Gosenshu 2

Gosenshu Volume 2: Spring 2 後撰和歌集巻第二　春中

The themes of this volume are largely early and mid spring. There are a relatively large number of poems on cherry blossoms, but none on their scattering. This volume seems to collect all of the remaining poems that would come prior to the falling cherry blossoms.

47

年老いてのち、梅の花植ゑて、あくる年の春、思ふ所ありて

After he had grown old, he planted red plums, and the next year he expressed his thoughts.

藤原扶幹朝臣

Fujiwara no Sukemoto [?-938]

うゑし時花見むとしもおもはぬにさきちる見ればよはひ老ひにけり

uwesi toki				When I planted it,
Hana mi-mu to si mo			I did not think to ever
omoha-nu ni				See the flowers bloom.
saki tiru mire-ba			When I now look at them fall,
yohahi oi-ni-keri			I feel that I have grown old.

Fujiwara no Sukemoto

This is his only appearance in the first 8 Imperial collections.

--

With the first poem of volume two, the theme of falling flowers (plum blossoms) appears. This is a public poem.

Most commentators see this poem as a lament by the poet feeling his age. Katagiri, however, says that the word yohahi is normally used in congratulatory contexts (for instance, poems celebrating significant birthdays). He suggests this poem should be read as a poem of thankfulness for living another year. Such a poem would normally be in the miscellaneous books in other collections. If this is a celebratory poem, that would link it with the opening poem of the first spring volume.

春ごとに花の盛りはありなめどあひ見む事はいのちなりけり

Every spring the flowers bloom profusely, but whether I see them or not depends on my life. (KKS, v2 97, anonymous)

48

寝屋の前に竹のある所に宿侍りて

He lodged in a place where there was a bamboo grove outside his sleeping chamber.

藤原伊衡朝臣

Fujiwara no Korehira [875-938]

竹ちかくよどこねはせじ鶯のなく声きけばあさゐせられず

take tikaku				So near the bamboo,
yodokone wa se-zi			I shall not make up my bed.
uguhisu no				When I hear the cry
naku koe kike-ba			Of the bush warbler outside,
asawi se-rare-zu			I cannot sleep till morning.

Fujiwara no Korehira

He participated in a number of early poetry competitions and seems to have been a friend of Mitsune, Tadamine, and other KKS era poets. He has two poems in the GSS.

Bush warbler

The association between bamboo and a bush warbler is rare in Heian-period waka, but appears in the MY as well as a number of Chinese poems.

--

The humble suffix haberu is used in the preface suggesting that Korehira was staying the night at someone’s residence of higher rank. This makes it likely that the poem is not literally a complaint. Perhaps it was sent to the owner of the house in praise of his (poetically appropriate) garden. In that case, the tone of the poem is either joking annoyance (Kifune) or happiness at being able to listen to the warbler rather than sleep (Katagiri). This could be a private poem, or an occasional public poem.

This poem appears in the Toshiyori zuinō as an example of a good poem involving the warbler. The Etsumokushō lists it as an "auditory" poem in a section listing poems of all the senses.

Kamo no Chomei's Mumyōshō brings up a certain poetry contest (details unknown) where someone used the word tokone in a poem and was told by the judge (Fujiwara no Kiyosuke) that the word was inappropriate for a poem. Someone else said that the use of the term in this GSS poem refutes the argument. Chomei disagrees, arguing that just because a poem is old does not mean it is good. Teika had already noted in the Hekianshō that this poem uses several words that did not sound poetic. He avoided Chomei's criticism, simply saying that in old poetry people often read about things just as they were, and thus the vocabulary was sometimes colloquial.

It is also referred to in the judgment for another poetry contest, poems 9 and 10 in the 若宮社歌合. The poem in question, by Fujiwara no Takaoya[?], was:

今しばしあさいせさせて鶯の声をよどこへをくるたにかぜ

For now I will not sleep until morning, because of the valley wind that brings the warbler’s cry to my ears.

The judge awarded the victory to the other poem. His criticism of Takaoya’s poem was that it was an inappropriate use of a honka, because the feeling of the poems were too different. It was simply an attempt to get the image of the warbler in. [??check this]

野辺近く家ゐしせれば鶯の鳴くかる声は朝な朝な聞く

I am in my house near the field, so I hear the crying of the warbler every morning. (KKS v1 16, Anonymous)

49

大和の布留の山をまかるとて

On leaving Furu Mountain in Yamato.

僧正遍昭

Bishop Henjo [816-890]

いその神ふるの山べの桜花うゑけむ時をしる人ぞなき

iso no kami				The cherry tree there
huru no yamabe no			On Mount Furu, which stands in
sakurabana				Iso no Kami:
uwe-kemu toki wo			There is no one left who knows
siru hito zo naki			The time when it was planted.

--

Iso no kami

This is a makurakotoba for huru, but it is also an actual place name in Nara that had a place called Furu. This may refer to the Iso no Kami temple where Henjo’s son Sosei was living, and the poem may have been composed on a visit to him.

--

This is another public, occasional poem.

According to poem 248 in the KKS, Henjo lived in Furu, so the “no one left” may specifically refer to Henjo’s mother (Katagiri). Otherwise this is a simple poem in praise of an old, large cherry tree, perhaps endowed with some sacred essence due to its location.

The Fukurozōshi lists this poem as one that has unusual imagery. Shunzei and Teika seemed to have appreciated the poem – the former selected it for the Korai futeishō while the latter included it as a spring poem in his Shūka daitai.

50

花山にて、道俗酒らたうべける折に

When priests and laymen were drinking sake on Hanayama.

素性法師

Priest Sosei [?-910?]

