Gosenshu 7

Gosen wakashu Volume 7: Autumn 3 後撰和歌集巻第七　秋下

351

題知らず

Topic unknown

よみ人も

The poet as well

ふぢ袴きる人なみや立ちながらしぐれの雨にぬらしそめつる

hudibakama　　　　　　　　　Fujibakama
kiru hito nami ya        Perhaps since no one wears it
tati-nagara              It stands sewn, ready
sigure no ame ni         In the rains of late autumn
nurasi-some-turu         Starting to get drenched and stained.

Fujibakama

Eupatorium japonicum. The origin of this flower's name is not certain, but the hakama suggests the word for trousers, thus furnishing the wordplay in many poems dealing with it.

Stands sewn

Play on tatu (standing, and cut cloth)

Drenched and stained

Play on some (beginning to, and dyeing something). The dyeing also suggests the autumn leaves.

--

Fujibakama occur in three KKS autumn poems and just this one GSS poem; the image does not reoccur again until the Kin'yoshu. This is a simple play on the name of the flower, but the extended wordplay and the image of the flowers standing out ready to be worn furnish a kind of comic charm. The three KKS poems (239-241) portray the flower as a cast off, discarded, or forgotten pair of trousers. This poem presents the opposite situation; a finished pair set out and ready to be worn, but no one to use it.

352

秋風にあひとしあへば花すすきいづれともなくほにぞいでける

akikaze ni                In the autumn wind
ahi to si ahe-ba          That blows forth and meets them all
hanasusuki                The susuki plants
idure to mo naku          Every one, no exception,
ho ni zo ide-keru         Their stalks appear and come forth.

--

The susuki return from the first autumn volume. Kifune reads this as a light, comic poem -- the personified plants are meeting the autumn wind (a man) and their love comes forth. Kudo and Katagiri, probably working off the usual negative meaning of autumn wind, read it in a different way. The imagery is hard to interpret, but Katagiri uses a KKS poem to suggest that it is lamenting and sorrow that is coming forth when the wind of aki meets them. Kifune's reading would fit better with the light, comic nature of 351. But the sadder love meaning is a better link to the next poem. Perhaps both are possible?

353

寛平御時后の家の歌合に

At the Empress' Poetry Competition in the Kampyo Era

在原棟梁

Ariwara no Muneyana

花すすきそよともすれば秋風のふくかとぞきくひとりぬるよは

hanasusuki                When the pampas grass
soyo to mo sure-ba        Softly rustles in the night
akikaze no                The wind of autumn
huku ka to zo kiku        Is blowing, or so it sounds,
hitoru nuru yo ha         When I am sleeping alone.

--

This can be a general poem about the sadness of autumn, and how even the softest rustling noise outside can make you feel the autumn wind. It could also be a woman waiting for a man who has abandoned her, feeling the wind of aki in the rustling of the grass. The version in the poetry contest and the Shinsen man'yoshu reads koromo naki mi ha (for my self without clothing) in the last line.

354

題知らず

Topic unknown

よみ人も

Also the poet

はなすすきほにいでやすき草なれば身にならむとはたのまれなくに

hanasusuki               The pampas grasses
ho ni ide-yasuki         Reveal their stalks easily
kusa nare-ba             And though I know that
mi ni nara-mu to ha      Waiting for a fruit to come
tanoma-re-naku ni        Is not something I can trust...

--

The poem trails off in the end, suggesting a conclusion. Opinions have differed on the meaning. One reading is that this person I love shows his or her feelings too easily, and I can't count on them being faithful in the end -- yet I still love them. Another reading is that it specifically focuses on a hidden love; that when someone reveals that love to you, you probably can't count on it (but you do it anyway). Nakayama was the only one to take the position that this was not about love, but the association of ho ni idu with revealing one's feelings is strong in Heian poetry.

355

秋風にさそはれわたる雁がねは雲ゐはるかにけふぞきこゆる

akikaze ni               Invited here by
sasoha-re wataru         The autumn wind, the voice of
kari ga ne ha            Geese crossing the sky:
kumowi haruka ni         Far away beyond the clouds
kehu zo kikoyuru         Today is when I hear it.

--

Geese appear in a few spring poems as they leave for the season, but they are a much greater presence in autumn poetry both in the KKS and GSS. The idea of the geese being invited back by autumn wind is found in the KKS and goes back to Chinese poetry.

