Gosenshu 6

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.