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
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
154
友だちの訪ひまでこぬことをうらみつかはすとて
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
155
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
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
