すみよしの松とせしまに年もへぬちぎのかたそぎ行きあはずして
| sumiyoshi no matsu to seshi ma ni toshi mo henu chigi no katasogi yuki’awazushite | At Sumiyoshi Have I pined, while The years have passed; As the ridge-poles on the shrine, Never meeting… |
493


Round Twenty-Five
Left (Win)
あやなしなたぶさにずずをとりながらおもふこころのかつみだるらむ
| ayanashi na tabusa ni zuzu o torinagara omou kokoro ni katsu midaruramu | How strange it is! Within my hand sundry bijoux I hold, yet still My heart and thoughts Are all confused… |
Jakunen
149
Right
なにごとをまつとはなしにながらへていつすみよしとおもふべきみぞ
| nanigoto o matsu to wa nashi ni nagaraete itsu sumiyoshi to omoubeki mi zo | Nothing in particular Have I to expect, but I live on; O, when, that ‘tis good to live Will I come to think? |
Suke
150
The poem of the Left’s final section, saying ‘My heart and thoughts / Are all confused’ seems extremely pleasant. However, then there is ‘Within my hand sundry bijoux’: ‘sundry bijoux’ is an expression of foreign origin and sounds like prose diction. The poem of the Left seems pleasant with its allusion in ‘O, when, that ‘tis good to live’, yet the final section seems lacking in technique. While the Left’s second line gives cause for concern, its final sequencing is truly charming and thus it should win.


Round Twenty-Four
Left (Tie)
なにごとをまつとはなしにすみよしのかみにこころをかけぬまぞなき
| nanigoto o matsu to wa nashi ni sumiyoshi no kami ni kokoro o kakenu ma zo naki | Nothing in particular Have I to expect, but Sumiyoshi’s Deity within my heart Dwells not for no moments at all! |
Shōkaku
147
Right
いたづらにおいにけるかないにしへの人のうゑけむすぎならなくに
| itazura ni oinikeru naka inishie no hito no uekemu sugi naranaku ni | How brief it’s been, but I have grown old, though By ancient Folk a planted Cedar tree I’m not… |
Jakuchō
148
The conception of the Left’s poem, saying ‘Have I to expect, but’ sounds extremely charming, but the configuration of the poem of the Right, composing ‘Folk a planted / Cedar tree I’m not’ also appears pleasant. Thus, these tie.




Round Twenty
Left (Tie)
みのうさをわすれぐさこそきしにおふれむべすみよしとあまもいひけれ
| mi no usa o wasuregusa koso kishi ni oure mube sumiyoshi to ama mo iikere | The misery of my life I forget among the day lilies Growing on the shore— No wonder, Sumiyoshi is a pleasant place Say the fisherfolk, too! |
Kunisuke
139
Right
よをわたるみちをたがへてまどふかないづれのかたにゆきかくれまし
| yo o wataru michi o tagaete madou kana izure no kata ni yukikakuremashi | Passing through this world My path I have mistaken and Lost become! Which way should I go to hide myself away? |
Horikawa
140
The Left has the poem ‘For folk forget among the day lilies / Growing there, or so they say.’[1] in mind and its conception, drawing upon ‘The misery of my life’ is pleasant, I have to say. The Right has a charming configuration for such a poem, but its similarity to the poem by Lord Toshiyori, ‘Deep in depression on Mount Wabuka / On my path through the world / Have I mis-stepped’[2] means that I feel it sounds hackneyed, yet the final section ‘Which way should I’ and what follows, does sound moving. I should say that these tie.




[1] Composed and sent to someone he knew who had gone to Sumiyoshi. 住吉とあまはつぐともながゐすな人忘草おふといふなり sumiyoshi to / ama wa tsugu tomo / nagai su na / hito wasuregusa / ou to iu nari ‘Sumiyoshi is a pleasant place to stay, / So say the fisher-folk, yet / Do not stay there long, in Nagai; / For folk forget among the day lilies / Growing there, or so they say.’ Mibu no Tadamine (KKS XVII: 917)
[2] [One of] a hundred poem sequence on feeling regret and shame over one’s fate. わぶか山よにふるみちをふみたがへまどひつたよふ身をいかにせん wabukayama / yo ni furu michi o / fumitagae / madoitsu tayou / mi o ika ni sen ‘Deep in depression on Mount Wabuka / On my path through the world / Have I mis-stepped, and / Wandering lost, / O, what am I to do?’Minamoto no Toshiyori (Sanboku kikashū 1427)
Round Nineteen
Left (Win)
やはらぐるひかりをたのむしるしにはこむよのやみをてらさざらめや
| yawaraguru hikari o tanomu shirushi ni wa komu yo no yami o terasazarame ya | The God has dimmed His light, but rely on it As a sign, I will, that In the darkness of the world to come He will surely shine… |
Dharma Master Yūsei
137
Right
かみにわれたのみをかけてまつなればすみよしにこそみをばやどさめ
| kami ni ware tanomi o kakete matsu nareba sumiyoshi ni koso mi oba yadosame | In the God, I Place my trust, and Await, with the pines, so At Sumiyoshi, surely, Will I make my lodging! |
Norimori
138
The Left’s poem does not have a particularly remarkable conception, but with that being said, while its flow appears smooth, the expression of its core sentiment is, indeed, moving. As for the poem of the Right, while ‘Place my trust, and / Await, with the pines, so’ seems charming, the elevated tone of the Left is slightly superior, I think.




