1
Shunzei’s Daughter
(1171?
– 1254)
Burning
underneath,
This
feeling will vanish.
How
sad the end will be
When
even the smoke becomes a cloud
That
leaves no trace behind.
l
The speaker is burning
up with love, but she has kept the feeling within herself. She will probably continue to do so all
through her life until she dies.
l
Traditionally a body
is cremated in
The poet commonly known as Shunzei’s
Daughter was adopted as a daughter by her grandfather, Fujiwara no Shunzei, who
was the sole compiler of the 7th imperial anthology and the most
influential poet of the day. She was
married to Minamoto no Michitomo who became one of the six poets ordered by
ex-Emperor Gotoba to compile Shin Kokin
Wakashu. She had a child by
Michitomo, but was deserted by him for political expediency. She became a lady in waiting of ex-Emperor
Gotoba and was one of the most prominent female poets of the Shin Kokin
era. She was active in Poetry Matches
and took orders as a nun in later life.
In Shin
Kokin Wakashu five out of 20 scrolls are allocated to the poetic theme of
love. Each of the five scrolls has its
own focus on particular aspects of love and they follow the path of love from
its awakening to the engagement in intimate introspection on the transience of
love after the ending of the relationship.
This tanka appears as the first one listed in the “Love Two” scroll
which contains 68 tanka on the pain of love which is still
kept hidden within oneself. The
decision to list this one at the beginning of the 68 tanka was made, according
to the diary of Fujiwara no Teika, by ex-Emperor Gotoba.
2 Princess Shikishi
(1149
– 1201)
Cord
of my soul!
If
you must break, break now.
For
if I live on
My
power to keep this hidden
May
not endure
l
It was believed that a
cord tied a soul to its body. Therefore,
“cord of my soul” in effect means life itself since the separation of the soul
and body means death.
l
The speaker has been
trying to keep her love completely to herself and even her loved one may not be
aware of her passion towards him. She
must be in a situation in which she recognises that a relationship with him
would be morally or socially unacceptable.
Princess Shikishi was a daughter of
ex-Emperor Goshirakawa. In 1159, when
she was about ten years old, she was sent as a virgin to serve at the Kamo Shinto Shrine in
Princess Shikishi learned poetic
composition under Fujiwara no Shunzei and his son, Fujiwara no Teika. This tanka was chosen to represent her work
in “100 poems by 100 poets” selected by Teika in 1235.
There have been vain attempts to identify
the person Princess Shikishi had in her mind when she wrote this tanka. Fujiwara no Teika has been the first and
easiest guess, but no hard evidence exists to deny or confirm it although some
say that a hand written copy made by her of this tanka was found in Teika’s
home. Others say that it was Honen (1133
– 1211) who was the founder of the Jodo-Shu or Pure Land School of Buddhism in
3 Princess Shikishi
(1149
– 1201)
The
cherry blossom has fallen.
As
I look up blankly
From
an empty sky
The
spring rain falls.
l
The sky is empty as
the cherry blossom has fallen and there is nothing beautiful left against the
sky. “Empty” is a translation of munashiki, which
also means “void”, “vain”, “fruitless”. “An
empty sky” is suggestive of the empty mind of the speaker.
l
The spring rain in
The cherry blossom is considered to
epitomise the beauty of spring and falling cherry blossom is a common symbol of
transience. It is noteworthy that the
Japanese find beauty in the inevitability of its falling. Their appreciation is combined with a feeling
of melancholy and acceptance of the inevitability of change. Ono no Komachi (ca. 850) saw herself ageing
in the faded colour of the cherry blossom in the long rain. In his old age Fujiwara no Shunzei (1114 –
1204) wondered if he would be able to see the beauty of falling cherry petals
like snow flakes in the spring dawn, associating it with his last days. Sadly and regrettably, some Kamikaze pilots saw their suicidal
moments as beautifully falling cherry petals.
Here the speaker is not mourning the end
of the cherry blossom, but finds melancholy beauty in it. It is the beauty of delicate sadness. This feeling is echoed in a letter D.H.
Lawrence sent to William E. Hopkin in December 1913: “At this time of the year
all the women are out in the olive woods – you have no idea how beautiful
olives are, so grey, so delicately sad, reminding one constantly of the New
Testament.”
4 Monk Jakuren
(1139?
– 1202)
I
do not know
Where
its harbour will be:
A
brushwood barge on the River Uji
Falling
into the haze.
l
The brushwood barge
here is a small boat carrying bundles of small dead branches and twigs which
have been gathered in the mountains for firewood. The boat may be controlled by a single man
with a pole. A small boat is one of
poetic symbols that represent transient things in life and nature.
l
The
Monk Jakuren was a son of Fujiwara no
Shunzei’s brother but was adopted by Shunzei as a son. He became a monk in his early thirties. Jakuren was foremost among a large number of
students Shunzei attracted. He composed
this tanka in the year when he was chosen by ex-Emperor Gotoba as one of the
six poets to compile Shin Kokin Wakashu,
but died the following year.
