[2] A minor variant of this poem occurs in Kokinshū (I: 14), attributed to Ōe no Chisato: 鶯の谷よりいづる声なくは春来ることを誰かしらまし uguisu no / tani yori izuru / koe naku wa / haru kuru koto o / tare ka shiramashi ‘If the bush-warbler / From the valleys / Did not sing his song, / That spring is coming / Would anyone realise at all?’; also Shinsen man’yōshū 261.
This match took place when, hearing that his courtiers were composing poetry, His Majesty ordered them to compose love poems to the ladies in attendance.
おもひあまりいかでもらさんおく山の岩かきこむる谷の下みづ
omoi’amari ikade morasan okuyama no iwa kakikomuru tani no shitamizu
My passion’s full, so How should it o’erflow? Deep within the mountains Hemmed in by crags are The waters of the valley floor…
Major Counsellor Kinzane 1
In reply
いかなれば音にのみきく山川の浅きにしもはこころよすらん
ika nareba oto ni nomi kiku yamakawa no asaki ni shimo wa kokoro yosuran
For some reason, I simply hear the sound Of a mountain stream; Into the shallows, indeed, has Your heart been swept, it seems!
Left and Right together: both tigers do not seem to emphasise anything in particular.
In judgement: both poems refer to ‘tigers’ (tora), with the Left having ‘a valley where tigers lie’ (tora fusu tani) and the Right ‘isles where tigers lie’ (tora fusu shima). These seem to be an attempt to differ from the standard ‘meadow’ (nobe). Saying ‘valley’ or ‘isles’ makes both poems sound modern. They are of the same quality.