山守はいはばいはなむ高砂のをのへの桜花折りてかざさむ

yamamori ha				To the mountain guard,
iha-ba iha-nan				If I may be bold to ask,
Takasago no				May I pick myself
wonohe no sakura			A branch of mountain cherry
wori-te kazasa-mu			And adorn myself with it?

Takasago

Although there is a Mount Takasago, commentaries pre-modern and modern are unanimous that here it is simply being used as a poetic term for any mountain.

--

Some alternate manuscripts and old commentaries read “on a mountain” rather than “on Hanayama.” Kudo thinks that the preface might have been changed for its inclusion in the GSS. If Henjo were still alive, he would be the “mountain guard” of Hanayama, making 49 and 50 a pair of poems from father to son and vice versa. The two cherry tree poems then work together. The older commentaries place the action of the poem on Mount Hie instead.

Depending on the details behind the prose preface, this can be seen as a humorous poem – theShoku Nihongi indicates that mountain guards were tasked with preventing trees from being cut down, but Sosei merely wants one branch. Or it might be the priest Sosei breaking decorum by breaking off a branch even if he is scolded.

Toshiyori used this poem as proof that it was acceptable to use takasago and wonohe as general terms for mountains despite there being specific place names bearing those titles.

51

おもしろき桜を折りて、友達のつかはしたりければ

When a friend broke off a pretty cherry blossom and sent it.

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

さくらばな色はひとしき枝なれどかたみに見ればなぐさまなくに

sakurabana                      The cherry blossom -- 
iro ha hitosiki                 The color of the branches
eda nare-do                     Are the same and yet
katami ni mire-ba               As a memento they can't
nagasama-naku ni                Soothe sorrow that we don't meet.

A friend

The language of this prose preface is confusing. Literally taken, it means that a friend sent a pretty cherry blossom. The "friend" in this case would be Ise, who is named in the next poem. Some alternate manuscripts, and the prose preface in the Ise Collection, have alternate wording that make the friend the anonymous poet of this poem. In other words, the poem is being sent along with the cherry blossom to Ise. However, the response poem seems to indicate that Ise sent the blossom. I don't think there's a problem reading the prose preface as given. Norinaga wanted to emend the text to change "friend" to "Ise", but in the poem-tale like atmosphere of the GSS, the preface reads fine as it stands.

Memento

katami plays on "memento" and "difficult [to meet you]".

--

This is a private exchange involving cherry blossoms, still in bloom.

The exact reference to "the color of the branch is the same" is vague. Kigin's explanation is that the cherry blossom is the same beautiful color as always, but it can't substitute for your presence. The Shinshō's "teacher theory" is that the beauty of the cherry blossom is the same as Ise's beauty. Katagiri and Kifune support Shinshō, while Kudo and Cranston follow Kigin's reading.

遭ふまでのかたみも我はなにせむに見ても心の慰まなくに

What shall I make a memento until our next meeting? Whatever I look at cannot soothe my heart. (KKS 744, poet unknown)

52

返し

Response

伊勢

Ise [? - c. 939]

見ぬ人のかたみがてらはをらざりき身になずらへる花にしあらねば

minu hito no                   I did not break it
katami gatera ha               To be a memento too
wora-zari-ki                   For one I can't meet.
mi ni nazurahe-ru              Since I can't compare myself
hana ni si ara-ne-ba           In any way to flowers.

--

Ise's response picks up on the imagery of the memento, and the play on "meet", that is also in poem 51. It is a humble poem, one that shows deep friendsihp (Kifune) or perhaps even love (Cranston).

53

桜の花をよめる

Composed about cherry blossoms.

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

吹く風をならしの山の桜花のどけくぞ見るちらじと思へば

huku kaze wo                    The cherry blossoms
narasi no yama no               Of the Narashi mountain
sakurabana                      Are used to the wind
nodokeku zo miru                Blowing on them; they are calm.
tira-zi to omohe-ba             For they think they won't scatter.

--

Narashi mountain

Scholars are divided on whether this mountain is in Yamato or Tosa. The name creates a pun on narasu (get used to, or be friendly with). A few manuscripts, and some commentaries, read nakoso no yama (Nakoso Mountain) instead. This would create a pun on na ko so (do not come). In that case the flowers look calm because they don't think the wind will come to them.

--

The prose preface suggests an artificial topic, and the poem itself reads as an artificial poem, perhaps one composed for a screen, or simply thinking about the mountain. After several private poems, the public cherry blossom poems continue, first hinting at the topic of falling blossoms, though only in a negative sense. This type of arrangement is found in the KKS as well, where seasonal topics are sometimes first introduced in a poem about their absence.

The poem clearly echoes KKS 53 by Narihira:

世の中にたえてさくらのなかりせば春の心はのどけからまし

If there were absolutely no cherry blossoms in the world, the heart of spring would be calm.

In this case, the cherries themselves are personified as calm because they believe they won't scatter.

54

前栽に、竹の中に桜の咲きたるを見て

He saw cherry blossoms blooming among the bamboo in his garden.

坂上是則

Sakanoue no Korenori

桜花けふよく見てむくれ竹のひと夜のほどにちりもこそすれ

sakurabana                           Today I shall look,
kehu yoku mi-te-mu                   Carefully at the cherries.
kuretake no                          In just one night's span
hito yo no hodo ni                   Short as one joint of bamboo
tiri mo koso sure                    All of them will scatter down.

One joint of bamboo

The phrase kuretake no acts as a pillow word for hito yo (one night), because the word yo can also refer to a joint of bamboo. Of course, this also connects the poem to the situation in the preface.

--

This is an occasional poem. Like the previous one, it mentions falling cherry blossoms but only in the context of something that has not yet taken place.

55

題しらず

Circumstance unknown

よみ人も

The author too [is unknown]

さくらばなにほふともなく春くればなどか歎きのしげりのみする

sakurabana                       The cherry blossoms
nihohu to mo naku                Are gone as soon as they bloom
haru kure-ba                     When spring has arrived,
nado ka nageki no                Why is it only laments
sigeri nomi suru                 That stay profusely growing?

