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.

361

誰きけと鳴く雁金ぞわがやどのを花が末を過ぎがてにして

tare kike to                Who do you cry to
naku karigane zo            Telling them to listen, goose?
waga yado no                It seems hard for you
wobana ga suwe wo           To avoid the pampas tips
sugi-gate ni site           In the garden of my house.

--

If we read this as a continuation of the previous poem, the geese, invited by the swaying pampas grass in the wind, are crying out to the poet to listen. But he is sunk down in worry and does not want to hear. The idea of the pampas grass inviting people occurs in other GSS and KSS poems, but the pairing of pampas grass and geese is new to the GSS. Kudo likens it to a screen painting with pampas at the bottom and geese flying overhead at the top.

362

往き還りここもかしこも旅なれやくる秋ごとにかりかりとなく

yuki kaeri              Coming and going
koko mo kasiko mo       Flying here and flying there
tabi nare ya            Always traveling,
kuru aki goto ni        Perhaps that's why every fall
karikari to naku        The geese cry "kari! kari!"

kari! kari!

In the MYS the idea already appeared that the kari (goose) was named after its cry, which sounded like kari. This also plays on kari "temporary".

--

This is a comic haikai style poem -- the geese cry "kari" because they never stay in one place for too long. The idea of the geese crying "kari" is found in the MYS but in Heian court poetry only in the GSS. Katagari highlights this as an expression of the more casual style of the GSS.

This poem and the next two form a small block on this idea of the geese's cry being "kari!"0

363

秋ごとにくれどかへればたのまぬを声にたてつつかりとのみなく

akigoto ni                    In every autumn
kure-do kahere-ba             They come but then soon depart
tanoma-nu wo                  So we can't trust them,
kowe ni ta-te-tutu            Then why do they raise their voice
kari to nomi naku             Over and over, "kari!"

--

"We already don't trust you to stay, you don't need to go out of your way to cry 'I'm only here temporarily!'" Like the last poem, this is a comic one playing on the sound of the geese's cry. Kifune notes the undercurrent of the aki pun hinting at a love meaning with a man coming and going, although this is likely just an additional comic effect.

364

ひたすらにわがおもはなくにおのれさへかりかりとのみなきわたるらん

hitasura ni                    Already I don't
waga omoha-naku ni             Think of you that earnestly --
onore sahe                     You do not have to
karikari to nomi               Fly here and there crying out
naki-wataru-ran                Nothing but "kari! kari!"

--

This poem is very similar in feeling to the previous one, completing the small group of three poems. Kigin and Norinaga read the poem as referring to the impermanence of the world. They may have felt that the poem's meaning was too much in the haikai style otherwise. But Nakayama and all the modern commenters disagree.

A very similar poem attributed to Tsurayuki appears in the Kokin waka rokujo:

ひたすらに我がきかなくに雲わけてかりぞかりぞと告げわたるらん

I'm not really listening that intently, but they fly out of the clouds crying "Kari zo kari zo!" all over the place.

365

人の「雁は来にけり」と申すを聞きて

He heard someone say "The geese have come."

みつね

Mitsune

年ごとに雲地まどはぬかりがねは心づからや秋をしるらん

tosi-goto ni            Each and every year
kumodi madoha-nu        They are not lost in the cloud road,
karigane ha             The flying geese:
kokorodukara ya         From their own hearts they must know
aki wo siru-ran         That autumn has now arrived.

They are not lost

Kifune emends the text to madoha-zu kuru kane ha, the reading of many alternate manuscripts and the Kokin waka rokujo. His reasoning is that the base text's version doesn't match the prose preface.

--

This is a simple and direct poem; the preface indicates it was composed on the spot in response to what a person said. Perhaps it was an especially cloudy day and the geese appeared out of the clouds.

366

大和にまかりける時、かれこれともにて

When he was going down to Yamato, there were various people with him

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

天河かりぞとわたるさほ山のこずゑはむべも色づきにけり

ama no gaha             In heaven's river
kari zo to wataru       They geese cry and cross the gate
sahoyama no             Oh, now I see why
kozuwe ha mube mo       Branches on Saho Mountain
iroduki-ni-keri         Are tinged with autumn color.

Heaven's river

While this is the sky, it may also suggest a place in Yamato called ten no kawa.

Saho Mountain

A place in Yamato, known for its autumn leaves.

