Gosenshu 4

Gosen wakashu Volume 4: Summer 後撰和歌集巻第四　夏

147

題しらず

Circumstance unknown

よみ人も

Also the poet

今日よりは夏の衣に成りぬれどきるひとさへはかはらざりけり

kehu yori ha                  It's from today that
natu no koromo ni             We begin to wear
nari-nure-do                  The summer clothing,
kiru hito sahe                But the heart of the wearers,
kahara-zari-keri              Alone does not change, I see.

--

The summer volume begins with a set of anonymous poems, beginning with two that have no contexts or authors, introducing some of the significant imagery of the first section.

As the weather gets hotter, people change to lighter summer clothing. Katagiri notes that the focus on the hearts of people is characteristic of the GSS, but it's hard to say exactly what the meaning is. The use of hito suggests a love poem with a woman complaining about a man, as in Kigin's reading. But perhaps because this is the opposite of the usual changing hearts of men, Kifune says that the hito is actually the poet herself, and it's her sorrow that doesn't change. Katagiri seems to take this in a more general sense -- people's hearts are not like the light clothing we change into, and thus stay the same.

The love meaning is more evident in Shoku kokin wakashu 1542, which uses this as a honka:

今日見れば夏の衣になりにけりうきはかはらぬ身をいかにせん

Today I see that people have changed to summer clothing. What will happen to my sorrowful heart which does not change?

It's hard to tell what this means for the medieval reading of the poem since it was common to use a non-love poem as a honka for a love poem.

A similar feeling is found in SIS 1002, though about spring:

あたらしき年にはあれども鶯の鳴く音さへには変わらざりけり

It's a new year, but it seems that only the sound of the warbler has not changed.

This poem appears in the Teiji Poetry Contest. Emperor Daigo himself was the judge. This poem lost, Daigo commenting negatively on the fourth line.

148

[Circumstance unknown] [Poet unknown]

卯の花のさけるかきねの月きよみいねずきけとやなくほととぎす

u no hana no              The moon shines brightly
sake-ru kakine no         On a fence where deutzia
tuki kiyo-mi              Flowers are blooming,
ine-zu kike to ya         So it seems the cuckoo cries,
naku hototogisu           "Don't leave, but stay and listen!"

The cuckoo cries

Kifune says that the entire poem up to this point is what the warbler is crying, while Katagiri takes only the fourth line as the warbler's cry.

--

The u no hana (deutzia) appears in only one late summer poem in the KKS (164), but starting with the GSS it becomes a major seasonal image of early summer. It often occurs with warblers or the moon, but Kifune suggests this is the first poem to combine all three images.

Kigin and Kudo both note how this poem paints a picture in the first three lines and then adds sound in the last one. Perhaps this was originally a screen painting. It also occurs in both the Ise Collection and the Yakamochi Collection with a different second line (にほふさかりの - "in profusely blooming beauty.")

月をだにあかず思ひてねぬものをほととぎすさへなきわたるかな

I cannot sleep, thinking longingly of the moon, and even the warbler continues to cry. (Kokin waka rokujo, Ki no Tsurayuki)

149

卯月ばかり、友だちの住み侍りける所近く侍りて、「必ず消息つかはしてむ」と待ちけるに、音なく侍りければ

Around the 4th month, a friend was living in a place near their house. They said "don't fail to send me a letter" and waited, but there was no answer.

[Poet unknown]

郭公きゐるかきねはちかながらまちどほにのみ声のきこえぬ

hototogisu                     The fence on which the
ki-wiru kakine ha              Cuckoo has come and is sitting
tika-nagara                    Is close to me, but
matidoho ni nomi               I just wait expectantly,
kowe no kikoe-nu               And do not hear the bird's voice.

--

The initial anonymous poems are followed by two exchanges -- one by friends, and one by lovers. This poems uses the cuckoo as a metaphor for the friend, who is nearby but does not send the voice (letter). There is also a contrast in the poem with tika (close) and the doho (far) of matidoho (wait expectantly).

Kigin's Hachidaishusho has a different third line -- tiri-nagara ("has scattered, and yet"). This is found in no other manuscript and seems to be a mistake, but it results in a different explanation of the poem. Kigin interprets this as the deutzia flower having scattered, and so the cuckoo doesn't come to cry.

150

返し

Response

[Poet Unknown]

ほととぎす声まつほどはとをからでしのびにかうをかかぬなるらん

hototogisu                    The time you need wait
kowe matu hodo ha             For the cuckoo's cry to come
tohokara-de                   Is not that far, and
sinobi ni naku wo             My voice crying hidden tears
kika-nu-naru-ran              You seem not to have heard it.

--

The response is partly explanation and apology, and part a reproach on the original poet (perhaps for not visiting?) This kind of playful reproach is common in responses to love poetry. The first part of the poem refers to the 4th month in which the poem was composed -- normally cuckoos come in the 5th month. Kifune calls this a skilled composition.

151

もの言ひかはし侍りける人の、つれなく侍りければ、その家の垣根の卯の花を折りて言ひ入れて侍りける

A person who he had been involved with had become cold to him, and he broke off a deutzia flower from the fence at her house and sent it in to her with this poem.

[Poet unknown]

うらめしき君がかきねの卯の花はうしと見つつもなほたのむかな

uramesiki                     You are cold to me
kimi ga kakine no             Just like the deutzia flowers
u no hana ha                  Growing on your fence,
usi to mi-tutu mo             Though I suffer many times,
naho tanomu kana              Still I rely on your love.

