Among the courtiers in service to His Majesty, former Emperor Uda, it was possible to pick out those who had some sensitivity and those who did not, so in a certain year, when the kōshin rite came around on the 7th day of the Seventh Month, those gentlemen who were thought to have this sensitivity spent the day composing poems on the topic of ‘feelings after meeting at Tanabata’ which were divided into teams and matched.
Left
としごとにこりずやあるらんたなばたのあひてこひしきわかれのみする
toshigoto ni korizu ya aruran tanabata no aite koishiki wakare nomi suru | Every single year Does she never learn, I wonder? The Weaver Maid Meets and then with love Does simply part. |
1
Right (Win)
おもひやる心のそらにしらるればたなばたつめのわかれかなしな
omoiyaru kokoro no sora ni shirarureba tanabatatsume no wakare kanashiki | Yearning fills The heavens of her heart— How well she knows it, for The Weaver Maid’s Parting is so sad. |
2



