A woman who lived in a rather dilapidated place, when she was feeling alone, picked some violets from her garden and sent them to a man saying:
我が宿にすみれの花の多かれば来宿る人やあると待つかな
| a ga yado ni sumire no Fana no oFokareba kiyadoru Fito ya aru to matu kana |
At my home The violets bloom In profusion, so Wondering if you will come to stay I am awaiting! |
Anonymous
Left (Win).
末までといひしばかりに浅茅原宿も我名も朽や果てなん
| sue made to iishi bakari ni asajibara yado mo wa ga na mo kuchi ya hatenan |
‘Until the very end,’ You simply said, but A field of cogon grass Surrounds my house; my name, too, Will it wither away…? |
A Servant Girl
769
Right.
斧の柄も年経る程は知る物をなど我恋の朽つる世もなき
| ono no e mo toshi heru hodo wa shiru mono o nado wa ga koi no kutsuru yo mo naki |
Even my axe handle, Endures through the passing years, I know it, but Why is it that this love Does not rot from this world? |
Jakuren
770
Neither poem has any errors.
In judgement: ‘My house; my name, too’ (yado mo wa ga na mo) sounds better than ‘Why is it that this love’ (nado wa ga koi). The Left wins.
Left.
夏來てぞ野中の庵は荒れまさる窓とぢてけり軒の下草
| natsu kite zo nonaka no io wa aremasaru mado tojitekeri noki no shitagusa |
Summer has come, and Out upon the plains, the hut Has gone to ruin – Windows sealed by Grasses growing ‘neath the eaves. |
199
Right (Win).
わが宿のよもぎが庭は深し誰分けよとか打ちも拂はん
| wa ga yado no yomogi ga niwa wa fukashi dare wakeyo to ka uchi mo harawan |
My dwelling’s Garden is all overgrown Deep as deep can be, but With no-one to force a passage through I’ll not sweep it back! |
200
The Right have no criticisms to make of the Left’s poem. The Left, though, wonder, ‘What is the meaning of “sweep” (uchiharau) in relation to a garden?’
Shunzei comments: ‘The poems of both Left and Right are superb in configuration and diction [sugata kotoba yū ni haberi]. However, the Left, by saying “gone to ruin” (aremasaru) about a hut on the plains, gives the impression it is talking about the beginning of winter, just after the end of autumn. Furthermore, the poem also gives the impression of being composed on the topic of “Field Lodges” (notei). As for the Right, it is certainly possible to sweep away an overgrown garden, as well as the dust from one’s bed, so I see no problems with this usage. Saying “summer’s deep” is by no means unpleasant. The Right wins.”