Laments

nageki is a pun on "lament" and "firewood", a common pun in love poetry.

--

This is a love poem, still on the subject of cherry blossoms, once again suggesting their scattering in a general way without actually reaching that point in the spring.

This poem is included in the Ise collection with the prose preface "In spring when she was worrying." Perhaps this was assigned to Ise later because it seemed to fit with her other love poetry. Even without the preface, the poem reads as a love poem written by a woman. The woman is wishing that her troubles, like the cherry blossoms, would vanish as soon as they arose.

Kigin connects this poem to KKS 15:

春たてど花もにほはぬ山ざとはもの憂かる音に鶯ぞなく

Spring has come, but in the village where no flowers bloom, the warbler is crying sadly.

56

貞観御時、弓のわざつかうまつりけるに

In the Jogan era [858-876], when they were doing archery.

河原左大臣

Kawara Minister of the Left [Minamoto no Tooru]

けふ桜しづくにわが身いざぬれむかごめにさそふ風のこぬまに

kehu sakura                       Today, o cherries,
siduku ni waga mi                 With your droplets my body
iza nure-mu                       Now come and wet through --
kagome ni sasohu                  While the inviting perfume,
kaze no ko-nu ma ni               Has not yet come on the wind.

--

This is an occasional poem delivered on a public occasion (an archery event). The next few poems continue the slow move towards the falling cherry blossoms, invoking the wind that will scatter the cherry blossoms, but has yet to do so.

The idea of the "droplets" is unusual, and has different interpretations. Kudo notes KKS 422 by Toshiyuki:

心から花のしづくにそほちつつ憂く干ずとのみ鳥のなくらむ

While drenched by the flower's droplets, the warbler, loving them, seems to cry without drying its sorrow.

(This poem is in the "names of things" sections and conceals "warbler" (uguhisu) in "without drying" (uku hizu).) Kudo believes that the droplets are a metaphor for falling petals. However, there's no reason why either KKS 442 or this GSS poem can't be taken as literally drops falling from the petals. The position of the poem in the volume suggests that the flowers have not yet fallen. Kifune thinks the poem might have been composed during a spell of rain that delayed the archery event.

The image of the wind's "inviting perfume" is also open to interpretation; some commentators interpret this as the wind inviting the poet with the perfume of the flowers, others as the wind "inviting" (i.e. scattering) the flowers. Kigin thought the poet wanted the scent of the flowers to perfume his clothing through the droplets, since the wind was not coming. According to the Shinshō, the poet hopes that the rain perfumes his clothing before the wind scatters the flowers. Katagiri agrees that the wind is inviting the flowers away. However, if the wind is coming with the scent of the flowers, inviting the poet seems to fit better.

57

家より遠き所にまかる時、前栽の桜の花に結ひつけ侍りける

When he was about to go to a place far from his home, he tied this poem to cherry blossoms in his garden.

菅原右大臣

The Sugawara Minister of the Right [Sugawara no Michizane]

さくら花ぬしをわすれぬ物ならばふきこむ風に事づてはせよ

sakurabana                 O cherry blossoms:
nusi wo wasure-nu          If indeed you don't forget
mono nara-ba               Your absent master,
hukikomu kaze ni           Then on the wind that will blow,
kotodute ha seyo           You must send tidings to me.

About to go

This is a reference to Michizane's exile in 901.

--

Whether this is a public or private poem is not certain. McCullough writes: "Whether or not [the poems] were intended for circulation is unclear. Michizane apparently made no effort to collect and preserve his waka" (Brocade by Night, 289). The image of the wind is picked up from the previous poem: once again the emphasis is on the wind carrying tidings of the blossoms rather than scattering them.

Another very similar poem in the same context is found as SIS 1006. The prose context here is more explicit about the circumstance: "When he was going into exile, he looked at the plum blossoms of his house."

こち吹かばにほひおこせよ梅花主なしとて春を忘るな

If an east wind blows, send me your fragrance, plum blossoms. Don't forget the spring when your master is gone.

About these poems, McCullough writes: "Both observe aesthetic rules familiar to KKS readers: the imagery is conventional, the tone elegant, the diction smooth and polished, the expression of emotion subdued" (289).

58

春の心を

With the feeling of spring

伊勢

Ise

あをやぎのいとよりはへてをるはたをいづれの山の鶯かきる

awoyagi no                Clothing made out of
ito yorihahe-te           The thread of the willow tree,
woru hata wo              Spun and then woven:
idure no yama no          On which one of the mountains
uguhisu ka kiru           Are the warblers wearing them?

Mountains

The Futayama arashibon text reads "field" and the Katakana-bon reads "garden".

--

The willow theme re-appears after being introduced in poem 41, also here in a public sounding poem -- the prose preface suggests an artificial setting like a poetry contest or screen painting. As in 41, the willow and warbler are paired.

The Fukurozoshi includes this as a poem with unusual imagery. A similar idea occurs as KKS 1081:

青柳を片糸によりてうぐひすの縫ふてふ笠は梅のはながさ

The plum blossom hats they say warblers weave from the thread of the willow.

Here the warblers are wearing the clothing rather than making the hats themselves.

The overall idea seems to be the poet looking at a willow tree, imagining it as a loom used to make clothing for warblers. She wants the spring warblers to come visit her garden where the willow tree is.

59

花の散るを見て

He saw the flowers falling.

