Composed as a love poem, when at a poetry match.
おもひかねなほ恋ぢにぞかへりぬるうらみは末もとほらざりけり
| omoFikane naFo koidi ni zo kaerinuru urami Fa suwe mo toForazarikeri | I cannot but care, so Yet again to the path of love I have returned; My hatred right to the end Has not endured. |
Monk Shun’e
Left
あきといへばいまいくたびものこらぬををしむ心もともにつきつつ
| aki to ieba ima ikutabi mo nokoranu o oshimu kokoro mo tomo ni tsukitsutsu | Speaking of the autumn, Now, how many times is it that Nothing remains, and With a regretful heart It is ever exhausted? |
45
Right
をしむにもとまらぬあきの立ちゐてはうらみをのみやおもひでにせん
| oshimu ni mo tomaranu aki no tachi’ite wa urami o nomi ya omoidenisen | Regrets that Autumn lingers not Arise, so With despite alone Will it be remembered? |
46
Left.
夜を重ね心の関のかたきかなわが音は鳥の空音ならねば
| yo o kasane kokoro no seki no kataki kana wa ga ne wa tori no sorane naraneba |
Night upon night The barriers upon your heart Stand firm, indeed! For the sounds I make are no cock’s False crow! |
Lord Ari’ie
1001
Right (Win).
人知れぬうらみにあまる浪の上を抑ふる袖や須磨の関守
| hito shirenu urami ni amaru nami no ue o osauru sode ya suma no sekimori |
She cannot know The prospect of my despair; Dashed upon the waves Are my sleeves Barrier Wardens at Suma? |
Jakuren
1002
The Right state: why specifically refer to a ‘false crow’ (sorane)? This makes it sound as if the barrier would not be opened for a real bird’s cry. In response, the Left: as there is the precedent of a barrier being opened in response to a false crow, the poem draws upon this to refer to ‘the sounds I make’ (wa ga ne) – we fail to see why this is problematic. The Left state: we find no faults in need of identification in the Right’s poem.
In judgement: it seems difficult to distinguish between ‘the sounds I make’ and the ‘false crow’ in the Left’s poem, and the Right’s ‘dashed upon the waves are my sleeves’ (osauru sode) is pleasant. Thus, the Right wins.