Left (Tie).
つれもなき人をもさそへ夜はの月影ばかりだによそに見るやと
| tsure mo naki hito o mo sasoe yowa no tsuki kage bakari dani yoso ni miru ya to |
That heartless Man, will you invite O midnight Moon! Even just an image In the distance would I wish to see… |
Lord Suetsune.
905
Right.
秋の月妹が面影さそひきて我心にも宿すなりけり
| aki no tsuki imo ga omokage sasoikite wa ga kokoro ni mo yadosu narikeri |
The autumn moon My darling’s face Does bring to me, and Within my heart Has it found a place to stay. |
The Provisional Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
906
The Right state: if one is inviting someone to come and visit, then there is no reason to mention ‘just an image’ (kage bakari). We wonder whether the invitation is addressed to the sky? The Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: both Left and Right have the same conception of an invitation addressed to the moon. The Round can only be a tie.
Left (Win).
いかなれば程なき中の通ひ路も逢ひ見ぬ夜半は苦しかるらん
| ika nareba hodo naki naka no kayoiji mo aiminu yowa wa kurushikaruran |
Why is it that We are so close in love And distance, yet Those nights we cannot meet Are so painful still? |
Lord Kanemune
879
Right.
思ひこそ遠き程だにしるべなれ手も通ひなん中の隔ては
| omoi koso tōki hodo dani shirube nare te mo kayoi nan naka no hedate wa |
Love’s flame Across a distance far Is a beacon; though An outstretched hand Is our only separation… |
Lord Takanobu
880
As the previous round.
In judgement: the Right sounds as if the lovers are exceedingly close. The Left, that even when the distance separating you is not that great, it is still painful, is, indeed, the case. Thus, the Left wins.
Left.
來ぬ床は明る頼みもなき物をひまや白むと待ぞあやしき
| konu toko wa akuru tanomi mo naki mono o hima ya shiromu to matsu zo ayashiki |
An unvisited bed, Of light has No hope, but Brightening through my bedroom door Is what I am awaiting – how strange… |
Lord Kanemune.
833
Right (Win).
頼めつゝ更けゆく夜半を歎きても鳥の音をやは待あかしつる
| tanometsutsu fukeyuku yowa o nagekitemo tori no ne o ya wa matsu akashitsuru |
Time and again he’d say he’d come, and Through the deepening night I’d grieve, but Is it now for the first bird call That I have awaited the dawn? |
Lord Takanobu.
834
The Right state: ‘Unvisited bed’ (konu toko) sounds as if it is the bed doing the visiting. The Left state: we do not feel that the Right’s poem expresses its intended sense fully.
In judgement: I feel it sounds better to say that ‘through the deepening night’ (fukeyuku yowa) ‘is it now for the first bird call’ (tori no ne o ya wa) that one waits, rather than that one is in ‘an unvisited bed’ (konu toko) waiting for ‘brightening through my bedroom door’ (hima ya shiromu).