Left (Win)
鴨のゐる入江の浪を心にて胸と袖とにさはぐ戀かな
| kamo no iru irie no nami o kokoro nite mune to sode to ni sawagu koi kana |
Ducks flock on The inlet’s waves Within my heart, so My breast and sleeves both Are raucous with love! |
Lord Sada’ie
1055
Right
佐保川の霧のまよひの程だにも妻もとむとて千鳥鳴夜を
| saogawa no kiri no mayoi no hodo dani mo tsuma motomu tote chidori naku yo o |
To the vernal river: The mist brings confusion And in its midst, Seeking a mate, A plover cries at night… |
Jakuren
1056
The Gentlemen of the Right state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘my breast and sleeves both are raucous’ (mune to sode to ni sawagu)? The Left, in appeal, state: there is ‘the river-mouths of my sleeves’ (sode no minato) and ‘when I think, upon my breast’ (omoeba mune ni) so linking ‘breast’ and ‘sleeve’ is entirely uncontroversial. The Gentlemen of the Left state: we find no faults to mention in the Right’s poem.
In judgement: I understand the views of the Left’s poem held by both teams. It has also been said that the Right’s poem lacks faults. However, in ‘seeking a mate, a plover cries at night’ (tsuma motomu tote chidori naku yo o) only the two words ‘at night’ (yo o) have any conception of love. The remainder of the poem is simply about plovers, so there is little of love about it. ‘Breast and sleeves both’ (mune to sode to) should win.