Gosenshu 8
後撰和歌集 巻第八 冬
443
題しらず
Circumstance unknown
よみ人も
Also the poet
はつ時雨ふれば山べぞおもほゆるいづれの方のまづもみづらん
hatu sigure The first late year rain hure-ba yamabe zo When it falls I come to think omohoyuru Of the mountain ridge. idure no kata no From which place does it begin madu momidu-ran The first leaves changing color.
--
The winter volume opens with two poems that cause several problems. The first one is that both 443 and 444 seem more appropriate to the Autumn volume than the Winter. The second is that this poem has already appeared in Volume 7 (poem 375). The placement of 443 and 444 next to each other is deliberate, since 444 works as an answer to 443. This repetition of 443 has been traditionally viewed as a mistake or a sign of hasty or incompetent editing.
Kifune and Katagiri both say these poems may have appeared here because of the sigure (late year rain) image. Sigure is found in both winter and autumn poems, although the image is more associated with winter. Perhaps the compilers were keen to start off a big set of sigure poems with poems that used hatu sigure (first late year rain), even if the poems on the whole seemed more like autumn poems. There is a clear sequence between the "first colored leaves" of this poem to the "wilted/fallen leaves" of the next poem to the start of winter in 445. Perhaps the best way to look at this is an initial set of poems that show how the sigure rains cross the seasons from autumn to fall. If the compilers were working sequentially, perhaps they initially included this poem as 375 but then later had the idea to begin winter with the 443-445. And then the current text of the GSS we have never received the final round of editing that would have removed the duplication. However, it's not impossible that the duplication was intentional.
444
はつしぐれふるほどもなくさほ山の梢あまねくうつろひにけり
hatu sigure The first late year rain huru hodo mo naku Has barely started to fall sahoyama no When on Mt. Saho kozuwe amaneku Every branch of all the trees uturohi-ni-keri Have already changed color.
- Changed color
- Many texts read iroduki-ni-keri instead, which also means change color. The base text's uturohu can also carry a secondary meaning of scattering and falling, which may be more appropriate here.
--
This poem seems to be a response to 443; the difficulties of these poems appearing in the Winter volume are discussed above. The poem appears in the Korenori Collection where it is said to be a poem read at the Emperor Teiji poetry competition. MYS 8.1553 is similar:
- 時雨の雨間なくし降れば御笠山木末あまねく色づきにけり
- The late year rains have barely started to fall when all the ends of the trees on Mt. Mikasa have turned color.
It was used as a honka for Senzaishu 353:
- 初しぐれふるほどもなくしもとゆふ葛城山はいろづきにけり
- The first late year rain has barely started to fall when Kazuraki Mountain turns color.
445
神な月ふりみふらずみ定めなき時雨ぞ冬の始めなりける
kaminaduki In the tenth month huri-mi hura-zu-mi It falls and then it doesn't fall sadame naki It has no pattern sigure zo huyu no These late spring rains are what mark hazime nari-keru The beginning of winter.
--
Continuing from the previous sigure poems, we are now into winter. Early commentaries put focus on the type of sigure that was particular to winter, but this seems to be just a description of sigure in general. Kifune praises the poem as expressing the feel of the season and the nature of sigure.
446
冬くればさほの河せにゐるたづもひとりねがたきねをぞなくなる
huyu kure-ba When winter arrives saho no kawase ni At the banks of Saho river wiru tadu mo The sitting crane hitori ne-gataki Has trouble sleeping alone ne wo zo naku-naru I hear crying in pain.
--
This seems to be a love poem, with the poet, like the crane, sleeping alone and crying. The Saho River is typically associated with the tidori bird, not the crane. Neither the river nor the bird have any particular seasonal association. The poem also appears in the Ise Collection, with textual variants that emphasize the love reading.
447
ひとりぬる人のきかくに神な月にはかにもふるはつ時雨かな
hitori nuru Sleeping alone hito no ki-kaku ni I am one who hears it kaminaduki In the tenth month nihaka ni mo huru It suddenly starts to fall hatusigure kana The first rains of the late year.
--
This continues the love connotations of the previous poem; this poem could also be taken as general sorrow, but along with the previous poem it seems to lead into the next poem which has a more explicit love theme.
Shunzei included this poem in his Korai futeisho, and Kifune praised the simple language but deep pathos.
448
秋はてて時雨ふりぬる我なればちることのはをなにかうらみむ
aki hate-te Autumn has ended sigure huri-nuru The late rains fall and soak ware nare-ba My aged body tiru koto no ha wo So the fallen leaves of words, nani ka urami-mu Why should I resent them?
- fall...aged
- The verb huru can be either "fall" or "growing old".
