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= Gosen wakashu Volume 6: Autumn 2 後撰和歌集巻第六　秋中 =

== 271 ==

延喜御時に秋の歌めしければ、たてまつりける

In the Engi period, [the Emperor] asked for an autumn poem, and [Tsurayuki] provided these.

紀貫之

Ki no Tsurayuki

秋霧の立ちぬる時はくらぶ山おぼつかなくぞ見え渡りける

 akigiri no                When the autumn mist
 tati-nuru toki ha         Has risen up to enwrap
 kurabuyama                Kurabu Mountain,
 obotukanaku zo            Looking across the whole place
 mie-watari-keru           It is difficult to see.

;Autumn mist
:There's no clear indication whether this should be ''akigiri'' or ''akikiri''; I've gone with the majority, but Takeoka reads it ''akikiri'' on the basis of other compounds like ''harukasumi'' that are unvoiced.

;Kurabu Mountain
:A mountain in old Yamashiro province; used in poetry for its association with ''kurasi'' (dark), and thus hard to see or navigate.

--

The second volume of autumn poems begins with two public poems by Tsurayuki in response to Imperial request, which introduce two major autumn themes. The first one is autumn mist, a major theme in KKS autumn poetry as well. The difference between the spring ''kasumi'' and autumn ''kiri'' is difficult to represent in English translation; there's a tradition of translating ''kasumi'' as "haze" and ''kiri'' as "mist". 

This poem is a fairly simple evocation of the scene of a mountain wrapped in mist, with the pun on the mountain's name.

== 272 ==

花見にといでにしものを秋の野の霧に迷ひてけふはくらしつ

 hanami ni to              Although I went out
 ide-ni-si mono wo         Thinking to view the flowers,
 aki no no no              In the autumn field
 kiri ni madohi-te         I've gotten lost in the mist
 kehu ha kurasi-tu         And wasted the whole day through.

--

The second of Tsurayuki's poems introduces the general idea of autumn flowers. Specific flowers will soon begin to show up in the poems; a few of the flowering plants appeared in the first volume but the flowers in particular were not mentioned. 

Kigin praised these two poems as skilled and elegant, and a perfect example of Tsurayuki's poetry. Kifune praised the evocation of a dream/fantasy world; the poet wandering lost in the mist, imagining the beautiful flowers he came out to see.

A similar poem appears in the ''Kokin waka rokujo'':
::音に聞く花見にくれば秋霧の道さまたげに立ち渡りつつ
::I came to see the flowers I heard rumor of, and mist kept rising up to block the path.

Katagiri draws attention to another poem by Tsurayuki, KKS 116:
::春の野に若菜つまむと来しものをちりかふ花に道はまどひぬ
::I went to the spring fields to pick young shoots, but the scattering cherry blossoms made me lose my way.

== 273 ==

寛平御時后宮の歌合せに

Read at the Empress' Poetry Competition in the Kampyo era

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

浦ちかくたつ秋きりはもしほやく煙とのみぞ見えわたりける

 ura tikaku                The mist of autumn
 tatu akikiri ha           Rising down there near the bay:
 mosiho yaku               As smoke that rises
 keburi to nomi zo         From seaweed burned for its salt
 mie-watari-keru           That is all I see it as.

--

The public group of poems continue, this time with a poem from a competition. Although the author is not listed here, it's found in the ''Okikaze Collection'' with a slightly different final line (''ayamatarikeru'', "I mistake it for..."). The image is fairly clear; the smoke from burning seaweed is often found in love  poetry to show the smoldering of the poet's heart. A similar poem to this appears in the ''Nakatsukasa collection'' but with spring haze instead of autumn mist.  SIS 1096 is also similar, written for a screen painting:
::藻塩焼く煙に馴るる須磨の海人は秋立つ霧も分かずやあるらん
::I wonder if the saltmakers at Suma, so used to the smoke from the burning seaweed, can tell it apart from autumn mist?

== 274 ==

同じ御時の女郎花合はせに

In the same [Kampyo] era, at a patrinia flower contest

藤原興風

Fujiwara no Okikaze

をるからにわがなはたちぬ女郎花いざおなじくははなばなに見む

 woru kara ni              I plucked the flower
 waga na ha tati-nu        Rumors started right away,
 wominahesi                The patrinia,
 iza onajiku ha            Well then, if it's all the same,
 hanabana ni mi-mu         I'll just look at all of them!

;In the same era
:According to other records, this was actually in 898, the first year of the Shōtai era.

;Patrinia flower contest
:The Heian nobility engaged in a great deal of "matching contests", where teams each presented a particular item and a judge decided on which one was better. Poetry contests stem from this practice. The patrinia appears in KKS 226-238, showing the importance of the flower. The frequency of use in poetry is partly connected to the name ''wominaesi'', since the first three syllables suggest "woman".

;Plucked the flower
:Plucking a flower is often used in love poetry as a metaphor for a romantic encounter with a woman.

--

This poem, recited at an event where patrinia were being matched, is a humorous poem declaring that Okikaze will look at all the flowers. The other meaning of the poem is that if he's going to get a bad name from sleeping with one woman, he might as well sleep with as many as he can. ''Hanabana ni'' may suggest the word ''hana ni'' which is used in a few poems to indicate entering a romantic relationship without serious intent.

As noted above, 226-238 in the KKS all feature the patrinia, and several (226 for example) use the idea of picking the flower, and then getting a bad name for being a playboy.