凡河内躬恒

Ōshikōchi no Mitsune [859-925]

あひおもはでうつろふ色を見る物を花にしられぬながめするかな

ahiomoha-de                    Not sharing our thoughts,
uturohu iro wo                 I look out at the color,
miru mono wo                   As it fades, and yet
hana ni si-rare-nu             The flowers are not aware
nagame suru kana               That I'm gazing out at them.

sharing thoughts

In the context of a love poem this means that the man and woman both think of each other, so here, the love is one-sided.

gaze

'nagame' is the usual pun on "long [spring] rain" and "gaze out."

--

As Katagiri points out, this poem begins with the sound of a love poem -- in that case the first three lines would be "He doesn't return my thoughts and I gaze at my fading beauty." But in the last two lines the subject is revealed as the flowers instead. This verbal trickery suggests a public poem.

In the full context of this as a spring poem, the conceit is that the poet gazes at the flowers with longing as they scatter, but they don't have any thought for him as they do so. In the seasonal movement, the flowers are beginning to fade but have not yet fallen.

60

帰る雁を聞きて

Hearing the returning geese

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

帰る雁雲地にまどふ声すなり霞ふきとけこのめはる風

kaheru kari                 The returning geese
kumowidi ni madohu          Are lost in the road of clouds
kowe su nari                I hear them crying.
kasumi huki-toke            Blow and chase away the mist,
konome haru kaze            O you bud-blooming spring wind!

bud-blooming

konome haru can function as a pillow-word, but here it is more of a pivot on konome haru (the buds blossoming) and haru kaze (spring wind).

--

Geese are typically an autumn symbol -- this is the only appearance of the image in the GSS spring volume. The KKS has two geese poems in the spring volume (30 and 31). 30 also uses the "cloud road" and 31 mentions the spring mist. Cranston notes that (as in poem 31) this poem evokes the scenery that the geese are leaving behind as they go. The poem here is occasional.

A poem in the Mitsune-shū is close to this one:

帰る雁雲ゐにわたる声すなり霞ふきとけ春のよの風

I hear the cry of the returning geese crossing the clouds. Blow and chase away the mist, you spring night wind!

Perhaps one poem was based off the other.

Shunzei includes this in the Korai futeishō as one of the two poems from the middle spring volume. The Kigoshō gives it as an example of the phrase konome haru.

61

朱雀院の桜のおもしろきことと、延光朝臣のかたり侍りければ、見るよしもあらまし物を、など、昔を思ひいでて

Lord Nobumitsu talked about how beautiful the cherry blossoms at the Suzaku Villa were, and she thought about how she had no way to see them, and remembered the past

大将御息所

The Taisho Haven

さきさかず我になつげそさくら花人づてにやはきかんと思ひし

saki sakazu                     Blooming or not yet,
ware ni na-tuge-so              Do not tell me about them!
sakurabana                      Those cherry blossoms --
hitodute ni ya ha               How could I have ever thought,
kika-n to omohi-si              I would only hear of them?

Suzaku Villa

This is an imperial villa in the capital. The context requires some reconstruction, but if this woman were a consort of Emperor Daigo's, and this poem was read after his death in 930, then that would explain why she could not go to the Suzaku Villa.

Taisho Haven

The identity of the poet is not clear. Teika's annotation identifies her as Fujiwara no Yoshiko, the daughter of Fujiwara no Sadakata. This identification is also written in red in the base text, indicating that Fujiwara no Yukinari [972-1027] also made this identification. However, modern scholars have pointed out problems with this. Kifune suggests that while Fujiwara no Yoshiko is correct, she should be identified as 衛門御息所 instead since no surviving records call her 大将御息所. Kudo follows the Chokusen sakusha buruibu, a 14th century list of poets, identifying her as the daughter of Fujiwara no Saneyori, a poet who is otherwise represented only in Gyokuyōshū 1780. Katagiri agrees.

--

This is a poem that other collections would place in the 哀傷 (sorrow) volume. The feeling is not so much about the cherry blossoms themselves as the sorrow the author feels at Emperor Daigo's death. This is not strictly a private poem, unless we interpret it as being sent to Nobumitsu, who otherwise has no role in the context. Even if it is "public" in a sense, it is the type of poem that would be composed in daily life

62

題しらず

Circumstance unknown

よみ人も

The poet as well

春くればこがくれおほきゆふづく夜おぼつかなしも花かげにして

haru kure-ba                   When spring has arrived,
kogakure ohoki                 Often hiding in the trees,
yuhudukuyo                     The moon of the night,
obotukanasi mo                 Shines forth rather hazily,
hana kage ni site              Under the shade of flowers.

Night moon

Despite Teika's kanji usage, the word yuhudukyo just means "the night moon"; this term may be used in poetry because it is conveniently 5 morae long.

--

The next three poems are anonymous poems on flowers and natural phenomena (moon, mist, and wind). The spring moon is personified, hiding behind the flowers at night -- the "magical moment", in Cranston's words, when the moonlight shines through the trees.

This poem, with small differences, is in the MYS (volume 10, 1875). The biggest change is yama (mountain) rather than hana. Kifune suggested that this change might have been made in the Heian period to suit the tastes of that period. The poem appears in the Kokin waka rokujō and the Akahito collection with hana (several spurious "collections" of anonymous old poems were made under the names of famous MY poets).

63

立ち渡る霞のみかは山高み見ゆる桜の色もひとつを

tati-wataru                Can it really be
kasumi nomi ka ha          Just the rising of the mist?
yama taka-mi               The mountain is high,
miyuru sakura no           So the cherry blossoms' hue
iro mo hitotu wo           Is the same as the white mist.

--

The small group of anonymous poems continue. Here, the common mitate (elegant confusion) combines the white mist and cherry blossoms on a far-off mountain. According to Kudo, this is an early example of this combination.

The Fukurozōshi includes this as a poem with unusual imagery.

Katagiri links this with poems like KKS 51:

山桜わがみにくれば春霞峰にも尾にもたちかくしつつ

I have come to see the mountain cherries; the spring mist keeps rising and obscuring peak and foot.

