Gosenshu 9
後撰和歌集 巻第九 恋一
The GSS has six love volumes in comparison to the KKS' five. The KKS' love volumes focused primarily on abstract poems, without prose prefaces, that used various images to express feelings associated with love. The GSS focuses on poems sent to lovers in actual situations, and features a large number of exchanges. The KKS also arranged the poems to follow the sequence of a love affair; from the initial feelings to the end of the relationship. The GSS' organization is less clear, but seems to involve grouping poems with similar imagery together.
507
からうじて逢ひしりて侍りける人に、慎むことありて、逢ひがたく侍りければ
There was a person who he met after great effort, and there was something to be cautious about, then it became hard to meet.
源宗于朝臣
あづま地の さやの中山 中々に あひ見てのちぞ わびしかりける
adumadi no On the eastern road saya no nakayama Saya no Nakayama nakanaka ni So casually we met ahi-mite noti zo But it's only after that wabisi-kari-keru That I suffer all the more.
- Something to be cautious about
- This is a common theme in love poetry and love tales; it simply means that there was some reason why their relationship was not acceptable or why they couldn't be open about it.
- Saya no Nakayama
- This place name is used primarily as a preface for the third line, nakanaka ni (casually). However, the idea of this mountain crossing also links to the "great effort" of the preface.
--
The idea behind the poem is that he was suffering from love before they met, and he thought that after they met his suffering would end. But their meeting, though seemingly casual and noncommittal, has now caused an even greater agony for him. Kifune thinks that the compilers wanted to draw the readers in to the love volume by ending the Winter volume with "we haven't met yet", then immediately saying that "after great effort, they met" and then "it was difficult to meet"; showing this sudden transition between the phases of love.
The first part of this poem seems to be taken from KKS 594:
- あづまぢのさやの中山なかなかになにしか人を思ひそめけむ
- On the eastern road, Saya no Nakayama, why did I start casually loving her?
The Kansho praises the softness of the poem and the effectiveness of the pain in the final line.
508
忍びたりける人に物語し侍りけるを、人の騒がしく侍りければ、まかり帰りて、つかはしける
He was chatting with a person he was seeing secretly, but people were making a ruckus, so he returned home and sent this.
つらゆき
暁と何かいひけむわかるれば宵もいとこそわびしかりけれ
akatuki to The dawn, the dawn, nani ka ihi-kemu Why do they talk about it so? wakarure-ba When we have parted yohi mo ito koso It is the bitter evening wabisikari-kere That is the source of my suffering.
--
The situation here seems to be that Tsurayuki had visited a women secretly, but he was fearful of being discovered because of gentlewomen in the next room. So he goes home and sends this poem. The first line is perhaps on Tadamine's KKS 625:
- 有明のつれなく見えし別れより暁ばかりうき物はなし
- Nothing is as sorrowful as the ruthless dawn, moon still in the sky, after you've parted from your love.
However, the dawn parting is a common image in love poetry so the reference may not be this direct.
509
源の巨城が通いひ侍りけるを、後々はまからずなり侍りにければ、となりの壁の穴より巨城をはつかに見てつかはしける
Minamoto no Ooki was visiting her, but after a while he no longer visited, and she saw him faintly in the next room through a hole in the wall, and sent this.
するが
Suruga
まどろまぬ かべにも人を 見つるかな まさしからなん 春の夜の夢
madoroma-nu Unable to sleep kabe ni mo hito wo On the wall, too, that person mi-turu kana I think I saw there! masasikara-nan If only it could be real haru no yo no yume The dream of a night of spring.
--
The idea of seeing one's lover in a dream is common in Heian poetry, but the role of the wall is less clear here. Of course it comes from the situation in the preface, but what poetic element does it have? The mo (also) means that Suruga is seeing Ooki not only in her dreams, but on the wall as well. One possibility, appearing first in the Seigi, is that seeing dreams on walls when awake is an old trope from Chinese writings. Kudo mentions a Chinese story where a man sees his deceased wife on a wall but then the image disappears. GSS 1399 involves similar language but the situation there is that a man sees something that his deceased wife had written on the wall.
