあへずちりやしぬらん
| oharaki no mori no kuzuha mo fuku kaze ni momiji mo aezu chiri ya shinuran | In Oharaki Among the groves, will the kudzu leaves, When the wind does blow Parting from the scarlet leaves Scatter, too, I wonder? |
Tamemasa
3
Right
みかきののくさこそなびけよろづよのはじめのあきのかぜのこゑかも
| mikaki no no kusa koso nabike yorozu yo no hajime no aki no kaze no koe kamo | In the fields by the sacred walls The grasses do sway; Ten thousand generations’ First autumn Breeze sounds out! |
Nagayoshi
4
Left (Win)
恋わたる夜はのさむしろ波かけてかくや待けん宇治の橋姫
| koi wataru yowa no samushiro nami kakete kaku ya machiken uji no hashihime |
Crossed in love At night my mat of straw Is washed by waves; Is this how she waits, The maid at Uji bridge. |
A Servant Girl
1019
Right
いにしへの宇治の橋守身をつまば年経る恋を哀とも見よ
| inishie no uji no hashimori mi o tsumaba toshi furu koi o aware tomo miyo |
Ancient Warden of Uji bridge, If you pinch me, How I have aged with love for you Will you know, and pity me… |
Jakuren
1020
Left and Right together state: we find no faults to mention.
In judgement: the style of both the Left’s ‘maid at Uji bridge’ (uji no hashihime) and the Right’s ‘Warden of Uji bridge’ (uji no hashimori) is pleasant, and the Left’s ‘Is this how she waits, the maid at Uji bridge’ (kaku ya machiken uji no hashihime) draws on the conception of a tale from long ago, and the configuration also seems deeply moving. Thus, the Left should win.