Left (Tie)
ももよ草百夜までなど頼めけむかりそめ臥しの榻のはしがき
momoyogusa
momoyo made nado
tanomekemu
karisome fushi no
shiji no hashigaki |
A hundred nights upon the grass:
After a hundred nights, how
Can I trust we’ll meet?
Fitfully pillowed on
The scratches on my shaft stand… |
Kenshō
1027
Right
逢事はいつといぶきの嶺に生ふるさしも絶せぬ思ひなりけり
au koto wa
itsu to ibuki no
mine ni ouru
sashimo taesenu
omoi narikeri |
When will our meeting
Come? On Ibuki
Peak grows
Moxa, thus, endlessly
Burning, as do my fires of love. |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress Household Office
1028
The Gentlemen of the Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Gentlemen of the Left state: it is difficult to grasp that there is nothing said from ‘when will it come? On Ibuki’ (itsu to ibuki). ‘Moza, thus’ (sashimo) does not fit with the end of the poem.
In judgement: I do wonder about the sound of beginning a poem with momoyogusa. Furthermore, originally, the ‘one hundred nights’ (momoyo) would be placed upon the shaft stand. ‘When on Ibuki grows moxa’ (itsu to ibuki no sashimo), too, just as with Inaba’s pines, places too much stress on the peak. The poems are of the same quality and tie.
Left (Tie)
うち頼む人のけしきの秋風に心の底の萱が下折れ
uchitanomu
hito no keshiki no
akikaze ni
kokoro no soko no
kaya ga shitaore |
I did rely on
Him, but now in his look, is
The autumn wind; in
The depths of my heart are
Broken, drooping fronds of silver grass… |
Lord Ari’ie
1025
Right
あさましやなどか思のさしも草露も置きあへずはては燃ゆらん
asamashi ya
nado ka omoi no
sashimogusa
tsuyu mo okiaezu
hate wa moyuran |
How strange it is!
Why is it that my love’s fires, like
Moxa,
Not completely covered by the dew
Will at the end burst into flame once more? |
Jakuren
1026
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to indicate. The Left state: in the Later Collection of Gleanings there is a poem about Ibuki, which uses ‘burst into flame’ (moyu). We wonder about the suitability of using ‘burst into flame’ without also using Ibuki. The Right, in response: older poems used ‘burst entirely into flame’ (sashimoyu), and this composition is the same.
In judgement: I am not accustomed to hearing ‘the depths of my heart are silver grass’ (kokoro no soko no kaya) as in the Left’s poem. The image in the Right’s poem of moxa not completely covered with dew bursting into flame seems rather overblown. The strengths and weaknesses of the two poems are unclear, so the round should tie.
'Simply moving and elegant'