Left (Win)
はるのよのちよをひとよになしてしかあくやあかずやねでこころみむ
| haru no yo no chiyo o hitoyo ni nashiteshika aku ya akazu ya nede kokoromimu | Spring nights By the thousand, into a single night Have been made— Am I satisfied or not, Sleepless, how will I know? |
25
Right
あひみてもなほなぐさまぬこひなればわがみなれどももてぞわづらふ
| ai mite mo nao nagusamanu koi nakereba wagami naredomo mote zo wazurau | Seeing and meeting you Has not eased My yearning, but without it My sorry self would yet Suffer from your treatment! |
26
Round Seven
Left
かすがやまちえにさかゆるさかきばはよろづよまでのきみがためか
| kasugayama chie ni sakayuru sakakiba wa yorozuyo made no kimi ga tame ka | Upon Kasuga Mountain A thousand branches grow, Leafy, on the sacred tree— Until ten thousand ages pass Will they ward my Lord! |
Lady Kazusa
69
Right
君がよはいふかぎりなしみよしののこがねがみねにみよをまつまで
| kimi ga yo wa iu kagiri nashi miyoshino no kogane ga mine ni miyo o matsu made | My Lord’s reign— Words cannot describe: ‘til fair Yoshino’s Golden peak’s Age one must await! |
Lady Shikibu
70
The poem of the Left seems poetic to an extraordinarily outlandish degree! The poem of the Right’s ‘‘til fair Yoshino’s / Golden peak’s / Age one must await!’ has a sufficient conception of felicitation. Thus, these tie.
That the Left is addressed to Mount Kasuga is highly admirable. Is the Right’s ‘golden peak’ a reference to Mount Mitake? It’s very difficult to say anything profound here. Arbitrarily, I would make this a tie—the quality of the poems makes that seem right.
