When His Excellency, Kintsugu, in response to an imperial command, made a pilgrimage to the Grand Shrine, on the occasion of his return, this was sent to him from among the court ladies attending the Ise Virgin.
うれしさもあはれもいかにこたへまし古郷人に問はれましかば
| ureshisa mo aware mo ika ni kotaemashi furusatobito ni towaremashikaba | Of my joy, and Sadness, too, how I would tell My old friend from home Should he ask of them… |
Anonymous
Round Ten
Left (Win)
かぞふればやとせへにけりあはれわがしづみしことはきのふとおもふに
| kasoureba yatose henikeri aware wa ga shizumishi koto wa kinō to omou ni | When I count them up, Many years have passed, but Sadness Overcomes me for the events Of yesterday, I feel… |
Lord Sanesada
119
Right
いたづらにふりぬるみをもすみよしのまつはさりともあはれしるらむ
| itazura ni furinuru mi o mo sumiyoshi no matsu wa sari tomo aware shiruramu | How quickly Age has come upon my flesh, too— Sumiyoshi’s Pines must that Sadness know too well… |
Lord Toshinari
120
The poem of the Left: these are not matters which could be understood by just anyone, yet even a superficial glance at it reveals that its conception and configuration display and exceptional sadness. How true it is that off all the myriad things in our lives it is the events of yesterday and today that we recall, and this is how we pass through the years and months, so how difficult, indeed, it is to supress the configuration of ‘When I count them up, / Many years have passed’! As for the Right’s poem, well, the conception of the initial section is pedestrian at best, although the latter section does seem to have some conception to it in places and shows some signs of thought. It is the poor composition of the judge, who is into his dotage. Once more, therefore, I have not rendered judgement, however, I feel that the deity would determine in favour of the Left.
Round Nine
Left
いとふともなきものゆゑによのなかのあはれをさすがうちなげきつつ
| itou tomo naki mono yue ni yo no naka no aware o sasu ga uchinagekitsutsu | With despite I regard it not, yet This mundane world Has such sadness, that Ever am I grief-stricken… |
Lord Sanefusa
117
Right (Win)
いたづらにとしもつもりのうらにおふるまつぞわがみのたぐひなりける
| itazura ni toshi mo tsumori no ura ni ouru matsu zo wa ga mi no tagui narikeru | How quickly The years have piled up; on Tsumori Shore grow Pines – my sorry self, indeed, Do they resemble! |
Lord Yorimasa
118
The poem of the Left has a configuration which directly expresses a single emotion. Its conception sounds in keeping with this. The poem of the Right begins with ‘The years have piled up; on Tsumori / Shore grow’ and continues with ‘Pines – my sorry self, indeed’ which appears very pleasant. Thus, the Right wins.
Round Twenty
Left
たびねするいそのとまやのむらしぐれあはれをなみのうちそへてける
| tabinesuru iso no tomaya no murashigure aware o nami no utchisoetekeru | Dozing on my travels In a sedge-thatched hut upon the rocky shore, The cloudbursts’ Sadness with that of the waves Is laced. |
Lord Sane’ie
89
Right (Win)
もりもあへずまだきにぬるるたもとかなこずゑしぐるるまつのしたぶし
| mori mo aezu mada ki ni nururu tamoto kana kozue shigururu matsu no shitabushi | No drips Yet have come to my soaking Sleeves— The treetops showered, as Beneath the pines I lay me down. |
Atsuyori
90
The Left’s sound of the waves ‘In a sedge-thatched hut upon the rocky shore… Sadness with that of the waves / Is laced’ does, indeed, convey an inference of sadness, but the concluding ‘is laced’ sounds a bit inappropriate. The Right’s conception and configuration, too, are extremely charming. ‘Beneath the pines I lay me down’ is, I think, a novel construction—although I do get the impression that that it sounds like something which has prior precedent. Still, saying ‘No drips / Have yet come to my soaking’ and then ‘The treetops showered, as / Beneath the pines’ means that the sound conveys the loneliness as it truly is. Thus, again, the Right wins.
Round Ten
Left (Tie)
くさまくらしぐれもそでをぬらしけりみやこをこふるなみだならねど
| kusamakura shigure mo sode o nurashikeri miyako o kouru namida naranedo | On a pillow of grass The showers, too, my sleeves Have soaked; Longing for the capital These tears are not, yet… |
Hiromori
69
Right
かりいほさすならのからはのむらしぐれあはれはまきのおとばかりかは
| kari’io sasu nara no karawa no murashigure aware wa maki no oto bakari ka wa | Erecting a crude hut, The withered leaves of oak are Struck by cloudbursts; Does sadness in the evergreens’ Sound solely lie? |
Dharma Master Chikyō
70
Both Left and Right appear to have elegant configuration and diction, but the Left seems to presents the soaking of sleeves by showers as something novel, while the Right gives a feeling that it is only the sound of evergreens that makes one sad. Thus, these tie.
Round Ten
Left (Tie)
夜もすがら妻こふるまにさをしかのめさへあはでや鳴きあかすらん
| yomosugara tsuma kouru ma ni saoshika no me sae awade ya naki’akasuran | All night long, Yearning for his mate, Does the stag Fail to close his eyes, Belling until the dawn? |
Mikawa
43
Right
独のみみねのをしかのなくこゑにあはれ吹きそふ風の音かな
| hitori nomi mine no oshika no naku koe ni aware fukisou kaze no oto kana | A single, solitary, Stag from the peak Belling out Laces sadness into the gusting Sound of the wind! |
Kojijū
44
The Left’s ‘fail to close his eyes’ is a commonly utilised viewpoint, while the Right’s ‘lacing sadness into the gusts’ is unsatisfactory—simply ‘laced’ would be preferable. Nevertheless, neither of these are particularly significant faults, so these should tie.
Topic unknown.
かなしさもあはれもたぐひおほかるを人にふるさぬことの葉もがな
| kanashisa mo aware mo tagui ōkaru o hito ni furusanu koto no ha mogana | Sorrow and Sadness, such terms Are many, but If only folk had never used before The words I’d say to you! |
Kentoku-kō