Been involved with

The Japanese ihikahasu can denote several degrees of a relationship; this could also be a woman who he has simply been exchanging letters with and is not able to see. This is typical of the GSS' vague yet suggestive language in the prose prefaces, which some scholars believe invited the readers to imagine their own story.

deutzia flowers

The u flower suggests usi (suffer).

--

The exchange of poetry between friends is following by this private exchange between lovers. The association of the deutzia flowers with love problems is commonplace in poetry although it only shows up in two KKS poems, including this summer poem by Mitsune (164):

ほととぎす我とはなしに卯の花の憂き世の中になきわたるらむ

The warbler is not me, so why is it crying in this hateful world?

In this poem, the 卯の花の acts as a pillow word or preface to 憂き, while also suggesting the summer flowers. Some texts of the GSS read u no hana no for poem 151, perhaps due to influence from this poem. Following that reading, the first few lines become a preface.

Another poem that may be an influence on this one is KKS 792, by Tomonori:

水の泡のきえでうき身といひながら流れてなほもたのまるるかな

Like the bubbles of water that float without popping, I float in suffering, and yet I can't stop relying on you.

The same texts that read u no hana no in the third line also read naho tanomaruru kana in the fifth line, also matching the KKS poem.

Several commentaries also point out that the repetition of u throughout the poem (uramesiki, u no hana, usi) shows a skilled compositional technique.

152

返し

Response

うき物と思ひしりなば卯の花のさけるかきねもたづねざらまし

ukimono to                     If you thought of me
omohisiri-na-ba                As a hateful person, then
u no hana no                   You would not visit
sake-ru kakine mo              The fence in front of my house
tadune-zara-masi               Where the deutzia flowers bloom.

Deutzia flowers

As in the last poem, the u flowers suggest uki (hateful).

--

The response picks up on the man's imagery. Given the prose preface in the preceding poem, the woman's response seems rather ironic and cold, although Kifune denies this. He says that she is being calm and restrained. Kudo interprets the poem as meaning the relationship is over, but I'm not clear where that comes from in the poem.

An interesting variant in alternate texts is nan rather than masi in the final line. This changes the meaning to "I want you to not visit" rather than "You would not visit", turning it into a bold statement that she is no longer interested.

153

卯の花の垣根ある家にて

At a house with deutzia flowers growing on the fence

時わかずふれる雪かと見るまでにかきねもたわにさける卯の花

toki waka-zu                It even looks like
fure-ru yuki ka to          It could be the falling snow,
miru made ni                Heedless of season,
kakine mo tawa ni           The fence bending from the load
sake-ru u no hana           Of blooming deutzia flowers.

--

This is a poem of unclear circumstance -- some alternate texts have different wording for the prose preface that suggests a love affair, but there's nothing in the poem itself that would suggest love metaphors or imagery. Instead, this seems to be the standard mitate (feigned confusion) seasonal poem, one popular in public poetry. The poem also appears as SIS 94 with "circumstance unknown."

Although the comparison of plum flowers and snow is commonplace, using the imagery with the white deutzia flowers is not found in the MY or KKS (per Kifune). The use of tawa, suggesting a branch bending under the weight of snow, enhances the "feigned confusion" with vivid imagery.

154

友だちの訪ひまでこぬことをうらみつかはすとて

Sent by someone upset at a friend not visiting.

白妙ににほふかきねの卯の花のうくもきてとふ人のなきかな

sirotahe ni               Like white cloth they bloom
nihohu kakine no          Brilliant they bloom on the fence,
u no hana no              The deutzia flowers,
uku mo ki-te tohu         I begrudge that visitors
hito no naki kana         Don't come, not a single one.

deutzia

See the previous poems for the play on u and uku.

come

The verb kite suggests kite (wear), which is a poetic association with the sirotahe (white) in the opening line.

--

This is a private anonymous poem similar to 148, but without a response. The first three lines are a poetic preface (jo) for the word uku (begrudge), although we might imagine the poet looking out at the flowers growing on her own fence.

The construction and sentiment is similar to several MYS poems:

鴬の通ふ垣根の卯の花の憂きことあれや君が来まさぬ (v10, 1988)

Like the deutzia flowers blooming on the fence visited by the warbler, I am annoyed that you do not visit.

ほととぎす鳴く峰の上の卯の花の憂きことあれや君が来まさぬ　(v8, 1501)

Like the deutzia flowers on the mountain peak visited by the cuckoo, I am annoyed that you do not visit.

155

[Poet unknown]

時わかず月か雪かとみるまでにかきねのままにさける卯の花

toki waka-zu
tuki ka yuki ka to
miru made ni
kakine no mama ni
sakeru u no hana

Prose preface

Because there is no preface, the normal conventions of a collection would mean the previous preface applies to this poem as well. However, "Sent by someone upset at a friend not visiting" makes no sense as a preface for this poem. One of Teika's earlier texts has this poem after 153, in which case the preface would be "At the house where deutzia flowers are on a fence". I am tempted to agree with a minority of variant texts that this should be "circumstance unknown". Perhaps at some point in the editing process -- either of the collection itself or the manuscript tradition -- this poem was moved from another location (like after 153) and the editors neglected to insert "circumstance unknown" to reflect the change. This seems like the kind of anonymous constructed poem that is common in both the GSS and KKS. Kifune is the only modern editor to emend the text; the other two editions don't even mention the missing preface.

156

鳴きわびぬいづちゆかんほととぎすなほ卯の花の影ははなれじ