Round Two

Left (Tie)

大はらやをしほの里の朝霞ゆききになれし春ぞ忘れぬ

ōhara ya oshio no sato no asagasumi yukiki ni nareshi haru zo wasurenu

In Ōhara At Oshio estate among The morning haze Accustomed to go back and forth, Never will I forget that springtime!

The Former Minister of the Centre
3

Right

浦人のしほやく里のあさ霞春の物とやわかでみるらん

urabito no shio yaku sato no asagasumi haru no mono to ya wakade miruran

Folk dwelling by the bay Roasting salt in their village: The morning haze From a scene in spring ‘tis Hard to distinguish, is it not?[1]

Kozaishō
4

The Left’s poem composes ‘Oshio estate among the morning haze accustomed to go back and forth’ and, in addition to seeming to have some feeling in it, displays fine configuration and diction, while the Right’s poem ‘From as scene in spring ‘tis hard to distinguish, is it not?’ recollects Narihira’s poem ‘a scene from spring: ever-falling rain to gaze upon all day’ and has a gentle air about it, so both are difficult to distinguish from each other. I make this a tie.

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[1] An allusive variation on KKS XIII: 616.