KKS 3
Text
題しらず
よみ人しらず
春霞 たてるやいづこ みよしのの よしのの山に 雪は降りつつ
Translation
Topic unknown
Author unknown
The spring mist / where is it rising? / On Yoshino Mountain (4), / Holy Yoshino (3), / the snow keeps falling.
Explanation
This poem, in contrast to the previous one, is simple and direct. It picks up on the winter imagery of the ice in the previous poem and brings in the snow on Yoshino Mountain. Perhaps this is read by someone near Yoshino, who wonders where the signs of spring are when all they see is snow. The poem also uses a technique that will recur in a number of the following poems -- the mention of a particular spring symbol (mist, in this case) even though it is not actually present to the poet.
Detailed Notes
- 題しらず
- The term 題 here, a Chinese loan word, seems to refer to the topic of the poem, or perhaps the circumstance of composition. The interpretation of 題しらず is somewhat unclear because some of the poems marked this way in the KKS are by the compilers themselves, and presumably they knew the circumstances of their own composition. There are also poems where it seems the compilers would have known or had access to the topic information but apparently chose not to use it.
- Sogi (cited in the Kyotansho) thought this could refer to compositions in the moment, that had no assigned "topic," or one where the poem is on multiple things and a topic cannot be discerned, or where the topic did not actually appear in the poem. Matsunaga Teitoku adds that this can also be topics that are truly unknown, or where the compilers concealed the topic for some reason.
- In the modern period, Kaneko and Kubota thought 題 referred to the circumstance rather than the topic, although Takeoka disagrees, citing evidence that 折しらず was available to the compilers if they wanted to talk about the circumstance.
- よみ人しらず
- Read as よみびとしらず (Takeoka). As Katagiri indicates, the majority of these anonymous poems show affinity to the MY style or have archaic elements not found in the poetry of the KKS compilers. Thus we can conjecture they are from the Nara or early Heian periods, and thus represent the 古 in 古今和歌集. However, there are some which seem to be newer. Older commentaries suggested that in some cases the name was withheld either to protect a high-ranking person or conceal a low-ranking person, or even obeying an Imperial order. In some cases poems have side notes suggesting alternate authorship, and there was a tradition of trying to identify the authors of these poems. A medieval work called the 古今和歌集隠名作者次第 tries to list authors for all the anonymous poems -- this poem is assigned to Fujiwara no Mototsune. But there is no evidence for the majority of these attributions. An alternate tradition given by Tamesuke attributes this poem to Emperor Daigo.
- 春霞
- はるかすみ (Takeoka). This was voiced as はるがすみ in later times, and many editions still voice it.
- たてるやいづこ
- A number of alternate manuscripts read たたる, as does the 新撰和歌. They seem to mean roughly the same thing (Katagiri suggests a sound change たちたる -> たったる -> たたる (whereas たてる is たちある -> たてる). Fujiwara no Norinaga claimed that a manuscript in the hand of Ki no Tsurayuki's sister read たたる and that Emperor Sutoku agreed with that reading. Shunzei also supported the reading. Mabuchi noted that たたる is an old word and seems to have thought it fit better with this anonymous poem, but no modern edition emends the text. Takeoka notes that たたる occurs in a sekimori poem in MY 4375 and may have been dialect, and Katagiri agrees that it is either dialect or old-fashioned.
- み吉野の吉野
- This phrase seems to have been confusing to earlier commentators, but since Keichu, it has been interpreted as a doubling for praise and poetic rhythm. Similar doublings can be found in MY poems. The み is an honorific. Yoshino was a place often associated with snow in poetry; the Heian-era Waka shogakusho found this remarkable enough that there is a list of poems that double a word (often in a pun, although here it is simply a repetition).
Analysis
The major question of interpretation in this poem is whether the mist is real or not. That is, the poem can be read in two ways:
- Where can this mist be rising from, since there's still snow on Yoshino?
- It's spring, so despite snow still falling on Yoshino there must be mist rising somewhere even though I don't see it.