Although this poem does not mention "hide", it may well have the same underlying idea that the mist is blocking the cherry blossoms from being seen -- the poet, annoyed at this, thinks that some of the white he's seeing must be the blossoms.

64

おほぞらにおほふばかりの袖もがな春さく花を風にまかせじ

ohozora ni                      If only I had
ohohu bakari no                 Sleeves in the sky wide enough 
sode mo gana                    To cover flowers!
haru saku hana wo               The flowers that bloom in spring,
kaze ni makase-di               I would not leave to the wind.

Flowers

At least from the positioning of the poem in the GSS, these are presumably cherry blossoms.

--

The last of the small group of poems with unknown author and topic. This one appears in the Shinsen man'yōshū as well as the Kanpyō Empress' Poetry Contest. In both of those sources the first line reads ohozora wo, which means that the poet wants his sleeves to cover the entire sky (to prevent the wind from scattering the flowers). The suppression of the preface (if the compilers did know about it) is typical of the GSS' minimizing of artificial topics and situations.

The Kanpyō Empress' Poetry Contest was a major sources of poems for the KKS compilers. The editors of the Kanshō suggest this poem was passed over by the KKS compilers because the image is too exaggerated and fanciful, perhaps to a comic degree.

This poem is used as the honka for a number of other poems, for example, Shoku kokinwakashū 152:

やまざくらおほふばかりのかひもなしかすみのそでははなもたまらず

For covering the mountain cherries it is useless; the sleeves of mist will not stop the flowers.

The Tale of Genji also draws on it multiple times. For instance, in the "Maboroshi" chapter, the young Prince Niou wants to prevent the flowers from falling with a screen -- Genji says that this is wiser than the ones who want sleeves to cover them. In the "Miotsukushi" chapter, the Akashi Lady uses it as a basis for her own poem, about Genji's political power with respect to their daughter:

ひとりしてなづるは袖のほどなき覆ふばかりのかげをしぞまつ

My sleeves are too small to cover her alone, so I wait for the shade that can cover the sky.

65

やよひのついたちごろに、女につかはしける

Around the first day of Yayoi, [he] sent this to a woman.

[Poet unknown]

なげ木さへ春をしるこそわびしけれもゆとは人に見えぬものから

nageki sahe                 Even my laments
haru wo siru koso           Know that it is spring, and that --
wabisikere                  How awful it is!
moyu to ha hito ni          But the budding of my flames
mie-nu mono kara            Is not something you can see.

Laments

There is a play on nageki meaning "sorrows" or "discarded wood [for firewood]".

Burning

Moyu means both "burn" (with love) and "bud".

--

Although still in the realm of anonymous poems, this poem has a love themed prose preface. This begins a long series of love poems, extending to poem 78. The sequence may be simply a collection of the remaining spring love poems that are not on falling cherry blossoms or other explicitly late spring images.

The pun on nageki is found only in the haikai (comic poems) section of the KKS, but is a frequent image in the GSS love poems.

66

「春雨の降らば思ひのきえもせでいとどなげきのめをもやすらん」といふ古歌の心ばへを、女につかはしたりければ

When [someone] sent a letter to a woman with the feeling of this old poem: "If spring rains fall, the fire of my thoughts will not disappear, and even more will the buds of my laments grow."

[Poet unknown]

もえ渡る歎きは春のさがなればおほかたにこそあはれとも見れ

moe-wataru                      The steady blooming                 
nageki ha haru no               Of discarded laments is
saga nare-ba                    The nature of spring,
ohokata ni koso                 So generally I look
ahare to mo mire                At everything with pity.

Old poem

The exact source of the poem is unknown, but a very similar poem appears in the first volume of the Kokin waka rokujo. It reads "In the rains of spring" for the first line, which Kifune feels is a better reading. The poem has a number of standard love poem puns: omohi "thoughts" vs. hi fire, nageki (see previous poem), and moyasu (burn, or for buds to grow). The meaning of kokorobahe is somewhat unclear, and a number of texts read kokoro instead. Perhaps the poem was alluded to in the letter.

Blooming

As in the "old poem", moe plays on the budding of spring, and the burning of the poet's love.

Discarded laments

Nageki, as in the last poem, plays on "discarded wood [for firewood]" and "laments".

--

This is a private love poem, with an assumed exchange. The prose preface is unusual for presenting an entire poem that the original writer apparently quoted or alluded to. Given that the source of the poem is unknown, perhaps the poem itself was composed for this preface, or GSS 66 was taken from the second half of a lost poem tale. The poem is still in the midst of spring. The general feeling is one of bitterness in response to what is apparently the man's complaint. The meaning of the last two lines is that because everything is budding (burning) in spring, she doesn't feel particularly moved by the man's laments.

Kifune notices that haru no saga (the nature of spring) is not found in other collections; it may have been used to suggest the fickle nature of the man.

In the Tale of Genji, Fujitsubo may be quoting this poem in the "Momiji no Ga" chapter when she replies to Genji's message asking about his dancing -- if this is so, she is trying to downplay her admiration for Genji's form and figure.

67

女の許につかはしける

Sent to a woman.

藤原師尹朝臣

Lord Fujiwara no Moromasa

あをやぎのいとつれなくもなりゆくかいかなるすぢに思ひよらまし

awoyagi no                      The blue willow's thread:
ito turenaku mo                 Like that you are becoming
nariyuku ka                     Very cold to me!
ika naru sudi ni                What path this will all take,
omohi yora-masi                 I can't even imagine.

--

This is another love poem, but an unusual one for this section in that the willow tree image seems to be used only as a preface. Kifune tries to explain a metaphor for the poet's love and a willow, but most of the poetic devices in the poem are related to the thread rather than the willow.

