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.