356

越の方に思ふ人侍りける時に

When there was someone he thought about in Koshi

つらゆき

Tsurayuki

秋のよに雁かもなきてわたるなりわが思ふ人の事づてやせし

aki no yo ni               On this autumn night
kari ka mo naki-te         The cry perhaps of a geese
wataru nari                Passing by I hear.
waga omohu hito no         Surely the one I think of
kotodute ya se-si          Did not send me a message.

Koshi

An ancient province that was later divided into Echizen, Etchū, and Echigo.

Perhaps of a geese

The three modern editions all agree that the kamo in karikamo is "maybe", and Katagiri says this occurs in the MYS as well. Previous commentators had a difficult time with this, taking it as a mistake for karigane (geese), as kamo being a general name for any water bird, or as a sentence-ending exclamation. Only Sogi, the earliest commentator on this poem, agrees with the modern scholars.

--

The idea of the goose sending a message may be based on a Chinese legend of Sū Wǔ sending a message by a goose, but the idea may have passed into common understanding by this time. Tsurayuki hears the goose coming from the direction of Koshi and wonders if his love has sent a message.

357

題知らず

Topic unknown

あき風に霧とびわけてくるかりの千世にかはらぬ声きこゆなり

akikaze ni              On the autumn wind
kiri tobi-wake-te       Flying through the misty sky
kuru kari no            The geese coming back
tiyo ni kahara-nu       A thousand ages unchanged
kowe kikoyu nari        Their voice can be heard below.

Geese

The word kari also suggests "temporary", which is then contradicted by the tiyo (thousand ages) in the next line.

--

The meaning of the poem is fairly direct, but both Nakayama and Kifune suggested it might be a celebratory screen painting. The "thousand ages" is common in poems praising an Emperor or other high-ranking person. Nakayama suggests the entry into palace service of a Consort. But this poem is not found in the Tsurayuki Collection so we have no more information about its context.

358

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

物思ふと月ひのゆくもしらざりつかりこそなきて秋とつげつれ

mono omohu to                  Absorbed in worry
tukihi no yuku mo              Even the passage of days
sira-zari-tu                   I did not realize.
kari koso naki-te              It was the cry of the geese
aki to tuge-ture               That told me autumn was here.

--

This might seem like a "beginning of autumn" poem but the idea is that this person's worry has been so great that they didn't realize it was autumn until late in the season when the geese arrived. If the worry is love worries, this could be a woman waiting for a man to visit, and she hears the cry of the geese telling her that aki (autumn, and the man's abandonment) has come.

359

大和にまかりけるついでに

While going down to Yamato

かりがねのなきつるなへに唐衣たつたの山はもみぢしにけり

karigane no                As soon as the geese 
naki-turu nahe ni          Cry on their return, just then,
karakoromo                 The Chinese clothing
tatuta no yama ha          Tatsuta mountain is filled
momidi si-ni-keri          With the colored autumn leaves.

Chinese clothing

karakoromo is a pillow word for Mt. Tatsuta because tatu means "cut [cloth]". It's possible that there's also a link between the colored robes and the autumn leaves.

--

The poems continue to hint at the autumn leaves, while holding off the major block of poems until later in this volume. This poem also appears in the Man'yoshu, the Hitomaro Collection, and the Yakamochi Collection with textual variations in each. This seems to be a poem that was rewritten or transmitted differently several times, but the prose preface is unique to the GSS.

360

題知らず

Topic unknown

秋風にさそはれ渡るかりがねは物思ふ人のやどをよかなん

akikaze ni                  Invited back by
sasoha-re wataru            The autumn wind, the geese that
karigane ha                 Cross high in the sky,
mono omohu hito no          I would have you stay away
yado wo yoka-nan            From the house of one in worry.

--

The cry of geese is sometimes said to bring worry because it reminds the hearer of autumn. So the poet wishes that the geese would avoid his house. The feeling is similar to KKS 145:

夏山に鳴くほととぎす心あらば物思ふ我に声な聞かせそ

O cuckoo that cries in the mountains: if you have a heart, do not let me in my sorrow hear your voice.

This poem was included by Teika in the Kindai shuka and Eiga no taigai selections of poetry.