Round Eighteen
Left (Tie)
すみよしのきしかたのよにひきかへてはなさくまつのみともならばや
| sumiyoshi no kishikata no yo ni hikikaete hana saku matsu no mi tomo naraba ya | On Sumiyoshi’s Shore, for the coming world I would exchange— Waiting for blossom to bloom upon the pines— Myself, that’s what I long for… |
Koretsuna
135
Right
たのみこしかみのしるしにうきよをもすみよしとだにおもひなりせば
| tanomikoshi kami no shirushi ni ukiyo o mo sumiyoshi to dani omoinariseba | I have come to rely On a sign from the God, That this cruel world, too, Even become a pleasant place to dwell— Or so I have come to think… |
Suesada
136
Both the Left and Right this round only appear skilled in their use of diction. The poem on blossom probably needs a little more work, I think, but they really are about the same.




Round Seventeen
Left (Win)
すみよしのなごのはまべにあさりしてけふぞしりぬるいけるかひをば
| sumiyoshi no nago no hamabe ni asarishite kyō zo shirinuru ikeru kai oba | At Sumiyoshi On Nago’s seashore Have I gathered shellfish, for Today, I know too well, that There is a point to life… |
Taifu
133
Right
なげかじなよはさだめなきことのみかうきをもゆめとおもひなせかし
| nagekajina yo wa sadamenaki koto nomi ka uki o mo yume to omoinase kashi | Do not fall to grief! Is this world uncertain and Nothing more? It’s cruelties, too, as but a dream Imagine! |
Sadanaga
134
The poem of the Left has a suitable conception for this match and its configuration, again, has a singular, simple style. The poem of the Right, too, has a singular, almost prosaic conception, yet beginning ‘nothing more?’ and then having ‘imagine!’ is a further instance of diction which completely abandons poetic norms. Indeed, I have to say the Left wins.




Round Sixteen
Left (Win)
よにすめど人しれぬみやしをりするみやまがくれのたにのしたみづ
| yo ni sumedo hito shirenu mi ya shiorisuru miyamagakure no tani no shitamizu | Dwelling within this world, yet No one knows that ‘tis as if I Were marking a trail Hidden deep within the mountains To waters flowing on the valley floor… |
Hiromori
131
Right
あしからむなにはのことはかねてよりちかくてまもれすみよしのかみ
| ashikaramu naniwa no koto wa kanete yori chikakute mamore sumiyoshi no kami | Reaping reeds, should ill fortune come From Naniwa, in all things Just in case Ward me closely O, God of Sumiyoshi! |
Dharma Master Chikyō
132
The poem of the Right here, while it does draw on ‘reaping reeds at Naniwa’, in its phrasing sounds prosaic. As the Left’s ‘waters flowing on the valley floor’ seems to flow smoothly off the tongue, it wins.




Round Fifteen
Left
わかのうらとおもふばかりをたのみにてやどもさだめぬあまのこぞうき
| waka no ura to omou bakari o tanomi nite yado mo sadamenu ama no ko zo uki | At Waka Bay, for my youth Simply do I long; Relying on A homeless Son of fisherfolk is sad, indeed. |
Kyō
129
Right (Win)
すみよしのまつことなくていたづらにとしはつもりのうらみをぞする
| sumiyoshi no matsu koto nakute itazura ni toshi wa tsumori no urami o zo suru | At Sumiyoshi Pine I do not, but How quickly The years have laid Their despite upon me! |
Suehiro
130
The Left, while it does sound truly pitiful, truly could have had something in mind as an outcome of youth at Waka Bay. As for the Right, simply that ‘The years have laid / Their despite’ without pining, I know only too well, so I can say that the Right wins.




Round Fourteen
Left (Win)
みやゐしていくよへぬらむすみよしのまつふくかぜもかみさびにけり
| miya’ishite iku yo henuramu sumiyoshi no matsu fuku kaze mo kamisabinikeri | Since He manifested here How many ages might have passed? At Sumiyoshi The wind gusting through the pines, too, Is touched with divinity… |
Tsunemasa
127
Right
よのなかをいとふこころはさきだちていつまでとまるうきみなるらむ
| yo no naka o itou kokoro wa sakidachite itsu made tomaru ukimi naruramu | This mundane world My heart does despise and Would depart, but How long will I remain, Suffering as I am? |
Nakatsuna
128
Both Left and Right are expressions of grievance, but the Left is merely concerned with ‘Since He manifested here / How many ages might have passed?’, while the Right simply wonders ‘How long will I remain’ while despising the mundane world. I cannot really say that either is superior in the emotions they express, yet due to its reference to the deity, I should say that the Left wins.



