Round Ten

Left

秋はぎの下葉の露にあらねども消えぬばかりぞ人は恋しき

akihagi no shitaba no tsuyu ni aranedomo kienu bakari zo hito wa koishiki

Upon the autumn bush clover’s Underleaves a dewdrop I am not, yet Simply will I fade away So much do I love him!

Taiyu no Suke
19

Right

わすられて年ふる里の浅茅生に誰がためしける萩の錦ぞ

wasurarete toshi furu sato no asajū ni ta ga tame shikeru hagi no nishiki zo

All forgotten Through the passing years, at my home Among the tangled mugwort, For whose sake is spread The bush clover’s brocade?

The Daughter of His Excellency, the Head

20

I feel that the poem of the Left is conspicuously poetic, saying ‘Simply will I fade away / So much do I love him!’ while the poem of the Right’s ‘Through the passing years, at my home / Among the tangled mugwort, / For whose sake is spread / The bush clover’s brocade?’ makes me want to ask the bush clover the same question! The pull my heart in more than one direction, so here, too, I feel it’s not possible to decide on a winner or loser.