When a man had not visited for a long time.
とふことをまつに月日はこゆるぎのいそにやいでて今はうらみん
| toFu koto wo matu ni tukiFi Fa koyurugi no iso ni idete ya keFu Fa uramin | For a visit I have waited days, months And more, so to Koyurugi’s Rocky shore should I go out And gaze with hatred at the beach? |
Ukon
Left (Win).
思ヘどもまだ見ぬ程は滿つ潮に入りぬる磯のためしだになし
| omoedomo mada minu hodo wa mitsu shio ni irinuru iso no tameshi dani nashi |
I love her, yet Have not caught a glimpse; The rising tide Flooding the rocky shore – There’s not even a case of that! |
Lord Kanemune.
977
Right.
岩根打つ荒磯浪の高きこそまだよそながら袖は濡るなれ
| iwane utsu ara’iso nami no takaki koso mada yosonagara sode wa nuru nare |
Crashing on the crags by The rocky shore, the waves Are high, indeed; Distant, perhaps, but Still my sleeves are soaked… |
Lord Takanobu.
978
Both Left and Right state that the opposing poem lacks a strong conception of the sea.
In judgement: I wonder whether the suggestion by both Left and Right that the poems lack a strong conception of the sea is correct. The Left has ‘the rising tide flooding the rocky shore’ (mitsu shio ni irinuru iso), while the Right has ‘crashing on the crags by the rocky shore’ (iwane utsu ara’iso). If these expressions do not strongly convey the conception of the sea, then I ask you, what would? I wonder, though, how one’s sleeves can get soaked if the waves, though high, are distant. The final section of the Left’s poem is elegant. It wins.
Sent to the residence of her wet nurse, to say that he wished to converse to a lady.
かくなむと蜑の漁火ほのめかせ磯べの波の折もよからば
| kaku namu to ama no isaribi Fonomekase isobe no nami no wori mo yokaraba |
Say “It is here,” As the fisher folk’s fires Faintly With the waves toward the rocky shore Draw near, in time… |
Minamoto no Yorimitsu
源頼光
Left (Tie).
象潟や妹戀ひしらにさ寢る夜の磯の寢覺に月傾きぬ
| kisakata ya koishirani sanuru yo no iso no nezame ni tsuki katabukinu |
In Kisakata and In love; I sleep the night away, and Awaking on the rocky shore Behold the moon descending. |
Kenshō
897
Right.
清見潟岩敷く袖の浪の上に思ふもわびし君が面影
| kiyomigata iwa shiku sode no nami no ue ni omou mo wabishi kimi ga omokage |
At Kiyomigata Sleeves spread atop the rocks, Waves breaking atop them; Heart filled with pain At the memory of your face… |
Jakuren
898
Left and Right both state that the opposing poem is pretentious.
In judgement: the Left’s poem seems well-constructed in its initial and final sections. However, as in Mototoshi’s poem long ago, ‘breaking a stem of miscanthus on the beach at Ise’, this seems to be a case of poetic allusion. The Right’s ‘Sleeves spread atop the rocks, waves breaking atop them’ (iwa shiku sode no nami no ue) seems to have been newly composed and seems elegant, but the final section is somewhat inferior. The Left has beginning and end matching. The Right has a superior initial section, but an inferior final one. Thus, the round ties.