Round Twenty-Three

Left (Win)

雪ふかみしづのふせ屋もうづもれて煙ばかりぞしるしなりける

yuki fukami shizu no fuseya mo uzumorete keburi bakari zo shirushi narikeru

Snow so deep that The peasants’ huts, too, Are buried, and The smoke, alone, is Their only sign!

Kinshige
45

Right

花の春もみぢの秋もしるかりし松の木ずゑもみえぬ白雪

hana no haru momiji no aki mo shirukarishi matsu no kozue mo mienu shirayuki

By blossom is spring, and By scarlet leaves is autumn Known— The treetops of the pines Invisible with snow, so white.

Kūnin
46

The Left poem’s conception of ‘sign of smoke’ sounds particularly profound. As for the Right, it is possible for enough snow to fall to conceal a pine’s lower leaves, too, so the poem does not sound satisfying.