iwane fumi ikue no mine o koenu tomo omoi mo idemu kokoro hedatsu na
Treading past the crags’ feet, and Layer upon layer of peaks A’crossing, still Will my yearning for you grow, so Let us not be strangers…[i]
602
[i] See: Composed in the conception of parting when he took part in a hundred-poem sequence. 別れても心へだつな旅ごろも幾重かさなる山路なりとも wakarete mo / kokoro hedatsu na / tabigoromo / ikue kasanaru / yamaji naritomo ‘We may part, yet / Let us not be strangers; / Travellers’ robes / Place layer on layer, / Though mountain paths lie in-between.’ Fujiwara no Sada’ie (Senzaishū VII: 497)
kaminazuki shigure fururashi okuyama wa toyama no momiji ima sakarinari
In the Godless Month Chill showers have fallen, it seems, Deep within the mountains, while On the peaks nearby the scarlet leaves Are now at their finest.
ukiyo oba mata nani ni ka wa nagusamen hana ni sakidatsu inochi to mogana
In this cruel world Is there yet anything else To console me? Before the blossoms’ departure I would my life do the same…
Court Lady Taifu 15
Right
桜さく春の山風みねこせば雪ふりつもる谷のほそみち
sakura saku haru no yamakaze mine koseba yuki furitsumoru tani no hosomichi
When in cherry-blooming Spring, the mountain breezes Cross the peaks Snow falls and piles high Upon the narrow valley paths.
Moromitsu 16
Both poems are smooth, and on that basis, I would say that the Right is superior, but it has an archaic element, while the Left lacks anything unusual about it, so this is a tie of quality.
