Orchids
Left
おぼつかなあきくるごとにふぢばかまたがためにとかつゆのそむらん
| obotsukana aki kuru goto ni fujibakama ta ga tame ni toka tsuyu no somuran | How strange, that Whenever autumn comes Grow orchids— For whose sake, I wonder, Does the dewfall dye them? |
9
Right
おくしもにいくしほそめてふぢばかまいまはかぎりとさきはじむらん
| oku shimo ni iku shio somete fujibakama ima wa kagiri to sakihajimuran | The dewfall with Many dippings dyes The orchids— Now that all is done Might they begin to bloom. |
10
Autumn
Round Seven
Left
秋山はからくれなゐに成りにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけん
| akiyama wa karakurenai ni narinikeri iku shio shigure furite someken | The autumn mountains To Cathay scarlet Have turned; How many dippings with drizzle Have fallen to dye them so? |
13[1]
Right (Win)
秋きぬとめにはさやかにみえねども風の音にぞおどろかれぬる
| aki kinu to me ni wa sayaka ni mienedomo kaze no oto ni zo odorokarenuru | That autumn has come With my eyes, clearly, I cannot see, yet The sound of the wind Has startled me. |
Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 14[2]
[1] Shokugosenshū VII: 429
[2] This poem was particularly highly evaluated and so is included in numerous other anthologies (Kokin rokujō I: 125), exemplary collections (Shinsen waka 2) and senka awase – contests assembled from prior poems (Shunzei sanjū roku nin uta’awase 61; Jidai fudō uta’awase 49).
Composed on plovers.
沖つ潮指出の磯の浜千鳥風寒からし夜半に友呼ぶ
| oki tsu shio sashide no iso no hama chidori kaze samukarashi yowa ni tomo yobu | From the offing the tides Strike the shore at Sashide; On the beach plovers, Chilled by the wind Call for their mates at midnight. |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor [Fujiwara no] Nagakata (1139-1191)
藤原長方
Left (Tie)
よそにやは釣する志賀の海人を見ん枕の下を知らせだにせば
| yoso ni ya wa tsuri suru shiga no ama o min makura no shita o shirase dani seba | Unconnected with Fishing diver-girls At Shiga would I seem? When what lies beneath my pillow Is revealed… |
Lord Ari’ie
1173
Right
潮たるる袖にあはれの深きより心に浮ぶ海人の釣舟
| shio taruru sode ni aware no fukaki yori kokoro ni ukabu ama no tsuribune | Tide-spattered Sleeves: my sorrow is So deep that Floating upon my heart is A diver-girl’s fishing boat! |
Nobusada
1174
Left and Right together state: no faults.
In judgement: the poem of the Left has ‘unconnected with fishing diver-girls at Shiga would I seem?’ (yoso ni ya wa tsuri suru shiga no ama o min) and the poem of the Right has ‘floating upon my heart is a diver-girl’s fishing boat!’ (kokoro ni ukabu ama no tsuribune): both have profound conception and their diction sounds pleasant, so it is difficult to divide them into superior and inferior works. Thus, I make this a tie.
Left (Win)
今はさはあはれと思へ菅の根の長き心の程は見つらん
| ima wa sa wa aware to omoe suga no ne no nagaki kokoro no hodo wa mitsuran |
Now, indeed, let you Think fondly of me! The grasses’ roots run Long, my heart’s Love will you see… |
Lord Suetsune
1023
Right
世とゝもにかはくまもなき我袖や潮干もわかぬ浪の下草
| yo to tomo ni kawaku ma mo naki wa ga sode ya shioi mo wakanu nami no shitagusa |
With the passing time, Not a moment dry Are my sleeves; Low tide does not reveal The seaweed beneath the waves… |
Lord Takanobu
1024
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to indicate. The Left state: the Right’s poem is clichéd.
In judgement: the Right, in addition to being clichéd, can say no more than that love means wet sleeves. The Left’s ‘grasses’ roots’ (suga no ne) is certainly better.
Left (Tie).
雲井まで續きて見ゆわたつ海の行衛知られぬ物思かな
| kumoi made tsuzukite miyu wata tsu umi no yukue shirarenu mono’omoi kana |
Beyond the clouds My gaze goes on and on; The endless sea: What lies beyond is unknown As my gloomy thoughts… |
Lord Suetsune.
979
Right.
伊勢の海の潮瀬にさはぐさざれ石の砕けて物を思ふ比かな
| ise no umi no shiose ni sawagu sazare’ishi no kudakete mono o omou koro kana |
The sea at Ise: Raging rapids with the tides, Where pebbles Shatter, gloom Filling my thoughts these days… |
Ietaka.
980
The Right state: the Left’s poem is clichéd. The Left state: the Right’s poem is that of Shigeyuki.
In judgement: the Left’s poem is clichéd, but in addition to this uses ‘goes on and on’ (tsuzukite), which is not something one should say. The Right’s poem is, indeed, overly close to Shigeyuki’s, so both Left and Right poem are deficient and lacking in any element allowing a win.