Round Eight

Left

やまかぜにしほるる野べの草むらのねやさむしとや鹿の鳴くらん

yamakaze ni shioruru nobe no kusamura no neya samushi to ya shika no nakuran

The mountain wind Withers the meadow’s Clumps of grasses— Is it his chilly bedchamber That makes the stag cry out?

Moromitsu
39

Right (Win)

あはれとはねらふさつをも思ふらんをしか妻どふ秋の夕ぐれ

aware to wa nerau satsuo mo omouran oshika tsumadobu aki no yūgure

‘How sad,’ The aiming hunter, too, Seems to think, as The stag searches for his mate On an autumn evening…

Lay Priest Sanekiyo
40

The Left shows no technique from beginning to end, compounded by the fact that, while ‘although the stag does lie’ is a common expression in poetry, ‘bedchamber’ is something I am unaccustomed to hearing. As for the Right, ‘aiming hunter’ is distasteful to hear, but the poem is not bad overall, so it wins.