- leaves of words
- Although koto no ha simply means "words", it echoes ko no ha (tree leaves).
--
This poem has a more explicit love meaning than the previous ones, while continuing the rain imagery. The play on huru is common to such poetry, as is the play on aki ("autumn" and "grow tired of"). The "fallen leaves of words" is a bit more difficult to interpret. Kigin and Nakayama thought it meant that the couple's letters and poems had been leaked to the world causing embarrassment, but modern commentators take it to mean that his pledges have come to naught.
The poem seems to have been written based on KKS 782 by Komachi, which appears in a slight variation as GSS 450.
449
吹く風は色も見えねど冬くればひとりぬるよの身にぞしみける
huku kaze ha The wind that's blowing iro mo mie-ne-do Has no color we can see huyu kure-ba But when winter comes hitori nuru yo no On the nights I sleep alone mi ni zo simi-keru It seeps into my body.
- seeps
- The word simu can mean "dye" as well.
--
This is another poem drawing on the imagery of winter and sleeping alone. Here the contrast is between the "colorless" wind and the image of the wind dyeing the poet's body with its cold. Poem 443 in the Kokin waka rokujo is similar:
- 吹きくれば身にもしみける秋風を色なきものと思ひけるかな
- When it blows in it seeps into the body, the autumn wind, though I don't think it has any color.
450
秋はててわが身にしぐれにふりぬれば事の葉さへにうつろひにけり
aki hate-te Autumn ends, and then waga mi sigure ni The late year rains fall and soak huri-nure-ba My aged body, koto no ha sahe ni Then even leaves of your words uturohi-ni-keri Have faded and scattered down.
--
See 448 for the imagery and wordplay here. This poem also appears as KKS 782 by Ono no Komachi, with a different first line, followed by a response poem by Ono no Sadaki:
- 人を思ふ心の木の葉にあらばこそ風のまにまに散りもみだれめ
- If the "leaves" are truly words that show love to you, how could they be scattered by the whims of the wind?
V1
神な月しぐればかりはふらずしてゆきがてにしもなどかなるらん
kaminaduki In the tenth month sigure bakari ha It isn't just late year rains hura-zu site That are falling, but yuki-gate ni si mo Snow is mixed in with it: nado ka naru-ran How can this possibly be?
- Snow
- yuki-gate plays on "difficult to go".
--
This poem is not found in the base text, nor in Teika's later texts, but it is present in his earlier texts and in all of the variant manuscripts (although most of them read sahe in the fourth line instead of si mo). All the edo-period editions, as well as the old Kokka Taikan, contain this poem as well. This means that for the rest of the poems, the numbering found in older research will be off by one. That is, if a book written in the 1960s refers to GSS 892, it will actually be 891 by the numbering of recent editions. Kifune includes the poem in his edition despite it not being in the base text.
The poem is found in the Ise Collection in a set of 12 love exchanges. The love meaning here is the play on "difficult to go" -- the man is apologizing for not being able to visit the woman, perhaps because of snow. Kigin and Nakayama do not take a love reading for this poem; Kigin says that the snow makes it difficult to visit the mountains, and Nakayama says this is just a description of winter scenery.
451
神な月時雨とともにかみなびのもりのこのははふりにこそふれ
kaminaduki In the tenth month sigure to tomo ni Along with the late year rains kaminabi no In Kaminabi mori no ko no ha ha Forest, the leaves of the trees huri ni koso hure Fall and fall, completely gone.
--
The poem is simple, although there are some poetic devices -- the repetition of kamina in the first and third lines brings a certain euphony. The leaves and the rain both fall. There may be a suggestion that in this kami (god) month, even in the kami forest the leaves fall.
Perhaps this poem was a companion to KKS 253:
- 神な月時雨もいまだふらなくにかねてうつろふかみなびの森
- The tenth month rains have yet to fall, but the leaves in Kaminabi Forest have already turned color.
Kifune reads 443-451 as a long love sequence stretching from autumn to winter.
452
女につかはしける
たのむ木もかれはてぬれば神な月時雨にのみもぬるるころかな
tanomu ki mo The trees relied on kare-hate-nure-ba Have withered up and vanished kaminaduki So the tenth month is sigure ni nomi mo When only the late year rains nururu koro kana Drench me thoroughly with tears.
- trees relied on
- tanomu also indicates the woman that the man relied on, and the tanomu ki is a wooden structure or temporary hut.
- withered
- kare plays also on "departing" (a man or woman leaving)
--
This love poem continues the rain imagery, similar to 432. Perhaps the woman has found another lover. Some alternate texts read sode (sleeves) instead of koro (time), strengthening the common love imagery, although it is clear even in the base text's version.
