not even wetted 3
The poem was not completed.
Narihira took the wine cup in his hands, and with charcoal from a pinewood torch he added the last lines to the verse:
Mata Ausaka no
I shall cross again to you
Seki wa koenamu
Over Meeting Barrier.
When day dawned he set out for the Province of Owari.
( LXIX )
In former times when Narihira, having fallen ill, felt that he was going to die, he wrote this poem:
Tsui ni yuku
That it is a road
Michi to wa kanete
Which some day we all travel
Kikishikado
I had heard before,
Kin Å ky Å to wa
Yet I never expected
Omowazarishi wo
To take it so soon myself.
( CXXV )
TRANSLATED BY RICHARD LANE (I, LXV, LXIl)
AND F. VOS (IV, LXIII, CXXV)
Footnotes
1 Became of bit youth he was permitted to frequent the ladies' palace.
2 Warekara is at once the name of an insect that lives in seaweed and a word meaning "of itself" or "of its own will."
3 A pun here between "inlet" and "connection" ( eni ). The reply has the usual play on the name Ausaka (Osaka), the name of a mountain and barrier east of Kyoto in which it imbedded the word au , "to meet."
KOKINSHO
The "Kokinsh Å« ," or "Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems," was the first of the anthologies of Japanese poetry compiled by Imperial order. It was completed in 905, and contains 1,111 poems, almost all of them waka. The preface to the work by Ki no Tsura-yuki (died 946) indicates the tone of the poetry included; and he lists some of the circumstances under which the "Kokinsh Å« " poets expressed themselves: "when they looked at the scattered blossoms of a spring morning; when they listened of an autumn evening to the falling of the leaves; when they sighed over the snow and waves reflected with each passing year by their looking glasses; when they were startled into thoughts on the brevity of life by seeing the dew on the grass or the foam on the water; when, yesterday all proud and splendid, they have fallen from fortune into loneliness; or when, having been dearly loved, are neglected" These subjects were all capable of inspiring beautiful poetry, but the gentle melancholy they imply imposed severe limitations on the range of expression, certainly when compared with the "Man'y Å sh Å« . The "Kokinsh Å« ," however, was the model of waka composition for a thousand years (particularly until the eighteenth century) and as such is of the greatest importance. One curious feature is that many of the best poems are anonymous.
Tagitsu se no
They say there is
Naka ni mo yodo wa
A still pool even in the middle of
Ari ch Å wo
The rushing whirlpoolâ
Nado waga koi no
Why is there none in the whirlpool
Fuchise to mo naki
of my love?
Anonymous
. .
Haru taieba
Like the ice which melts
Kiyuru k Å ri no
When spring begins
Notori naku
Not leaving a trace behind,
Kimi ga kokoro mo
May your heart melt toward mei
Ware ni tokenamu
Anonymous
. .
Oiraku no
If only, when one heard
Komu to shiriseba
That Old Age was coming
Kado sashite
One could bolt the door
Nashi to kotaete
Answer "not at home"
Awazaramashi wo
And refuse to meet him!
Anonymous
. .
Yo no naka wa
Can this world
Mukashi yori ya wa
From of old
Ukarikemu
Always have been so sad,
Waga mi hitotsu no
Or did it become so for the sake
Tame ni nareru ka
Of me alone?
Anonymous
. .
Waga koi wa
My love
Yukue mo shirazu
Knows no destination
Hate mo nashi
And has no goal;
Au wo kagiri to
I think only
Ornati bakari zo
Of meeting as its limit.
Å shik Å chi no Mitsune (859-907)
. .
Iro miede
A thing which fades
Utsurou mono wa
With no outward signâ
Yo no naka no
Is the flower
Hito no kokora no
Of the heart of man
Hana ni zo arikeru
In this world!
Ono no Komachi (Ninth Century) 1
TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR WALEY
. .
Ariane no
Since I left her,
Tsurenaku mieshi
Frigid as the setting moon,
Wakare yori
There is nothing I loathe
Akatsuki bakari
As much as the light
Uki mono wa nashi
Of dawn on the clouds.
Mibu no Tadamine (Ninth Century)
TRANSLATED BY KENNETH REXROTH
.
