Round Thirty-Two

Left (Tie)

上葉ふく朝の原の秋風におのれうつろふ萩の下露

uwaba fuku ashita no hara no akikaze ni onore utsurou hagi no shitazuyu

Blowing upon the upper leaves Over Ashita Plain, The autumn breeze touches, Fading all of itself The dripping dew upon the bush clover.

Tomoshige
63

Right

今よりはたが涙とか成りぬらん下葉色づく秋萩の露

ima yori wa ta ga namida to ka narinuran shitaba irozuku akihagi no tsuyu

From now on Whose tears might They become? Colouring the underleaves Are dewdrops upon the autumn bush clover…[1]

Dharma Master Zenshin
64

Left and Right are in the same style. The Right’s poem wonders ‘whose are these tears’ and has a person’s tears as the dew upon the grass, which is something one often hears. Using dew on the grass as a person’s tears is a bit vague, yet it’s not going so far as to be a definite fault. These should tie.

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[1] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. あきはぎのしたば色づく今よりやひとりある人のいねがてにする akihagi no / shitaba irozuku / ima yori ya / hitori aru hito no / inegatenisuru ‘The autumn bush clover’s / Underleaves are colouring / From this point on, / For one all alone / Will sleep be harder to find?’ Anonymous (KKS IV: 220)