453
山へいるとて
When he was entering a mountain.
増基法師
Priest Zouki
神な月時雨ばかりを身にそへてしらぬ山地に入るぞかなしき
kaminaduki In the tenth month sigure bakari wo It is only the late rain mi ni sohete That I take with me siranu yamadi ni To the unknown mountain path iru zo kanasiki I enter in with sorrow.
--
Sogi classifies this as a travel poem. The GSS' small set of travel poems do have a few dealing with journeys in mountains, but the focus here is on the priest leaving the world behind, taking only the rain (and no other worldly possessions) as he enters the mountain to begin his ascetic life.
Nakayama has an interesting analysis of the poem. He mentions two theories from "certain people" -- one that there is an implied play on huru (falling rain and growing old), and another than the way the late rains move around the mountains is associated with the poet's movement. Nakayama sees both of these as doubtful, and says that if you look too deeply into a poem like this it begins to lose its pathos. Kudo does support the "movement of the late rains" association.
Shunzei included this poem in his Korai futeisho, and the pseudo-Teika Teika jittei classifies this as a 濃様体 poem (without defining what the type means).
454
神無月ばかりに、大江千古がもとに「あはむ」とてまかりたりけれども、侍らぬほどなれば、かへりまできて、たづねてつかはしける
In the 10th month, he said he would visit Oe no Chifuru and went there, but [Chifuru] was not there, so [Tadamasa] returned home, and then sent this.
藤原忠房朝臣
Lord Fujiwara no Tadamasa
もみぢばはをしき錦と見しかども時雨とともにふりでてぞこし
momidiba ha The autumn leaves were wosiki nisiki to A beautiful brocade mi-sika-domo I saw it and yet sigure to tomo ni Along with the late year rains huri-de-te zo kosi I turned and fell away.
- fell
- huri plays on the falling rain, the poet leaving, and for association with "brocade", the idea of dyeing clothes.
--
This is a personal exchange after a failed visit. Tadamasa praises Chifuru's garden while also regretting that they could not meet. He begins a set of wordplays on cloth dyeing which Chifuru continues in his response. There is also an interesting sound sequences of wosiki nisiki misika in the second and third lines. Many non-Teika texts read nisiki ni misikado which heightens the soundplay.
455
返し
Response
大江千古
Oe no Chifuru
もみぢばも時雨もつらしまれにきてかへらむ人をふりやとどめぬ
momidiba mo The autumn leaves and sigure mo turasi The late year rains both wound me mare ni ki-te The person rarely kahera-mu hito wo Visiting, and then leaving, huri ya todome-nu They would not fall to stop him!
--
The meaning is clear and provides an effective response to Masafusa's poem. Kifune also identifies a number of words poetically associated with the brocade that Masafusa mentioned -- huri and todome both associating with dyeing, and kaeramu hi as the color that the brocade is changing too. The exchange shows the friendship between the two.
456
題しらず
Circumstance unknown
よみ人も
Also the poet
神な月限りとや思ふもみぢばのやむ時もなくよるさへにふる
kaminaduki Do they think the tenth month, kagiri to ya omohu Is the end of their time here momidiba no The autumn leaves? yamu toki mo naku Is that why, without ceasing, yoru sahe ni huru They even fall in the night?
--
The poems on the end of the autumn leaves continue; here the poet laments their swift scattering.
This seems to have been a well known poem at the time. Minamoto no Shitago's collection notes that in 951, when the order to compile the GSS came down, Shitago composed the following poem based on the poem above:
- 神な月はてば紅葉もいあかんれや時雨とともにふりにふるらん
- When the 10th month ends, what happens to the autumn leaves? They fall and fall along with the late year rains.
457
ちはやぶる神がき山のさか木ばは時雨に色もかはらざりけり
tihayaburu From a thousand years kamigakiyama no On the tall sacred mountain sakakiba ha Sakaki tree leaves sigure ni iro mo Even the rains of the late year kahara-zari-keri Do not change their color.
- (first line)
- tihayaburu is a pillow word for "mountain" of uncertain meaning.
- Tall sacred mountain
- kamigaki yama seems not to be a specific place name, although it's possible it is a mountain near Kamigaki Forest in Yamato prefecture. It may just mean a sacred mountain. KKS 1074 also has these two images together.
--
In contrast to the last poem's falling leaves, here we have evergreen leaves that never fall. There is a difference among commentators on whether the poem is suggesting that the presence of the gods prevents the leaves from changing -- both because of the "sacred" mountain and the sakaki tree itself, which was used in Shinto rites.
458
住まぬ家にまできて、紅葉にかきて、いひつかはしける
He went to a house he did not live in, wrote on autumn leaves, and sent this.