Sogi says that the snow obscuring the peaks suggests mist to the poet since it's spring. Norinaga also says the poet does not see mist, and Takanao agrees. The Seigi is a chief proponent of the other view, that the poet is looking at a misty sky and bemoaning its rarity, since it is spring. Modern commentators generally take the view that the mist is not actually there, partially based on the position of the poem in the anthology. Takeoka provides another possible explanation: the original unknown poet intended the mist to be actually there, but the compilers read it as not there bsaed on their placement. Finally, Katagiri looks with suspicion on all of this debate -- so many of the poems in the KKS are screen poems or poetry competitions, so what meaning does "actual" have? His reading is that a person in snowy Yoshino village is looking at the snow and thinking about how mist must be rising in the capital
Many modern commentators read this poem as composed by someone in Yoshino, rather than someone in the capital looking at Yoshino from afar.
Keichu was the first to note a similarity between this poem and MY 823:
- 梅の花ちらくはいづくしかすがにこの城の山に雪は降りつつ
- Where are the plums scattering? On this Mount Shiro[?] snow keeps falling.
Takeoka contrasts the "artful construction" of the MY poem with the more direct and relaxed feeling of the KKS poem.
This poem has been subjected to a great deal of praise and criticism.
- Shunzei praised the poem for its beauty and form, but thought that in his day, both たたる and たてる were difficult to use.
- Saigyo supposedly listed this as one of the poems in the KKS that you should follow in your own composition.
- Toshiyori included this in his list of poems that were good poems, but had rough or unskilled words (presumably the たたる).
- In contrast, Kamo no Chomei specially praised the たてるやいづこ. Perhaps aware of the criticism, he cited another poem using たてるや that he thought was bad.
- Teika included this poem in his Shuka daitai, as well as the Teika hachidaisho.
Mabuchi noted the simplicity and directness of this poem in contrast to the intricate composition of poem 2. This was echoed by Kaneko who contrasted the lack of poetic technique with the strong composition, carrying echoes of Nara-period poetry. McCullough also picks up on the contrast between the "artful" poem 2 and the "simple, songlike" poem 3. Cranston praises the "pleasant" sound of the poem's repetition and multiple "y" sounds.
Finally, this poem was influential on a number of later poems. For instance, this poem by Mitsune seems almost to be a response:
- 吉野山雪は降りつつ春霞は春日の野辺にぞありける
- While the snow repeatedly falls on Yoshino, it is Kasuga Plains where the mist rises.
The first poems of both the SIS and the SKKS also have similar imagery.
- 春立つといふばかりにやみ吉野の山も霞て今朝は見ゆらむ
- Is it just because someone says spring is here that I seem to see Yoshino Mountain misted this morning.
- 御吉野の山も霞みて白雪のふりにし里に春は来にけり
- Yoshino Mountain is misty; spring has come to the old village where snow had fallen.
This suggests that even though some commentators have questioned whether this is a "beginning of spring" poem, it was read that way from early on. McCullough says that this is introducing a new topic, "lingering traces of winter in the new year," and that it shows the tendency for the compilers to place anonymous poems before those by named poets in a particular grouping.
- いまも猶雪はふりつつ朝がすみたてるやいづこ春はきにけり
- Even now snow continues to fall. Where is the morning mist rising? Spring has come. (SSIS 7)
The next poem is a conscious echo of KKS 3 almost to the point of being a parody, but some charm comes from the use of the same language and imagery to point to the next major image of spring.
- 桜花さけるやいづこみよしののよしのの山はかずみこめつつ
- Where are the cherry blossoms blooming? Yoshino mountain is still wrapped in mist. (SGSIS 77, Fushimi-in)
On the other hand, this is an example of the Kyogoku-Reizei school's preference using the honka-dori technique in a broader way than the more conservative Nijo school.
- いつしかもかすみにけらしみよしのやまだふる年の雪もけなくに
- The mist is already here! On Yoshino mountain last year's snow has yet to disappear. (GYS 7, Takashi no Mototada
Other sources
- 新撰和歌２. Second line たたるやいづこ.
- 和漢朗詠集７８
- 拾玉集３４７４. This is a set of 100 poems based on KKS poems, and Jien wrote the following poem is written based on KKS 3:
- 春霞たてるは都さても猶山のおくには雪やふるらむ
- The spring mist rises in the capital, but still in the deep mountains, snow seems to fall.