Another possibility raised by Kigin is that this is simply a wordplay; since walls are painted (nuru), that creates a play on words with nuru "sleep". In this case Kifune may be right that this is a comic Haikai poem. He also reads the entire situation as a humorous one; it was common for higher ranking men to have casual relationships with gentlewomen like Suruga. Therefore this poem may not be actually a bitter accusation of cheating but simply a humorous greeting.
510
逢ひ知りて侍りける人のもとに、「返事見む」とてつかはしける
To a woman he knew, he sent this, thinking "Let's see her response."
元良のみこ
Prince Motoyoshi
くやくやと まつゆふぐれと 今はとて かへる朝と いづれまされり
kuyakuya to The evening when matu yuhugure to I wait, thinking "she's coming!" ima ha to te Or the morning when kaheru asita to I return thinking "It's time!" idure masare-ri Which is more sorrowful?
- It's time!
- This often means that the affair has ended, but here it may just mean that morning has come and he has to leave.
--
This kind of comparison poem was a fad at the time. Motoyoshi was known as a playboy, and although this seems more like a public poem, in the context here he is playfully inviting her to respond which one is more sorrowful.
511
返し
Response
藤原かつみ
Fujiwara no Katsumi
ゆふぐれは 松にもかかる 白露の おくる朝や きえははつらむ
yuhugure ha In the evening matu ni mo kakaru Waiting on the pine trees siratuyu no The white beads of dew okuru asita ya In the coming morning kie ha hatu-ramu They will surely vanish.
- Waiting
- matu as usual puns on "pine" and "wait".
--
The basic meaning of Katsumi's response is that waiting in the evening for his arrival is bad enough, but she knows he will come. It's the morning parting makes her feel like she will die, vanishing before even the dew does. Kifune and the Hyoshaku both praise the skilled construction showing her love.
Supplementary Notes
NB: In every volume title, Teika notes that Fujiwara no Yukinari's text adds 歌 (for instance, in Teika's manuscript the heading for the first volume is 春上, in Yukinari's manuscript it is 春歌上. He also notes at the end of every volume that Yukinari writes "Volume X" (e.g. 巻第一 at the end of volume 1). This would indicate that Yukinari's text was originally twenty separate volumes, or perhaps scrolls.
507S
Textual notes:
- あいがたく] 又あひがたく (中・貞・堀・雲・荒・承・八・標*・新・評・全), 又も（片）
- あひ見て] いひ見て (堀*)
- わびしかりける] こひしかりける (標イ)
Other sources:
- Muneyuki Collection 1. (Second line さよの中山)
- New Poetry Competition of People from Different Eras 57. One of three poems matched against the 12th century poet Minamoto no Yorimasa. (Fifth line こいしかりける)
- Utamakura from the Five Collections 434. Given as an example of Saya no Nakayama. (Fifth line こいしかりける)
508S
Textual notes:
- 暁と] 暁を (中・堀・雲・片*・ハイ・新イ)
Other sources:
- Kokin waka rokujo 2800, 宵の間, Tsurayuki. (First two lines あかつきをなにしいひけん)
509S
Textual notes:
- まさしからなん] まさきからせで (堀$)
Other sources:
- Rokka wakashu 1436
- Iroha wananshu, Karin ryozai, Rokka wakashu chu
510S
Textual notes:
- あひしりて侍りける人] あひしりて侍りける人々 (堀・白・荒・片). This variant may be influenced by the poem's appearance in the Eiga monogatari (see below).
- ゆふぐれと] ゆふぐれも (堀$)
- まされり] まされる (雲・八・標・新*)
Other sources:
- Motoyoshi Collection 1. Prose preface: "Emperor Yozei's first son, Prince Motoyoshi, was a great playboy. If he heard about a good woman whether they met or didn't meet, he sent them letters and poems. He sent this to Gen no Myobu." Several more poems follow in an exchange.
- Eiga monogatari 82 (volume 10). This poem appears as a retrospective, with someone remembering that "one of Emperor Yozei's sons" had sent this poem to several women. The tale gives his "favorite reply" from Hon'in no Jiju. Jiju's poem appears as Shin goshui shu 1149. This exchange also appears in the Kohon setsuwa shu.