枇杷左大臣
Biwa Minister of the Left [Nakahira]
人すまずあれたるやどをきて見れば今ぞこのはは錦をりける
hito suma-zu No person lives here are-taru yado wo To the ravaged dwelling ki-te mire-ba I have come to look, ima zo konoha ha It is only now that the leaves nisiki wori-keru Have woven a brocade for me.
--
This poem could go in the autumn volume, but the response uses sigure, making it appropriate for here. The idea behind the poem is perhaps that the house looks even better than when he lived there -- the man bears a grudge for being abandoned. Or if it is an attempt to restart their relationship, it may simply recall the happy time they spent together in the house.
This is the first poem in the Ise Collection, where it has a much longer prose preface that explains the situation more fully. Nakahira had met Ise when she was serving at the palace, and they had a relationship. But Nakahira was forced to marry someone else for political reasons, and their relationship ended. Years later he came to the house (perhaps on 5th avenue) where they lived, and attached autumn leaves to this poem.
459
返し
Response
伊勢
Ise
涙さへ時雨にそひてふるさとは紅葉の色もこさまさりけり
namida sahe I cry tears of blood sigure ni sohi-te Even these, when the rain falls: hurusato ha Their depth of color momidi no iro mo Exceeds that of autumn leaves ko-sa masari-keri In the house we used to share.
--
Ise responds to Tokihira's poem by reminding him that he abandoned her, and that she cries tears of blood.
458 and 459 appear in some manuscripts of the Sosei collection, leading some commentators to suggest that the poems were intentionally reused (with variations) by Ise and Tokihira. These comments are based on a strong trust in the reliability of these personal collections. But the older collections were typically not compiled by the people themselves, and could contain poems that the poets did not write.
460
題しらず
Circumstance unknown
よみ人も
Also the poet
冬の池の鴨のうはげにおくしものきえて物思ふころにもあるかな
huyu no ike no On a winter pond kamo no uhage ni The frost on the exposed fur oku simo no Of the duck melts, kie-te mono omohu This is a time when my heart too koro ni mo aru kana Seems to melt in worry.
- melts
- The first three lines are a poetic preface that leads to the poet's heart "melting" out of love worry.
--
This is a love poem, a "preface poem" (序歌) expressing abstract feelings of love with nature metaphors. Such poems were favored by the KKS compilers over personal love poems addressed to specific people. The GSS' love volumes are almost entirely personal poems, and the compilers preferred to put this sort of metaphorical poem in the seasonal volume. As a love poem it continues from the previous exchange; perhaps we can imagine Tokihira feeling this way after failing to reconnect with Ise, or Ise herself recalling her love worries.
A similar poem by Tadamine is in the KKS (566):
- かきくらし降る白雪のしたぎえにきえて物思ふころにもあるかな
- The snow piles up and the bottom snow melts, this is a time when my heart too, seems to melt in worry.
461
親の外にまかりて、遅く帰りければ、つかはしける
Her parent had left, and was late in returning, so she sent this
人のむすめのやつなりける
This is someone's daughter named Yatsu
神な月時雨ふるにもくるるひを君まつほどはながしとぞ思ふ
kaminaduki In the tenth month sigure huru ni mo When the late rains are falling kururu hi wo Even as the sun sets kimi matu hodo ha The time that I wait for you nagasi to zo omohu I feel is far too long.
--
This poem continues the long set of sigure poems. The idea here is that the shortest days are found in the tenth month, but even here the speaker feels that the nights are too long.
This is an unusual poem in several respects. A poem written by a child to a parent is atypical for an Imperial collection, which typically features only poems by named adults (or anonymous compositions). Minamoto no Toshiyori noted this in his Toshiyori Zuino as a child's poem, and it appears in the Fukurozoshi as well, suggesting that this was of note to Heian-period poets as well.
Second, the author attribution is strange even by GSS standards. Other poem-tale like poems do use attributions like "the woman's daughter", but not complete sentences like this poem has. A number of alternate texts lack this part, or put it in the preface. It's hard not to feel like this attribution was originally part of the preface and became disconnected later. The Gosenshu seigi claims this was written by Tsurayuki's daughter at age 7, and that her original poem in Tsurayuki's collection read titi matu hodo (waiting for father). There is no proof of this, and the poem does not appear in any extant version of the Tsurayuki Collection. Most commentators take the parent to be a mother.
The Seigi and Kigin praise the poem, as does Kifune, for being a good childish poem. Kifune does note that it may just be an artificial construction. Kudo points to the use of love imagery. Without the prose preface this could be read as a poem by a woman waiting for a man that fails to come, and it may be that what was originally a love poem was later placed in this context.
