ware koso wa nobe oba yado ni utsushitsure ta ga sasoikoshi mushi no nezoko wa
‘Twas I, indeed, who The meadow to my dwelling Shifted, but Who is it has been invited here By the insects’ songs?
Shun’e Tayū no kimi 21
Right
秋の野の千くさの花の色色を心ひとつにそめてこそみれ
aki no no no chikusa no hana no iroiro o kokoro hitotsu ni somete koso mire
The autumn meadows Thousand grasses’ blooms Have hues a’plenty, but My heart, but one, Has been dyed, you see!
Mikawa, Court Lady to His Excellency 22
The Left sounds as if the poet is being comforted by the insects which is at some variance from the essential meaning of the topic, and yet when I listen to it, it has an abundance of charm. The Right doesn’t differ, does it, from Kanemasa’s poem in the Poetry Match held at the Residence of the Minister of the Centre in Gen’ei 2 [1119]:
秋くれば千くさに匂ふ花の色の心ひとつにいかでしむらん
aki kureba chikusa ni niou hana no iro no kokoro hitotsu ni ikade shimuran
When the autumn comes The thousand grasses glow With flowers’ hues, but Why, then, does my heart with but one Seem to be stained?
uchiharau makura no chiri mo kakurenaku aretaru yado o terasu tsukikage
Needing to be swept away, The dust upon my pillow Cannot be concealed In my dilapidated dwelling, when The moonlight shines within…
Taifu 37
Right
秋の夜の月みる袖におく露やひるにかはれるしるしなるらん
aki no yo no tsuki miru sode ni oku tsuyu ya hiru ni kawareru shirushi naruran
On an autumn night Upon my sleeves, when gazing at the moon, Fall dewdrops— That all is changed from daytime Might they be a sign?
Yorisuke 38
In both the moon is bright, and I feel they reflect the essential meaning of the topic, but as its diction is currently slightly more familiar, I make the Left the winner. It would be possible to call this a tie, too, though.
wa ga yado no kakine ni sakeru unohana no uki koto shigeki yo ni koso arikere
At my house Upon the brushwood fence bloom Deutzia flowers— Sad things, alone, grow well Indeed, in this world of ours! [i]
[i] An allusive variation on: On blossom. うぐひすのかよふかきねのうのはなのうきことあれやきみがきまさぬ uguisu no / kayou kakine no / unohana no / uki koto are ya / kimi ga kimasanu ‘The warbler / Flits around my brushwood fence’s / Deutzia blooms— / Is there some sad event which / Stops my Lord from coming?’ Anonymous (MYS X: 1988).