The poem was not completed.
Narihira took the wine cup in his hands, and with charcoal from a pinewood torch he added the last lines to the verse:
Mata Ausaka no
I shall cross again to you
Seki wa koenamu
Over Meeting Barrier.
When day dawned he set out for the Province of Owari.
( LXIX )
In former times when Narihira, having fallen ill, felt that he was going to die, he wrote this poem:
Tsui ni yuku
That it is a road
Michi to wa kanete
Which some day we all travel
Kikishikado
I had heard before,
Kin Å ky Å to wa
Yet I never expected
Omowazarishi wo
To take it so soon myself.
( CXXV )
TRANSLATED BY RICHARD LANE (I, LXV, LXIl)
AND F. VOS (IV, LXIII, CXXV)
Footnotes
1 Became of bit youth he was permitted to frequent the ladies' palace.
2 Warekara is at once the name of an insect that lives in seaweed and a word meaning "of itself" or "of its own will."
3 A pun here between "inlet" and "connection" ( eni ). The reply has the usual play on the name Ausaka (Osaka), the name of a mountain and barrier east of Kyoto in which it imbedded the word au , "to meet."
KOKINSHO
The "Kokinsh Å« ," or "Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems," was the first of the anthologies of Japanese poetry compiled by Imperial order. It was completed in 905, and contains 1,111 poems, almost all of them waka. The preface to the work by Ki no Tsura-yuki (died 946) indicates the tone of the poetry included; and he lists some of the circumstances under which the "Kokinsh Å« " poets expressed themselves: "when they looked at the scattered blossoms of a spring morning; when they listened of an autumn evening to the falling of the leaves; when they sighed over the snow and waves reflected with each passing year by their looking glasses; when they were startled into thoughts on the brevity of life by seeing the dew on the grass or the foam on the water; when, yesterday all proud and splendid, they have fallen from fortune into loneliness; or when, having been dearly loved, are neglected" These subjects were all capable of inspiring beautiful poetry, but the gentle melancholy they imply imposed severe limitations on the range of expression, certainly when compared with the "Man'y Å sh Å« . The "Kokinsh Å« ," however, was the model of waka composition for a thousand years (particularly until the eighteenth century) and as such is of the greatest importance. One curious feature is that many of the best poems are anonymous.
Tagitsu se no
They say there is
Naka ni mo yodo wa
A still pool even in the middle of
Ari ch Å wo
The rushing whirlpoolâ
Nado waga koi no
Why is there none in the whirlpool
Fuchise to mo naki
of my love?
Anonymous
. .
Haru taieba
Like the ice which melts
Kiyuru k Å ri no
When spring begins
Notori naku
Not leaving a trace behind,
Kimi ga kokoro mo
May your heart melt toward mei
Ware ni tokenamu
Anonymous
. .
Oiraku no
If only, when one heard
Komu to shiriseba
That Old Age was coming
Kado sashite
One could bolt the door
Nashi to kotaete
Answer "not at home"
Awazaramashi wo
And refuse to meet him!
Anonymous
. .
Yo no naka wa
Can this world
Mukashi yori ya wa
From of old
Ukarikemu
Always have been so sad,
Waga mi hitotsu no
Or did it become so for the sake
Tame ni nareru ka
Of me alone?
Anonymous
. .
Waga koi wa
My love
Yukue mo shirazu
Knows no destination
Hate mo nashi
And has no goal;
Au wo kagiri to
I think only
Ornati bakari zo
Of meeting as its limit.
Å shik Å chi no Mitsune (859-907)
. .
Iro miede
A thing which fades
Utsurou mono wa
With no outward signâ
Yo no naka no
Is the flower
Hito no kokora no
Of the heart of man
Hana ni zo arikeru
In this world!
Ono no Komachi (Ninth Century) 1
TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR WALEY
. .
Ariane no
Since I left her,
Tsurenaku mieshi
Frigid as the setting moon,
Wakare yori
There is nothing I loathe
Akatsuki bakari
As much as the light
Uki mono wa nashi
Of dawn on the clouds.
Mibu no Tadamine (Ninth Century)
TRANSLATED BY KENNETH REXROTH
.
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