--

Kifune seems to be the only commenter who offers a reading that incorporates the prose preface. The poet is in a group of people crossing this river on or around Saho mountain. He uses this poem to compare them to geese crossing through the sky. He was hoping to see autumn leaves in this mountain, where they are famous, and so he notes the color on the branches. The GSS continues to hint at autumn leaves, the major block of which will appear soon.

KKS 267 provides a poetic precedent for Saho Mountain's leaves turning red late in the autumn.

367

兼輔朝臣、左近少将に侍りける時、武蔵の御馬迎へにまかりたつ日、にはかに障ることありて、代わりに、同じ司の少将にて迎へにまかりて、逢坂より随身を帰して、いひ送り侍りける

When Lord Kanesuke was a Left Minor Captain, on the day he was supposed to go to Musashi to receive the horses, something unexpectedly came up, and in his place, another Minor Counselor of the same office went, and from Osaka he sent back a retainer with this poem.

藤原忠房朝臣

Lord Fujiwara no Tadafusa

秋きりのたちのの駒をひく時は心にのりて君ぞこひしき

akikiri no                 Autumn mist shrouded
tatino no koma wo          Tachi field's horse I received
hiku toki ha               And when I took it,
kokoro ni nori-te          Riding atop my spirit
kimi zo kohisiki           Was longing for your presence.

Receive the horses

This took place on the 15th day of the 8th month, when various provinces would send horses to the Emperor. Someone would go to the Osaka barrier to formally receive them.

--

This is another example of the GSS including an occasional poem written on a yearly function of the type that does not appear in KKS poetry. Tadafusa sent this poem along with acknowledgment that the horses had been received. The poem uses seasonal imagery as well as the image of "riding" used for connection to the horse as well as his thoughts for Kanesuke. The dates of Kanesuke's career are hard to pin down, but this poem would have been read sometime between 913 and 916.

368

題知らず

Topic unknown

在原元方

Ariwara no Motokata

いその神ふるのの草も秋は猶色ことにこそあらたまりけれ

iso no kami               Iso no Kami
huruno no kusa mo         Even old Furu Field grass
aki ha naho               In autumn, indeed
iro koto ni koso          Especially the color
aratamari-kere            Changes itself as if new.

Iso no Kami

iso no kami is usually a pillow word for huru (old). Here it leads into "Furu Field", perhaps because both Iso no Kami and Furu Field are in Yamato province. The name of the field suggests "old".

--

The poems continue to move towards autumn leaves, though still away from the capital. The main poetic device here is the opposition of huru (old) in the name of Furu Field, and arata (new) embedded in the verb aratamaru (become like new).

369

よみ人しらず

Poet unknown

秋の野の錦のごとも見ゆるかな色なきつゆはそめじと思ふに

aki no no no                The fields of autumn
nisiki no goto mo           Like a brocade of fabric
miyuru kana                 Appear to our eyes!
iro naki tuyu ha            Though the dew has no color
some-ji to omohu ni         So it couldn't dye the leaves...

--

See GSS 310 in the previous volume. The idea that the dew is what causes autumn leaves to change colors was commonplace. The poem recalls KKS 257:

白露の色はひとつをいかにして秋の木の葉をちぢに染むらん

White dew has but one color, so how does it stain the leaves of the autumn trees with many hues?

But the dew here is not white, it's completely colorless.

The use of nisiki (brocade) as a symbol of autumn leaves is found in the KKS and goes back to Chinese poetry.

370

あきののにいかなるつゆのおきつめばちぢの草葉の色かはるらん

aki no no ni                In the autumn fields
ika naru tuyu no            What kind of dew can it be
oki-tume-ba                 When it piles up
tidi no kusaba no           All the various grasses
iro kaharu-ran              Seem to change many colors?

--

This poem is a companion to 369, addressing the same idea.

371

いづれをかわきてしのばむ秋ののにうつろはむとて色かはる草

idure wo ka                 Which of them should I
waki-te sinoba-mu           Single out to long for
aki no no ni                In the autumn field
uturoha-mu to te            In order to fade away
iro kaharu kusa             The grasses change their color.

--

The standard way to read this is that all the grasses of the field are changing color and will soon scatter their leaves and die. They're all pitiful, but how can I choose one to single out and long for? Nakayama is the lone dissenter. He reads uturohu with its secondary love meaning of "turn to another lover". The grasses are portrayed as flighty women who change their color just to change their hearts. They're beautiful, but not reliable. So should the poet go after them, or should they go after the more reliable grasses that are less beautiful? This interpretation seems less likely to me.