Although the sentiment of the poem is banal, it has a structure based on the engo (poetic association) with ito, which means both "thread" and "extremely". Both sudi and yoru (as part of omohi-yoru) are related to the thread.

The Katakana-bon text places poems 545 and 546 (from Love 1) between 66 and 67; this is a private love exchange that mentions spring.

68

衛門のみやすん所の家、うづまさに侍りけるに、そこの花おもしろかなりとて、折につかはしたりければ、聞こえたりける

When the Consort [who was the daughter of] the Gate Watch's house was in Uzumasa, [The Emperor] sent her a message saying "I hear the flowers are beautiful there," and so she sent this poem.

山ざとにちりなましかば桜花にほふさかりもしられざらまし

yamazato ni                       In the mountain town
tiri-na-masikaba                  If they were to scatter forth,
sakurabana                        The cherry blossoms --
nihohu sakari mo                  the beauty of their blooming
sirare-zara-masi                  Would not be known to any.

Consort

The identity of this person is not entirely clear, but it may be Yoshiko, the daughter of Fujiwara no Sadakata. Some manuscripts read "Left" or "Right" before the Gate Watch.

--

This is a private poem and the first of an exchange. We are still approaching the falling blossoms but still have not arrived at that point, so this is another poem that talks about the scattering as a hypothetical event.

The use of sakari (blooming) likely refers to the poet's own situation. The entire poem is then a metaphor for her hopes that she will be called in to palace service, with the flowers being a symbol for herself.

69

御返し

The Emperor's response

匂こき花のかもてぞしられけるうゑて見るらんひとの心は

nihohi koki                From the depth of scent
hana no ka mote zo         Of the beautiful flower
sirare-keru                I now recognize --
uwete miru ran             The heart of the one who seems
hito no kokoro ha          To have planted and viewed it.

--

Emperor Daigo's response both praises the flower itself, but also the heart of Consort Yoshiko. He can tell from the scent of the flower that she is a person of deep emotion, and this may also suggest happiness at her future palace service. If the first poem had any hint of recrimination or lamenting, Daigo's response ignores that and focuses on the happy event.

Some manuscripts lack poems 69-71, or do not include all three of them.

70

小弐につかはしける

Sent to Shoni.

藤原朝忠朝臣

Lord Fujiwara no Asatada

時しもあれ花のさかりにつらければおもはぬ山にいりやしなまし

toki si mo are           Despite the season
hana no sakari ni        In the bloom of the flowers,
turakere-ba              I am suffering,
omoha-nu yama ni         I should seclude myself there,
iri ya sina-masi         In the mountain not thought of.

Shoni

This is probably a woman at court. She may be the same as "Shoni Wet Nurse", who has one poem in the Miscellaneous section, or "Shoni no Myobu" who has three poems in the SIS.

Flowers

This also probably suggests Daini's beauty.

Mountain

The last two lines represent the poet's wish to go into the mountains and take religious orders -- something he had not thought of until now.

--

This poem and the next are a private exchange, using the imagery of the fully bloomed flowers. Asatada realizes that in the time of full bloom he should not be sad, but Daini's coldness has made him want to leave the world. There may also be a suggestion that most people are going to mountains to view the cherry blossoms, but he is going to a mountain he had not considered -- one where he will hide from the world (Shinshō).

71

返し

Response

わがためにおもはぬ山のをとにのみ花さかりゆく春をうら見む

waga tame ni           You don't think of me,
omoha-nu yama no       In the mountain not thought of;
woto ni nomi           If I only hear rumors,
hana sakari-yuku       I will resent your leaving,
haru wo urami-mu       With the spring flowers blooming.

Think not for me

This is a pivot word construction, "You do not think for me" and "The mountain you had not thought of."

Leaving

sakari can be read as "leave" (abandon) or "[flowers] blooming".

--

Shoni counters Asatada's resentment with her own poem of resentment, as is normal for love poetry. She suggests that he has already shown signs of abandoning her.

72

題しらず

Topic unknown

宮道高風

Miyaji no Takakaze

春の池の玉もに遊びにほどりのあしのいとなきこひもするかな

haru no ike no               On a lake in spring
tamamo ni asobu              Playing in the jewelled weeds
nihodori no                  The grebe's legs furious
asi no itonaki               Churning beneath the surface,
kohi mo suru kana            Like that do I long for you.

Grebe

The nihodori is a rare image in Heian poetry, although it makes other appearances in the MYS. GSS 72 seems to be the only spring poem that uses the bird.

Legs

The Waka domosho notes that the bird appears calm on the surface, but below the surface the legs are churning rapidly to move the bird. Thus the first four lines of this poem are all a poetic preface leading into itonaki, representing the poet's neverending longing. The first four lines also serve as a metaphor for the man that is calm on the surface but with a troubled heart.

--

This poem is a love poem of the kind favored in the KKS; a contextless poem expressing feelings associated with love rather than a poem addressed to a specific person -- and giving the air of an assigned topic or poetry competition rather than a real love situation. This may explain why it's not in the love section of the GSS -- perhaps the compilers wanted to use this rare spring image in the seasonal volume, but they also did not favor these kinds of love poems in the GSS love volumes. Perhaps here it also provides a transition from the previous love exchange to the next poem, which is an explicitly artificial topic.

The nihodori (grebe) only appears in 5 poems in the first eight poetic compilations, three of them in the GSS. It is also used in winter imagery.

73

寛平御時、「『花の色霞にこめて見せず』といふ心をよみたてまつれ」とおほせられければ

In the Kanpyo era, the Emperor asked for a poem with the feeling of [the poem beginning] "The mist wraps the color of the flowers and doesn't show them"

藤原興風

Fujiwara no Okikaze

山風の花のかかどふふもとには春の霞ぞほだしなりける

yamakaze no                    At the mountain's foot,
hana no ka kadohu              Where the mountain wind sends forth,
humoto ni ha                   The inviting scent,
haru no kasumi zo              The spring mist is just the thing
hodasi nari keru               That blocks my path to the blooms.

