au koto no kata no katami wa namidagawa koishi to omoeba mazu saki ni tatsu
Meeting her was Hard, so my only keepsake is A river of tears; When I recall my love for her, That is first to flow.
63
[i] What Ise means here is that these poems had been prepared for the event, but were not formally recited and judged during the contest as it had to be truncated due to lack of time.
akazushite wakareshi yoi no namidagawa yodomi mo naku mo tagitsu kokoro ka
Still hungering for you When we parted that night, did The river of my tears Not in a trickle, but In a torrent run through my heart?
177
[1]Kokinshū XII: 568; a minor variant of this poem also occurs in Kokin rokujō (V: 3207): しぬるいのちいきもやすると心みに玉のをばかりあひみてしかな shinuru inochi / iki mo ya suru to / kokoromi ni / tama no o bakari / aimiteshi kana ‘I have died for love of you, but / Might life return? / Try, if only as / A fragile jewelled thread, and / Make an attempt to meet me!’
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we are not accustomed to hearing the expression ‘Arinare River’ (arinaregawa), and the ending of the poem is old-fashioned. The Gentlemen of the Left state: ‘are flooded over’ (take kosu hodo) sounds excessively modern.
In judgement: ‘Arinare River’ is unusual, and the final section of the Left’s poem is certainly old-fashioned. The ‘river of tears’’ (namidagawa) ‘channel buoys’ (miotsukushi) do seem to be enduring an excess of water, don’t’ they! The round should tie.