462
題しらず
身をわけて霜やおくらんあだ人の事のはさへにかれもゆくかな
mi wo wake-te Separating us simo ya oku-ran The frost seems to lie heavy. adabito no The faithless person, koto no ha sahe ni Even their words, like the leaves, kare mo yuku kana Have withered and gone away.
- author
- Most texts have よみ人しらず (author unknown) here, even Teika's other texts. Kifune also adds the words. They should be here; otherwise this poem and the next 8 are by Yatsu, and this is clearly not the intent. This may be a remnant of the state of the text before the "Yatsu" attribution was added to the previous poem, but it's unclear why Teika dropped the words in this text.
- leaves, withered
- These are the familiar plays on leaves/words, and wither/part.
--
This is another love poem, but the volume now begins to move away from the sigure rains into other winter precipitation -- frost, sleet, and snow. There is some question about what the first line means. It may mean that the frost is specifically targeting the poet, or that she is being separated from her lover, or that her own body is being torn apart.
The first line seems to come from KKS 787 by Tomonori:
- 秋風は身をわけてしも吹かなくに人の心のそらになるらん
- The autumn wind does not tear my body apart, so why has my lover's heart been carried away?
In this poem the simo is emphatic particles, but perhaps their appearance in the poem prompted the GSS poet to use it to mean "frost" instead. In Tomonori's poem the mi wo wake-te clearly means tearing the body apart, but the GSS poet has chosen to use it for perhaps a more open-ended meaning.
463
冬の日、武蔵につかはしける
On a winter day, he sent this to Musashi.
人しれず君につけてしわが袖のけさしもとけずこほるなるべし
hito sire-zu My sleeves are drenched through kimi ni tuke-te-si From the way you touched my heart waga sode no Unknown to you kesa si mo toke-zu This morning they will not melt kohoru naru-besi But harden to solid ice.
- Musashi
- Presumably a gentlewoman, named after a relative who was the governor of Musashi province. This may be the author of GSS 1170 and the lady who appears in Tales of Yamato 103. But no certain details about her are known.
- This morning
- There may be a play on the emphatic particles si mo and the word "frost".
--
This is a love poem on a general winter theme, but the exact interpretation varies. Kudo's reading is that the tears are shed by the poet because the cold woman has turned him away when he tried to visit. But he notes an alternate reading of kimi ni kake-te for the second line, which would mean they slept together. Kifune emends his text and interprets this as a poem of parting on the next day after their encounter.
Nakayama reads the tears as the mutual tears of the man and woman, sad that they cannot meet because their love is forbidden -- he reads the hito sire-zu of the first line as a general statement that their love is hidden from all, not that she is unaware of his feelings. This becomes, then, the man's letter for the next morning.
464
題しらず
Circumstance unknown
かきくらし霰ふりしけ白玉をしける庭とも人の見るべく
kakikurasi Obscuring the sky arare huri-sike Fall and fall, hail, all over! siratama wo White colored jewels sike-ru niwa to mo Blanketing the garden floor, hito no miru beku Make people see it like that.
--
Hail (arare) does not appear in any winter KKS poems, although in subsequent anthologies the winter volume usually contains a handful of poems on the topic. This is a typical mitate, a metaphorical poem where the hail on the ground is seen as jewels. The Waka shogakusho included this as an example of such a comparison poem.
465
神な月しぐるる時ぞみよしのの山のみゆきもふり始めける
kaminaduki In the tenth month sigururu toki zo When the late rains are falling mi-yosino no On mount Yoshino yama no mi-yuki mo Beautiful snow already huri hazime-keru Has started to pile up.
--
Snow is of course a major image in winter poetry in all Imperial collections. Here the GSS provides a link from the sigure rains poems to the snow poems by a common technique used in other seasonal poetry. Where the poet is (the capital, or maybe a rural village) is contrasted with other places. Yoshino is associated with snow in the KKS -- KKS 18, in particular, has the contrast between spring coming to the capital while snow is still falling on Yoshino. The KKS also has a number of poems that show winter arriving first to Yoshino before elsewhere.
466
けさの嵐寒くもあるかなあしひきの山かきくもり雪ぞふるらし
kesa no arasi The storm this morning samuku mo aru kana Is very chilly indeed! asihiki no On the mountain yama kakikumori It must be fully obscured yuki zo huru-rasi By the snow that is falling.
--
The transition to a colder winter and snow continues with another common Heian style seasonal poem. The poet hears or sees something at one place and assumes how the weather must be elsewhere. In both 465 and 466 the snow has not yet reached the poet, but they assume it must be present in the mountains. Some alternate manuscripts instead of the pillow word asihiki no have either Yoshino or Shikishima mountain. For Yoshino see the previous poem. Shikishima does not appear in the first eight Imperial collections but occurs in the MYS as a pillow word for Yamato province.
