Singing Girls 妓女
をみなへしめでたき花のすがたかな衣通姫もかくやありけん
ominaeshi medetaki hana no sugata kana sotōri hime mo kaku ya ariken | These maidenflowers have Fair blooming Forms, indeed! Was Princess Sotōri As this, I wonder? |
Kanemasa
みるままにわがすがたをばかきてましちぢのこがねををしまざりせば
miru mama ni wa ga sugata oba kakitemashi chiji no kogane o oshimazariseba | While gazing upon My form I how I would be painted; For my thousand-weight of gold Will bring me no regrets… |
Kanemasa
Left (Tie)
ます鏡うつしかへけむ姿ゆへ影絶えはてし契をぞ知る
masukagami utsushikaekemu sugata yue kage taehateshi chigiri o zo shiru |
A clear glass Will reflect back My true face, yet A form fixed forever Reveals his my vow to me… |
A Servant Girl
1113
Right
戀妻に似てや書らん見つるより絵にも心をうつしつる哉
koizuma ni nite ya kakuran mitsuru yori e ni mo kokoro o utsushitsuru kana |
My beloved wife: Does this so resemble her, that at The mere sight of The painting, my heart Does move? |
Lord Tsune’ie
1114
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poems contains a fault, does it not?
In judgement: What are we to make of the Left’s ‘In a clear glass my ever-changing reflected’ (masukagami utsushikaekemu)? While I have the feeling that there is a source for this poem, this aged official is completely unable to grasp it what it might be. It is not the case that the poem is lacking in an elegant style. The Gentlemen of the Left have commented on the existence of a fault in the Right’s poem. Perhaps the two cranes (tsuru)? This type of issue relating to a poem’s formal diction does not seem that serious to me. However, saying ‘does this so resemble her, that at’ (nite ya kakuran) is insufficient in terms of expression. The Left’s ‘clear glass’ would win, if its source were clear, but in its absence, it is difficult to make it the winner.
Left.
憂しつらし安積の沼の草の名よかりにも深き縁は結ばで
ushi tsurashi asaka no numa no kusa no na yo kari ni mo fukaki en wa musubade |
How cruel and cold! At Asaka Marsh The once seen reeds do grow; Briefly, a deep Bond will not be made. |
645
Right.
かゝりける姿の池の鴛の聲聞きては袖の濡れし數かは
kakarikeru sugata no ike no oshi no koe kikite wa sode no nureshi kazu ka wa |
Such a Form! On Sugata Pond The loving mandarin duck calls I hear and my sleeves: Drenched how many times? |
646
Neither team has any criticisms this round.
Shunzei’s judgement: ‘The Left’s ‘At Asaka Marsh’ (asaka no numa) and the Right’s ‘On Sugata Pond the loving mandarin duck calls’ (sugata no ike no oshi no koe) are both tasteful in diction [yū no kotoba ni wa haberu], but beginning with ‘How cruel and cold!’ (ushi tsurashi) sounds like the poet is writing a love letter, and this is overly informal for a poetry competition [uta’awase ni wa kegen naru yō ni ya haberan]. ‘On Sugata Pond the loving mandarin duck calls’ is charming, but why did the poet not continue with ‘I did hear and my sleeves’ (kikishi wa sode no)? In any case, this round neither poem is markedly superior to the other.