Original
きみしなほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりじとぞおもふ
| kimi shi nao kaku shi kayowaba isonokami furuki miyako mo furiji to zo omou | O, my Lady, Should you thus ever visit Isonokami, where at Furu, the ancient capital, too, Never stales, I feel![1] |
Mitsune
22
Left (Win)
かよふともしられじものをふるさとはかすがのやまのふもとならねば
| kayou tomo shirareji mono o furusato wa kasuga no yama no fumoto naraneba | To ever visit there is something Folk might not know, for The ancient capital Among Kasuga Mountain’s Foothills does not lie… |
23
Right
はるごとにきてはみるともいそのかみふりにしさとのなにはかはらじ
| haru goto ni kite wa miru tomo isonokami furinishi sato no nani wa kawaraji | Every single spring I come to gaze, yet At Isonokami, Furu’s ancient capital Does nothing ever change? |
24
[1] A variant of this poem occurs in Mitsune’s personal collection: When the Priestly Emperor’s Rokujō Lady of the Bedchamber visited Kasuga, I met and conversed with Lord Tadafusa, the Governor of Yamato, and he mentioned that he had been asked to compose eight quality poems in the name of his province, so I sent him two of my own. The date was the 7th day of the Third Month, Engi 21 [17.4.921]. きくになほかくしかよはばいそのかみふるきみやこもふりしとぞおもふ kiku ni nao / kaku shi kayowaba / isonokami / furuki Miyako mo / furishi to zo omou ‘O, I hear that / Should you ever thus visit / Isonokami, where at / Furu, the ancient capital, too, / Has grown old, I feel.’(Mitsune-shū 323)
Round Seventeen
Cuckoos
Left (Tie)
さのみやは心あるべき時鳥ね覚の空に一声もがな
| sanomi ya wa kokoro arubeki hototogisu nezame no sora ni hitogoe mogana | Not much of The heart can you know, O, cuckoo, but On waking from the sky I would hear a single call. |
A Court Lady
33
Right
やはた山むかひの里の郭公しのびしかたの声もかはらず
| yawatayama mukai no sato no hototogisu shinobishi kata no koe mo kawarazu | By Yawata Mountain, At the estate of Mukai, A cuckoo, Fondly remembers someone With a changeless song! |
Lord Ietaka
34
The Left’s poem would seem to fail to reflect the essential meaning of the topic of cuckoos by having it not yet being heard, and thus its overall technique seems dreadful. The Right’s poem also lacks any superlative elements, they must tie.
A folk song about the village of Asahi in Ōmi Province, performed at the eastern celebration of the Great Thanksgiving Service in Chōwa 5 [1016].
あかねさす朝日のさとのひかげぐさ豊明のかざしなるべし
| akane sasu asahi no sato no hikagegusa toyo no akari no kazashi narubeshi | Shining madder red Morning sun rises over Asahi village, Sunlight upon the ground pines, for The banquets, ever lit, A fine hair decoration! |
Sukechika, Master of Service
祭主輔親
Round Two
Left (Tie)
大はらやをしほの里の朝霞ゆききになれし春ぞ忘れぬ
| ōhara ya oshio no sato no asagasumi yukiki ni nareshi haru zo wasurenu | In Ōhara At Oshio estate among The morning haze Accustomed to go back and forth, Never will I forget that springtime! |
The Former Minister of the Centre
3
Right
浦人のしほやく里のあさ霞春の物とやわかでみるらん
| urabito no shio yaku sato no asagasumi haru no mono to ya wakade miruran | Folk dwelling by the bay Roasting salt in their village: The morning haze From a scene in spring ‘tis Hard to distinguish, is it not?[1] |
Kozaishō
4
The Left’s poem composes ‘Oshio estate among the morning haze accustomed to go back and forth’ and, in addition to seeming to have some feeling in it, displays fine configuration and diction, while the Right’s poem ‘From as scene in spring ‘tis hard to distinguish, is it not?’ recollects Narihira’s poem ‘a scene from spring: ever-falling rain to gaze upon all day’ and has a gentle air about it, so both are difficult to distinguish from each other. I make this a tie.
[1] An allusive variation on KKS XIII: 616.