467
くろかみのしろくなりゆく身にしあればまづはつ雪をあはれとぞ見る
kurokami no My hair that was black siroku nari-yuku Is now turning white with years mi ni si are-ba I look at myself madu hatuyuki wo And now think of the first snow ahare to zo miru As something to be pitied.
--
The early poems on snow continue; here the snow is actually falling where the poet is, but this "first" snow is a patchy, early snow that is like the slow greying of the poet's hair. The comparison of white hair and snow is common in Chinese and Japanese poetry. It shows up in GSS 1 at the beginning of the collection, and is a continuing theme in this section of the GSS.
468
霰ふるみ山のさとのわびしきはきてたはやすくとふ人ぞなき
arare huru Where hail is falling miyama no sato no Here in the mountain village wabisiki ha What is painful is kite tahayasuku Casually visiting tohu hito zo naki There is no one who comes near.
--
The surface meaning of the poem seems fairly clear. Katagiri's explanation may reveal the deeper meaning -- this mountain ascetic, living in his village, cannot expect even the kinds of casual visitors he got when he lived in the capital, much less someone with a deeper meaning to their visit.
This poem recalls KKS 315:
- 山里は冬ぞさびしさまさりける人めも草もかれぬと思へば
- The mountain village is especially lonely in winter, when you think that people stay away and all the grasses have died.
469
ちはやぶる神な月こそかなしけれわが身時雨にふりぬと思へば
tihayaburu [Favored by the gods] kaminaduki koso It is the tenth month that is kanasi-kere Especially sad. waga mi sigure ni The late year rains fall on me huri-nu to omohe-ba I think of my aging self.
- [Favored by the gods]
- tihayaburu is a pillow word for the kami in kaminaduki.
- Rains fall
- huri-nu plays on "[rain] fall" and "[body] ages".
--
This poem brings together the images of 467 and 468. It may be a poem by a woman who has grown old and is no longer visited by men. Poem 450, earlier in this book, is similar in feeling. Kigin seems to avoid the romantic reading and say that because it gets dark early, people always feel their own aging in the 10th month, and the late rains make it even sadder.
470
式部卿敦実親王、忍びて通ふ所侍りけるを、後々、絶え絶えなり侍りければ、妹の全斎宮のもとより「このごろはいかにぞ」とありければ、その返事に、女
His Highness of Ceremonial Prince Atsumi was secretly visiting a place, and after a while he stopped attending. There was a message [to the woman] from his younger sister the former Ise Priestess saying "How is it lately?" and in response she wrote:
しら山に雪ふりぬればあとたえて今はこし地に人もかよはず
sirayama ni On the white mountain yuki huri-nure-ba Snow has fallen, I have aged, ato tae-te Contact has broken ima ha kosidi ni Now on the Koshiji path hito mo kayoha-zu There is no one traveling.
- Snow has fallen
- huri plays on "[snow] falls" and "aged".
- Koshiji
- This is a place in Echizen, but it also plays on ko-si di (the road he has come down to visit me)
--
Like the other poems in this block, the images of falling snow and aging are combined to show that Atsumi has abandoned the speaker. This poem appears in Tales of Yamato 95, where more details are given: the woman is Yoshiko, daughter of Fujiwara no Sadakata. She was in Emperor Daigo's service, and after Daigo's death, Atsumi (his half brother) began to see her. The sister is Princess Junshi, Atsumi's half sister.
471
雪のあした、老いを嘆きて
On a snowy morning, he was lamenting his age
つらゆき
Tsurayuki
ふりそめて友まつ雪はむばたまのわがくろかみのかはるなりけり
huri-some-te It's started to fall tomo matu yuki ha The snow waiting for a friend mubatama no It is just like waga kurokami no What the black hair on my head kaharu nari-keri Will soon change into, I see.
- mubatama
- The third line is a pillow word for kuro (black).
--
The next 4 poems are an exchange between Tsurayuki and Kanesuke about aging. The phrase in the second line, "snow waiting for a friend," seems to mean a light snow that has fallen and is now waiting for more snow to fall. This is used as a metaphor for the slowly growing white hair on Tsurayuki's head. But the phrase also suggests that Tsurayuki would like a visit from his friend Kanesuke. Keichu indicated that this phrase could be found in Chinese poetry as well.
472
返し
Response
兼輔朝臣
Lord Kanesuke
くろかみの色ふりかふる白雪のまちいづる友はうとくぞ有りける
kurokami no The black hair's color iro huri-kahuru It will fall down and change it, sirayuki no The white snow: mati-iduru tomo ha This friend that's waiting for me utoku zo ari-keru Is not one that's close to me!
