KKS 4
Text
二条の后の春の初めの御歌
雪の内に春は来にけり鶯の凍れる涙いまやとくらん
Translation
An honorable poem about the start of spring by the Nijo Empress.
In the midst of snow / spring seems to have come! / The frozen tears (4) / of the warbler (3) / may now melt.
Explanation
The warbler is a symbol of the beginning of spring, and its cry heralds the coming of the season. It's still too early for the warblers to appear from the valley and cry out, but the poet wonders if at least their tears have melted. The image of the tears is an unusual one, but seems to evoke the warblers' (and thus the poet's) sorrow that snow is still on the ground despite the new year. As in poem 3, this is another example of the KKS first introducing a significant image in the context of its absence.
Detailed Notes
- 二条の后
- This is Fujiwara no Takako (842-910), the Empress of Emperor Seiwa. Keichu was perhaps the first to raise the question of her appellation in this preface. Due to political events she was stripped of her position in 896 and only restored posthumously in 943, so would it have been appropriate to call her the "Nijo Empress" when the KKS was compiled? Keichu and most later commentators have suggested that this prose preface was modified after 943, a theory that is made more attractive by the fact that Tsurayuki's Shinsen waka lists this poem as "author unknown." However, all the existing manuscripts of the KKS read 二条の后. Because of this, Katagiri suggests that since she was the Nijo Empress at the time this poem was written, it was appropriate to refer to her in that way in the preface despite her loss of rank. Perhaps Emperor Daigo allowed it since she had already passed away.
- 雪の内
- "Amidst the snow" can be either "while snow is falling" or "when snow is on the ground." The first two lines are identical with poem 1 except with 雪 instead of 年
- 鶯
- This is the first appearance of the warbler, a major poetic image for the start of spring. Their cry is typically portrayed as heralding the beginning of the season.
- 涙
- The tears here are used in association with the "crying" of the warbler. This image was subjected to a great deal of speculation and analysis, which I will leave to the analysis section below.
Analysis
Old judgments and comments
- Mibu no Tadamine included this poem as an example of 比喩体 ("metaphor poem") in his Waka jittei, and several other early poetic treatises repeat this.
- Shunzei includes this poem in his Korai futeisho, saying that "even in this age these poems are very splendid (をかし)."
- The Fukurozoshi lists this as a poem with unusual imagery, presumably for the warbler's tears. This may also explain the appearance of the poem in the Kigosho under the "warbler's frozen tears" entry.
- Teika includes the poem in his Teika hachidaishu.
The snow
Toshiyori notes that some people felt the snow placed this as a "spring in the old year" poem because snow is primarily a winter image. Although snow appears in many early spring poems, perhaps the phrasing 雪の内 in particular suggested winter. The idea pops up in a few other older commentaries but soon disappears.
The warbler's tears
There is a surprising amount of comment on this image. Apparently some people took issue with this image because birds do not actually cry tears. Personification of animals is common in waka poetry, but these people may have felt that you could use actually occurring things metaphorically, but could not invent things that didn't exist. All of the existing poetic treatises, though, defend the use of the symbol. Toshiyori cites this as one of a number of objections to the poem, but seems to feel himself that the image is appropriate, noting that other poems in the KKS mention the tears of geese. Keichu later adds that insects crying tears can be found in Chinese poetry as well. Toshiyori does question the appropriateness of including such "fiction" (soragoto) in an imperial anthology, and feels that there still remains much to discuss about the poem, including its placement as poem 4.
Kensho addresses other objections: that tears would not actually freeze, and that the warblers shouldn't have tears before their crying has been introduced (which isn't for another few poems). He brushes these objections aside, ascribing them to people in the "later world" (末の世) that focus on fine points without understanding the poetry. Teika explains that the warblers are shedding tears waiting for their time to come (in early spring); the snow is still around so they can't herald spring yet. These tears are then frozen in the snow.
Later commentators, no longer concerned with the propriety of the image itself, disagree over the exact meaning of the image. Kagawa felt that the warblers had been crying through the entire winter, although this seems to be a minority position. Takanao sees the "deep feelings" of the animals as the heart of this poem's affect, and says that the melting tears also indicate the melting of the warbler's thoughts (and thus the coming of spring).
Finally, Katagiri feels that this is too early in the collection to introduce warblers, so perhaps they are playing with figures of warblers, or at best imagining the warblers in the valley. The latter interpretation seems to be the dominant one.
The author's life and the poem
Kaneko floated the idea that this poem might be a reflection of Nijo's political situation, with the tears representing her own sorrow. This view is roundly condemned by later scholars. Although "spring" is used in a number of poems as a symbol for political success or favor of a superior, it would be inappropriate for such a sorrowful poem to be included here in the collection. As Katagiri points out, this is likely a poem recited on some public occasion, which would also be an inappropriate venue for lamenting one's position. Finally, if she were still Empress when this was written, why would she be bemoaning her fate?
Other analysis
Kaneko calls this poem short on feeling and heavy on technique, which he feels associates it more with the Shin kokinshu style. Kubota explains the personification of the warbler as an attempt to fuse the human and natural world. He has high praise for the poem, noting its surplus-feeling and rational sorrow.
Takeoka feels that the poem contrasts the cold of Kyoto with a slight hint of warmth from the idea of spring -- perhaps this slight warmth is enough to melt the tiny tears of the warbler. He calls the poem feminine and delicate.
Related poems
SKKS 31 seems to use this poem as a honka.
鶯の涙のつららうちとけて古巣ながらや春をしるらん The tears of the warbler have melted; while still in their old nest do they realize spring has come?
Other sources
- 新撰和歌１７
- 古今和歌六帖４４０５・鶯・二条の后
- 拾玉集３４７２. This is a set of 100 poems based on KKS poems, and Jien wrote the following poem is written based on KKS 4:
- 雪のうちに春はきにけりよしの山雲とやいはむ霞とやいはん
- In the midst of snow, spring has come. On Yoshino mountain, do we say it is clouds or haze?