Invite

The word kadohu is fairly rare, and some manuscripts (and the Okikaze Collection) read the more usual sasohu instead. Some commentaries gloss the word as meaning "steal" instead, or perhaps "trick".

The mist wraps...

This is KKS 91, by Yoshimine no Munesada:

花の色は霞にこめて見せずとも香をだにぬすめ春の山風

Even if the mist wraps the color of the flowers and doesn't show them, at least steal the scent for me, oh spring mountain wind!

--

Unusually for the GSS, this is an explicitly artificial poem, one composed in response to an Imperial command. The imagery of the flowers, not yet falling, continues. Kudo suggests a hidden meaning of stealing a woman away and being blocked in the attempt; certainly if the GSS compilers had this idea in mind it would explain the inclusion of the poem.

74

題しらず

Topic unknown

よみ人も

The poet as well

春さめの世にふりにたる心にも猶あたらしく花をこそおもへ

harusame no                    Even though my heart
yo ni huri-ni-taru             Is growing old in the world,
kokoro ni mo                   In the spring rain,
naho atarasiku                 I indeed reproachfully
hana wo koso omohe             Still think of just those flowers!

growing old

huri is a play on "grow old" and "[rain] falls".

reproachfully

atarasiku plays also on "new", to contrast with the "old" from the first two lines.

flowers

Some manuscripts read "you" (kimi) instead, which transforms the poem into a love poem. Poems 75-77 are love poems, so this may be a better reading.

--

This reads as an occasional, public, anonymous poem, continuing the long block of cherry blossom poems. Some manuscripts place poem 544 after this one, which has a love theme. If 75 can also be read as having a subtext of love, it may serve to lead into the next block of love poems, which could include 544.

A number of commentaries both old and new explain this as a poet viewing falling flowers in the rain. However, this ignores the placement of the poem in the GSS -- the scattering cherry blossom poems are not introduced until early in the third volume. Certainly there is the suggestion here that the flowers will fall, but it should be seen as the poet's knowledge of what will soon happen, not what is actually happening. The poem also recalls KKS 113, the famous Komachi poem.

75

京極のみやす所にをくり侍ける

Sent to the Kyogoku Haven

[Poet unknown]

はる霞たちてくもゐになりゆくはかりの心のかはるなるべし

harukasumi                     When the mist of spring
tati-te kumowi ni              Rises and begins to turn
nari-yuku ha                   Into the white clouds
kari no kokoro no              The heart of the geese must change
kaharu naru besi               And your inconstant heart too.

Kyogoku Haven

This is apparently the daughter of Tokihira, one of Uda's consorts.

Poet unknown

Poem 960 is a love poem from Prince Motoyoshi to the Kyogoku Haven. Because of this, some scholars think that poem 75 might also be by Motoyoshi. Both poems express that the Haven has entered palace service and is no longer available to the prince (at least openly).

--

This is another private love poem with spring imagery. By reading kari no kokoro as "temporary heart" and taking "into the clouds" as a metaphor for entering palace service, it becomes a poem of complaint about their relationship changing.

76

題しらず

Topic Unknown

[Poet Unknown]

ねられぬをしひてわがぬる春の夜の夢をうつつになすよしもがな

ne-rare-nu wo                  I can't get to sleep,
sihite waga nuru               Yet I force myself to sleep
haru no yo no                  Those dreams of spring nights:
yume wo ututu ni               I wish there were some way
nasu yosi mogana               I could make them become real.

Make it

Some alternate texts read "see", which is much less active.

--

This is another love poem; the imagery is not tied to this specific point in the seasonal progression but it fits with the other love poems in the section. Kifune reads 70-76 as a connected "love story".

This poem is close to poem 656 in the Tsurayuki Collection:

ねられぬをしひて寝てみる春の夜の夢の限りはこよひなりけり

Tonight is the end of the dreams of spring night on which I force myself to sleep though I cannot sleep.

77

しのびたりける男のもとに、「春行幸あるべし」と聞きて、装束ひひとくだり、調じてつかはすとて、桜色のしたがさねに添へて侍りける

Hearing that he was about to make a journey, she prepared and sent an article of clothing to a man she had been secretly seeing, and included a cherry blossom colored robe.

わがやどの桜の色はうすくとも花のさかりはきておらなむ

waga yado no                 Out in my garden
sakura no iro ha             The color of the cherries
usuku tomo                   Is pale -- even so,
hana no sakari ha            The flowers are in full bloom.
kite ora-namu                Please come and break one off.

Come

This plays on the "wear" meaning of kiru as well.

--

Another private love poem. The poem has two meanings -- on the one hand, it urges the man to wear her gift of clothing while humbling the gift itself. The other meaning is that the man should come visit her despite her lack of beauty.

78

忘れ侍りにける人の家に花をこふとて

Asking for flowers at the house of someone he had forgotten

かねみのおほきみ

Prince Kanemi

年をへて花のたよりに事とはばいとどあだなる名をや立つらん

tosi wo hete                 The years have now passed
hana no tayori ni            If I use tidings of flowers
koto toha-ba                 To ask about you,
itodo adanaru                I will garner a bad name
na wo ya tatu-ran            Even more than I have now.

--

This is another love-themed poem, albeit dealing with a relationship that is now over. It seems like an attempt at reconciliation; the poet means that if he only communicates with her when the flowers have bloomed, he will get a bad name. The imagery is perhaps borrowed from KKS 62, written when someone who hadn't visited for a long time visited during the cherry blossoms:

あだなりと名にこそたてれ桜花年にまれなる人もまちけり

Cherry blossoms have a reputation for being flighty, but they waited for this person who rarely visits.