--
Kanesuke was probably a decade or so younger than Tsurayuki. This joking response to Tsurayuki's poem suggests that this white hair, which Tsurayuki characterized as a "waiting friend", is not one that Kanesuke knows -- his is still black. Kudo says that the form of this response makes it unlikely Tsurayuki was inviting Kanesuke to visit with his previous poem; if that were the case, Kanesuke's response would be quite rude and blunt.
473
又
Again
つらゆき
Tsurayuki
くろかみと雪とのなかのうき見ればともかがみをもつらしとぞ思ふ
kurokami to When I see the hate yuki to no naka no Between the black hair and the uki mire-ba White of fallen snow, tomokagami wo mo The mirror of friendship, also, turasi to zo omohu I think is quite unpleasant.
--
Tsurayuki's response has differing explanations; the problem seems to hinge on the word tomokagami (mirror of friendship), which is a rare word in poetry. There seem to be two primary explanations. The first one is a mirror that shows one's friend, or just seeing one's own white hair in the mirror. The other is a set of two mirrors placed so that a person can see their backside or back of their head. From here the explanations of the entire poem diverge as well. The most common pre-modern reading seems to be "If your black hair is disliked by the snow, my own white hair is even more unpleasant." Nakayama offers different suggestions, either that Tsurayuki finds it unpleasant to compare his hair with the snow, or compare his hair with Kanesuke's.
Kifune thinks this is a semi-joking response, where Tsurayuki is showing annoyance at Kanesuke's poem that praised his own black hair. Kudo's interpretation is that Tsurayuki hates the mirror that showed him his own white hair, since white and black hair cannot be friends.
474
返し
Response
兼輔朝臣
Lord Kanesuke
年ごとにしらがのかずをますかがみ見るにぞ雪の友はしりける
toshigoto ni Year after year siraga no kazu wo The number of white hairs grows masukagami In the clear mirror miru ni zo yuki no I look and see that the snow tomo ha siri-keru I recognize as a friend.
- Clear mirror
- This is a pivot construction with kazu wo masu (the number grows) and masukagami (a poetic word for mirror).
--
Kansuke's response is subject to multiple interpretations as well. The usual explanation is that Kanesuke is trying to console Tsurayuki by saying that he too sees white hairs in the mirror. However, this would seem to contradict 472. Given the possible joking tone of the exchange, this contradiction does not necessarily mean the interpretation is wrong. Even under this interpretation, exactly what yuki no tomo means is hard to say -- depending on the commentary, it means that the snowy garden is now a friend (due to the white hair), I am now a friend of the snow, or I am now more your friend (due to our white hair).
Katagiri notes the use of the word tomo (friend) in all four poems, highlighting the friendship between the two despite their age and rank difference.
Kudo seems to be the only one to say there is no contradiction between 474 and 472 -- he interpreted tomo no kagami as a mirror that shows one's friend, and so here it means that by looking in the mirror he should see their friendship stronger. He interprets the exchange as complaints by Tsurayuki and joking responses by Kanesuke.
475
題しらず
Circumstance unknown
よみ人も
Also the poet
年ふれど色もかはらぬ松がえにかかれる雪を花とこそ見れ
tosi hure-do As the years pass by iro mo kahara-nu The color never changes matu ga e ni Of the pine branches, kakare-ru yuki wo But the snow falling on them hana to koso mire I see is its true flower.
--
The snow poems move into those that portray actual snow, although this expression still could be taken as abstract. The confusion of snow and flowers is a well-worn trope going back to Chinese poetry, but using snow as pine "flowers" is an unusual image. See poem 492 below. Katagiri sees this as a celebratory poem (pines are often used in such poems), and cites KKS 324 as a parallel:
- しらゆきの所もわかずふりしけば巌にもさく花とこそ見れ
- Since the white snow falls everywhere without exception, I see that flowers are blooming on the rocks.
477
氷こそ今はすらしもみよしのの山のたきつせこゑもきこえず
kohori koso The ice of winter ima ha su-rasi mo Must now be frozen, I think. miyosino no From Mount Yoshino yama no takituse Rushing mountain waterfalls kowe mo kikoe-zu I cannot hear their voices.
--
Winter continues to deepen, although since Yoshino mountain is associated with winter and cold, it still seems to be somewhat apart from the poet. The meaning of this poem is clear, but seems to invert the meaning of KKS 319:
- ふる雪はかつぞ消ぬらしあしひきの山のたきつせ音まさるなり
- The fallen snow must have melted somewhat. The sounds of the waterfall from the mountain has grown.
