Left (Tie).
いにしへの流れを受くる御狩かなその芹河の跡にまかせて
| inishie no nagare o ukuru mikari kana sono serikawa no ato ni makasete |
In days long gone, Flowed by here His Majesty’s hunting party; At the River Seri, Traces, tell the tale… |
537
Right.
いにしへの野守の鏡今日見れば御幸を映す氷なりけり
| inishie no nomori no kagami kyō mireba miyuki o utsusu kōri narikeri |
That long ago Falconer’s mirror: When I look on it today, Reflecting the progress is A sheet of ice. |
538
The Right find no fault with the Left’s poem. The Left wonder whether ice is able to reflect anything, and what the purpose of using the term is.
Shunzei’s judgement: Both poems are elegant [yū], starting with ‘In days long gone, flowed by here’ (inishie no nagare o ukuru) and ‘That long ago falconer’s mirror: when I look on it today’ (inishie no nomori no kagami kyō mireba) respectively, but the use of ‘the’ (sono) in the Left’s ‘the River Seri’ (sono serikawa) is poor [ika ni zo kikoyu]. The Right’s ‘ice’ (kōri) really does seem somewhat unsuitable. Thus, it is impossible to pick either as the winner.