SIS 51, by Motosuke, is another poem on the topic of rare visits during flowers:

とふ人もあらじと思し山里に花のたよりに人目見るかな

At the mountain village where they thought no one would visit, people are seen coming for the flowers!

Kifune calls this a "clever poem".

79

呼子鳥を聞きて、隣の家に送り侍りける

He heard a yobuko bird and sent this to the neighboring house.

はるみちのつら木

Harumichi no Tsuraki

わがやどの花にななきそ呼子鳥よぶかひ有て君もこなくに

waga yado no                      Do not cry among
hana ni na-naki-so                The flowers of my garden,
yobukodori                        O yobuko bird!
yobu kahi ari-te                  They do not come to visit,
kimi mo konaku ni                 And there's no point in calling.

Yobuko bird

The exact meaning of this term is unknown. It appears in one KKS spring poem, eight MYS spring poems, and some other scattered (mostly love) poems. In his Kokin wakashu zenhyoshaku (v1, pp 429-437), Katagiri Yoichi lays out the main theories and includes quotations from a large number of medieval KKS commentaries. It became one of the "three birds and three trees" that formed a significant part of the secret KKS transmissions (the Kokin denju) of the period. However, Katagiri makes a compelling case that certainly by the KKS and probably even by the MYS period, the exact meaning of the term was already lost, and it was simply used in poetry for its associations with the word yobu (call). One would be tempted to say that the term never was connected to a specific bird, but there's a clear association with spring, suggesting that at some point it had a specific referent.

--

After the long sequence of love poems, the second volume closes with two private poems. This one could be classed as a love poem although it would be an atypical one coming from a man. Kifune and Kudo read this as an invitation to a friend to come see the cherry blossoms in the poet's garden. The yobuko bird, as noted above, is an uncommon image of unclear meaning, and used here simply to evoke the idea of calling the neighbor over.

80

壬生忠岑が左近のつかひのおさにて、文をこせて侍りけるついでに、身をうらみて侍りける返事に

When Mibu no Tadamine was head of the Right Palace Guards, he took the chance of sending a letter to bemoan his low position, and this was [Tsurayuki's] response.

紀貫之

Ki no Tsurayuki

ふりぬとていたくなわびそはるさめのたゞにやむべき物ならなくに

huri-nu to te                    Even though it falls
itaku na-wabi-so                 Do not lament so greatly.
harusame no                      The spring season rain
tada ni yamu-beki                Does not stop so easily,
mono nara-naku ni                Your fortunes, too, will improve.

Falls

The word huru can mean "[rain] falls" or "grow old". So this is also "Though you have gotten old..."

--

The closing poem of the second volume is closely linked to the first -- both poems are by Ki no Tsurayuki, and have to do with the future prospects of friends. The third volume also closes with a Tsurayuki poem. In this case, he is reassuring Tadamine that his rise in rank will not stop.

The poem is included anonymously in the Kokin waka rokujo. mono (thing) is kimi (you) in that version. One of them may be an alternate transmission, or perhaps Tsurayuki's poem was an intentional change of the anonymous one.

Appendix 1: Variant Text Poems

Some non-Teika texts of the GSS have additional poems in the long block of love poems at the end of this volume. I have taken the text of all three poems from the 雲州本後撰和歌集.

V1

桜の花のつぼめるを折て、人のもとへやりける

She broke off a bud of cherry blossom and sent it to someone.

刑部卿女

The Daughter of the Head of Police

このはなのこころのうちに我こひはいくらこもれりたれにとはまし

kono hana no                    This flower I send,
kokoro no uti ni                In the depths of its heart, 
waga kohi ha                    My love for you,
ikura komoreri                  How much of it is buried?
tare ni toha-masi               Who can I possibly ask?

--

See the next poem for comment.

V2

かへし

Response

監蔵人

A Chamberlain

おほ空にみつともみえぬこひなればいくらばかりか花にこむらん

ohozora ni                      If it is a love
mitu to mo mie-nu               That cannot be seen though it 
kohi nare-ba                    Cover the wide sky,
ikura bakari ka                 How can it possibly be
hana ni komu-ran                Shut up inside a flower?

--

These poems appear in the Unshu-bon text of the GSS as well as the Keicho-bon, which is known only through collation in the Edo-period Gosen wakashu hyochu. The identity of the poets is uncertain; they may be fictional characters for this poem-tale like exchange. The variant texts place them in the midst of the long section of spring love poems near the end of the second volume.

The source of the poems is unknown, but similar poems appear in the Emperor Daigo Collection, 13 and 14. #13 is almost identical to the V1 poem here but with a different preface. #14 reads differently:

おほ空にみつとはききし恋なればいくらかはなのこととしらせん

If this is a love that I heard fills the whole sky, how can it possibly be transmitted through a flower?

Perhaps both this variant text exchange and the version in the Daigo Collection are fictionalized versions of previously existing poems.

V3

しのびにあひしりて侍ける人と物いひてあしたに、はゝをんなのもとより、「よべのけしき人にみすな」といひおくりて侍ければ

The morning after he had spend the night with someone he had been secretly meeting, the mother sent as if from the daughter, "Don't let anyone know about last night."

大江千里

Oe no Chisato

ねになきてひちにしかども春雨にぬれしたもとゝとはゞこたへん

ne ni naki-te                My loud sobbing
hiti ni sikadomo             Has wet them thoroughly, but
harusame ni                  If I am asked,
nure-si tamoto to            I will say that my sleeves
toha-ba kotahe-n             Were drenched through by the spring rain.

--

This is the same as KKS 577, except that in the KKS it is given as "topic unknown". [Later see if the Chisato-shu has this preface]

Copyright 2019, J. Christopher Kern.