And SIS 235:
- 冬さむみこほらぬ水はなけれども吉野のたきはたゆるよもなし
- Winter is cold and there is no unfrozen water, but the waterfalls of Yoshino never cease.
478
夜をさむみねざめてきけばをしぞなく払ふひもあへず霜やおくらん
yo wo samu-mi The night is cold, so nezame-te kike-ba I start awake and listen wosi zo naku To the crying duck harahi mo ahe-zu Is it unable to clear simo ya oku-ran The frost from its exposed fur?
--
A similar poem to the previous one; here also the poet uses an external stimuli to guess at what's going on. Kifune and Hisamatsu Sen'ichi both praised to poem's simple structure and depth of feeling. The poet awakens in the middle of a cold night alone, and hears the mandarin duck crying, wonder if it too awoke in the lake to find itself beset with cold.
The mandarin duck is not a seasonal image in the KKS or GSS, although in the SIS it appears in three winter poems.
479
雪のすこしふる日、女につかはしける
On a day when snow was lightly falling, he sent this to a woman.
藤原蔭基
Fujiwara no Kagemoto
かつきえてそらにみだるるあは雪は物思ふ人の心なりけり
katu kie-te Here and there vanishing sora ni midaruru Chaotic in the skies ahayuki ha The blowing light snow mono omohu hito no This, I see, is the heart kokoro nari-keri Of one who is lost in sorrow.
--
The poet compares the light snow, easily melting and blowing chaotically in the wind, to his own heart which is buffeted by the woman's coldness and sure to make him perish with worry. The sentiment is similar to KKS 550:
- 淡雪のたまればかてに砕けつつ我が物思ひのしげきころかな
- The light snow, as soon as it falls it vanishes away; just like me during this time of great worry.
Kifune praises the GSS poem for having a greater sense of the winter scene and describing it with a clarity and beauty that captures the essence of the early winter.
480
師氏朝臣の狩りして、家のまへよりまかりけるを聞きて
Lord Morouji was hunting, and [she] heard that he had passed by her house.
よみ人しらず
白雪のふりはへてこそとはざらめとくるたよりをすぐさざらなん
sirayuki no In the falling snow hurihahete koso I see you've made it a point toha-zara-me Not to visit me tokuru tayori wo But I would not have this chance sugusa-zara-nan Pass by as the melting snow.
- You've made it a point
- hurihahete is a pivot coming off of huru ([snow] falls), the word means "with effort" or "intentionally".
- Melting
- Commentators seem to agree there is some play here on kuru (come) but exactly how that is carried out is elusive. Norinaga suggests ignoring the to. Kifune interprets it as a do (but) from the previous line, and other commentaries label it as having an unclear grammatical purpose. Nakayama offers two more fanciful ideas -- that the to could mean "bird" (鳥) or "from afar" (外).
--
A woman sits in her house, waiting for Morouji's visit. Perhaps it has been some time since he last visited her, and now she's heard that he passed right by without stopping -- this note acts as both a criticism and an invitation.
481
題しらず
Circumstance unknown
思ひつつねなくにあくる冬の夜の袖の氷はとけずもあるかな
omohi-tutu Beset with worry ne-naku ni akuru Without sleeping the day dawns huyu no yo no From a winter night, sode no kohori ha The frozen tears on my sleeve toke-zu mo aru kana Show no signs of melting.
--
This can be seen as a continuation of the previous poem, with the woman still crying over the man's absence. The volume now moves into a long block of anonymous, contextless poems (right up to the final poem of the volume) -- a dark, lonely world that fits the mood of the season.. This poem could be seen as just a poem of general worry, but a love meaning is more likely. SIS 727 is similar:
- 君恋ふる涙のこほる冬の夜は心とけたる寝やは寝らるる
- On a winter night when my tears of longing for you freeze, how can I sleep a peaceful night?
482
荒玉の年を渡りてあるがうへにふりつむ雪のたえぬしら山
aratama no As the months change and tosi wo watari-te The year passes through its course aru ga uhe ni On what's already there huri-tumu yuki no The snow falling and piling tae-nu sirayama Without cease, the White Mountain
- aratama
- The first line is a pillow word for "year".
- white mountain
- This is probably Shirayama in Koshiji, known for its snow.
--
A travel poem by Mitsune includes Shirayama and snow (KKS 414):
- 消えはつる時しなければこし路なるしら山の名は雪にぞありける
- Because there is no time it vanishes, Shirayama in Koshiji gets its name from snow.
This GSS poem uses taigendome (ending with a noun) to create the scene of the mountain with snow piling up on top, as we continue into the deeper winter. The snow continues to be light in the capital and heavy in other places.