Round Five
Left (Win)
くらゐやまみねのさくらをかざしても人はものをやなほおもふらむ
| kuraiyama mine no sakura o kazashitemo hito wa mono o ya nao omouramu | Even should I Mount Kurai’s Cherry blossom from the peak Wear in my hair, As a man would such gloomy Thoughts still fill me? |
Lord Sane’ie
109
Right
ありてこそあらぬすがたになりもせめうしとていかがみをばなぐべき
| arite koso aranu sugata ni nari mo seme ushi tote ikaga mi oba nagubeki | I live on, so My former state I have abandoned; How can I all the cruelties Cast from my flesh? |
Atsuyori
110
The Left’s configuration and conception are truly charming. The writer is troubled, isn’t he! In particular, the configuration of ‘As a man would such gloomy / Thoughts still fill me?’ sounds especially pleasant. For the Right, the tone of ‘How can I all the cruelties’ also seems pleasant, but still, I make the Left the winner.
Round Three
Left
女郎花露もわきてやおきつらんしほれ姿のあてにも有るかな
| ominaeshi tsuyu mo wakite ya okitsuran shioresugata no ate ni mo aru kana | Upon the maidenflowers Might the dew discriminate In its falling? For its dampened form Is so fine! |
Lord Minamoto no Michiyoshi, Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division
5
Right (Win)
もも草の花もあだにやおもふらんひと色ならずうつす心を
| momokusa no hana mo ada ni ya omouran hito iro narazu utsusu kokoro o | A multitude of grasses Blooms: do they play me false Should I think? For not to one hue alone Is my heart drawn… |
Kojijū, Court Lady to Her Majesty
6
The Left, by saying ‘Might the dew discriminate / In its falling?’ seems to want to describe the way that the flowers’ colours become deeper or fainter. It is not appropriate, however, to use ‘dampened form’ in this way. Furthermore, saying something ‘seems fine’ lacks elegance, doesn’t it. The Right does not lack the conception of the topic, so it should win.
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.
