Left
なみだがはせけどとまらずあかつきのわかれはをしのうきねをぞする
| namidagawa sekedo tomarazu akatsuki no wakare wa oshi no ukine o zo suru | The river of my tears I dam, yet they cease not: Dawn’s Parting I regret, as a mandarin Drifting in fitful sleep. |
36
Right
おきてゆくかたもしられずまどふかななみだもそでもめにさはりつつ
| okiteyuku kata mo shirarezu madou kana namida mo sode mo me ni sawaritsutsu | Rising and departing, Knowing not where to go, I am lost! My tears and my sleeves, too, Ever sting my eyes… |
37
Left
いをしねばゆめにもひとをみるべきをよなよなさむるめこそつらけれ
| i o shi neba yume ni mo hito o mirubeki o yonayona samuru me koso tsurakere | When I’m deep in sleep Even in my dreams, too, her I can behold, but Waking, night after night, Is cruel to my eyes, indeed! |
9
Right
こひわびてこころまどへるねざめにはおもかげをだにあふとたのまむ
| koiwabite kokoro madoeru nezame ni wa omokage o dani au to tanomamu | Desolate with love, My heart just wanders lost; On waking, Even an image of you To meet is all I would ask. |
10
Round Nine
Left (Win)
うらさむくしぐるるよはのたびごろもきしのはにふにいたくにほひぬ
| ura samuku shigururu yowa no tabigoromo kishi no hanyū ni itaku nioinu | The bay is cold with Midnight showers, as My traveller’s robe With the shore’s ochre clay Is deeply stained. |
Taifu
67
Right
おもへただみやこのうちのねざめだにしぐるるそらはあはれならずや
| omoe tada miyako no uchi no nezame dani shigururu sora wa aware narazu ya | Simply think of me, when Within the capital You start from sleep— A showery sky is Sad, isn’t it? |
Sadanaga
68
While configuration of the Left’s poem, saying ‘With the shore’s ochre clay / Is deeply stained’ feels crude, it does appear to be in the style of the Myriad Leaves. As for the Right’s poem, its conception is good, but starting, ‘Simply think of me’ begs the question of who this is said to. Such diction is used in poetry exchanges or love poems, in particular. The Left’s poem is most likely superior.
Round Four
Left (Tie)
たびねするあれたるやどのしぐれにはなみだもともにもるにぞありける
| tabinesuru aretaru yado no shigure ni wa namida mo tomo ni moru ni zo arikeru | Sleeping on my travels In a ruined hut, The showers And my tears, both, Do leave me drenched! |
Minamoto no Munenaga
(formerly Michikiyo)
57
Right
ちぎらねどさよのねざめにおとづれてしぐれぞたびのともとなりける
| chigiranedo sayo no nezame ni otozurete shigure zo tabi no tomo to narikeru | It made no vow, yet On awaking from a brief night’s sleep, I am visited by the sound Of showers—my journey’s Companion, have they become. |
Fujiwara no Noritsune
58
The Left conception and configuration appear pleasant, but after saying that one is ‘sleeping on my travels’ to then have ‘a ruined hut’—this does not really sound like somewhere a person would take lodging on their journey. As for the Right, it seems like the only reason the poet has begun with ‘it made no vow, yet’ is because he wished to use ‘companion’, but these pieces of diction are too far apart. Still, it does seem to have some conception, so I make these a tie.
Scarlet Plum Blossom
Left
あひがたき人をばさらにみしころはいのはなれてはねられざりけり
| aigataki hito oba sara ni mishi koro wa i no hanarete wa nerarezarikeri | Hard to meet Her it was, but finally, I saw her once more, then Being parted Robbed me of my sleep. |
Tsurayuki
7
Right (Win)
わすれにし人をぞゆめになほこむはいのはなやかにねられてぞみる
| wasurenishi hito o zo yume ni nao komu wa i no hanayaka ni nerarete zo miru | Forgotten by A lady who to my dreams Does yet come, so In sleep, clearly, When sleeping only do I see her! |
8