Round Twenty-One
Left
ひさかたの月もひかりをやはらげてしめのうちにはすむにやあるらむ
| hisakata no tsuki mo hikari o yawaragete shime no uchi ni wa sumu ni ya aruramu | The eternal Moon, too, his light Has softened, that Within the sacred grounds Should be more clear, perhaps? |
Lord Fujiwara no Asamune
Supernumerary Governor of Suruga
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade[1]
41
Right (Win)
月かげをゆきかとみればすみよしのあけのたまがきいろもかくれず
| tsukikage o yuki ka to mireba sumiyoshi no ake no tamagaki iro mo kakurezu | When, upon the moonlight, I looked and wondered if ‘twas snow, At Sumiyoshi The vermillion jewelled fences’ Hues were not concealed at all. |
Lord Fujiwara no Kanetsuna
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
Without Office[2]
42
The Left’s ‘Moon, too, his light / Has softened’ and so forth seems a charming configuration, but it is unclear from this whether the moon is shining more gently within the sacred grounds. Although I do wonder about the sound of beginning with ‘I looked and wondered if ‘twas snow’ and abruptly ending with ‘Hues were not concealed at all’, the conception seems clearly expressed in the diction and so I make the Right the winner.
[1] Suruga gonkami jūgoige Fujiwara ason Asamune駿河権守従五位下藤原朝臣朝宗
[2] San’i jūgoige Fujiwara ason Kanetsuna 散位従五位下藤原朝臣懐綱
Left (Win)
たまがきにひかりさしそふゆふづくよかみにたむくるかげにやあるらむ
| tamagaki ni hikari sashisouru yūzukuyo kami ni tamukuru kage ni ya aruramu | The jewelled fences, Trailed with light, On an early moonlit evening: Is this to the Deity an offering Of light, I wonder? |
Lord Fujiwara no Kunisuke
Supernumerary Senior Secretary of the Empress Household Office
Exalted Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
39
Right
くもはらふあらしのみがく月にまたひかりをそふるあけのたまがき
| kumo harau arashi no migaku tsuki ni mata hikari o souru ake no tamagaki | Clouds swept away By the storm wind, polish The moon, so once more Light trails across The vermillion jewelled fences. |
Horikawa, from the Residence of the Former Chancellor[1]
40
The Left’s poem is extremely charming with the solicitousness it displays in the sequence ‘On an early moonlit evening: / Is this to the Deity an offering’, but it is truly regrettable that it does not use the full moon or that at the dawn. The Right’s poem focusses on ‘light trailing’ and, as I get the impression that I have heard this a lot recently, the earlier instances have said all there is to say here, so once more the overall style of the Left is superior.
[1] Zen-dajō daijin no ie Horikawa 前太政大臣家堀川
Round Eleven
Left (Tie)
すみよしのかみさびにけるたまがきをみがくは月のひかりなりけり
| sumiyoshi no kamisabinikeru tamagaki o migaku wa tsuki no hikari narikeri | Sumiyoshi’s Awesome Begemmed fences are Polished by the moon’s Light. |
Hyōenokami, in service to the Junior Consort[1]
21
Right
くまもなくさえゆく月にみがかれてひかりをそふるあけのたまがき
| kuma mo naku saeyuku tsuki ni migakurete hikari o souru ake no tamagaki | Not a cloud mars The chill moon Polishing With trailing light The vermillion begemmed fences. |
Lord Minamoto no Michichika,
Supernumerary Minor Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division,
Exalted Senior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade[2]
22
Both Left and Right take up the image of the moon’s light polishing the begemmed fences, and the Right’s final section expresses emotions which are frequently heard, while the Left, furthermore, is repetitive [it concludes two lines with the ending –keru/keri] and thus I make the round a tie.
[1] Nyōgo no ie Hyōenokami女御家兵衛督
[2] Shōyon’ige-gyō ukonoe gonshōjō Minamoto ason Michichika 正四位下行右近衛権少将源朝臣通親