Jakuren pursued a tranquil poetic space
in which suggestiveness is deep and unlimited.
He also pursued sabi, a
Japanese aesthetic concept which stems from loneliness combined with a sense of
beauty. Sabi is a psychological state in which loneliness leads to a realisation of infinity bringing about healing of the
loneliness itself and leading to the enjoyment of serenity and composure of
mind. Jakuren’s
tanka in Shin Kokin Wakashu include: “This
loneliness / Has no colour of its own / On the
mountain / Where cedars stand / In the autumn dusk.” and “The drops from sudden
showers / On the needles of cedar / Are not yet dry / As mists rise through
them / An autumn evening.”
5 Yamabe no Akahito
(d.
736?)
Now
falling
Drops
from the oar
Of
Altair’s boat
Making
the crossing?
l
Altair is the brightest
star in the constellation
l
The Star Festival has
been celebrated by individuals and communities since the eighth century. It is customary to offer vegetables and
fruits to the stars and to decorate bamboo branches with strips of paper
bearing poems and wishes as well as coloured threads. Children pray to improve their calligraphy,
sewing, weaving etc.
Yamabe no Akihito was a poet active in
the early eighth century when the capital was in
Although this is a very early poem, it is
by no means the earliest in Shin Kokin
Wakashu, which contains older poems than those written by Akahito and his contemporaries. These include a poem written by Emperor Tenji (d. 671) and a poem by Emperor Nintoku
(d. 399?).
6 Monk Saigyo
(1118
– 1190)
Can
feel this sad beauty;
Snipe
take wing from the marsh
In
the autumn dusk.
l
The speaker is a
Buddhist monk. It was a common idea that
a monk who had gone into religion had shed all earthly desires, and had no
heart that was easily moved by such sentiments as joy, sorrow, love and hatred.
l
“Sad beauty” is a
translation of aware which can be
translated as pathos, sorrow, grief, sadness, sensitivity to beauty or the
pathos of things, depending on the context.
Monk Saigyo was a samurai belonging to the Security Guards for an ex-Emperor, but he
became a monk at the age of 23, deserting his wife and children. He travelled extensively while composing tanka. Although he spent his life as a travelling
ascetic until his death, he managed to maintain contacts with the elite
literary circle of the age, including Fujiwara no Shunzei and ex-Emperor
Gotoba. Shin Kokin Wakashu has 94 tanka written by
Saigyo, which is the highest number by a single poet.
Contrary to the virile image of a former
samurai who travelled extensively on foot through
mountains, many of Saigyo’s tanka show
his sensitivity as can be seen in the following examples.
The cricket may be getting weak / As the autumn nights grow cold; / His cry sounds faint / And
becomes more distant.
Who lives there, / Belonging in that
loneliness? / The rainswept evening sky / Over a
mountain hamlet.
7 Fujiwara no Yoshitsune
(1169
– 1206)
No
one lives
Under
the wooden eaves
Of
Fuwa Barrier.
For
years in ruins:
Now
only the autumn wind.
l
Fuwa
Barrier was one of three major checkpoints to control movement in the early
history of
Fujiwara no Yoshitsune was an aristocrat and occupied the post of
Regent, but real political power resided with the samurai government established in 1192. Shin
Kokin Wakashu starts with his poem on the coming of spring following a
preface to the anthology written by him.
He was assassinated at the age of 38 (by the old way of counting
age). One of the theories behind the
assassination is that his writing the preface incurred envy, a story which
shows the seriousness of the compilation of the imperial anthology.
Yoshitsune lived through an epoch in which political power shifted from
the aristocrats to the samurai. The autumn wind passing through the ruin of Fuwa Barrier, which was once a
manifestation of the ruling power, may represent the irresistible
flow of time as he saw it. Many of his
tanka convey nostalgia and a sense of impermanence. He composed the following in 1193, a year
after the establishment of the Shogunate Government
in
8 Fujiwara no Shunzei
(1114
– 1204)
Sounds
sad at night time
To
one who rarely comes here.
Does
she hear it always
Beneath
the moss?
l
Fujiwara no Shunzei
visited his wife’s grave on the first anniversary of her death in 1194. He stayed at Hosshoji, a Buddhist temple built in
l
It is common practice
to lay a dead person’s ashes to rest under the tomb stone.
Shunzei was a leading poet and critic who
acted as a judge for many Poetry Matches including the largest contest with 3,000 tanka written by 30 poets. He was the sole compiler of the seventh
imperial anthology, Senzai Wakashu, which was completed in 1188 in
the midst of the period of civil wars that led
He established the aesthetic idea of yugen which is an
infinite tranquil space in which suggestiveness is deep and unlimited. One of the founders of the No drama, Zeami
(1363 – 1443) wrote: “No dramas
should be written based on yugen as flower seeds”.
Ex-Emperor Gotoba found tenderness in Shunzei’s tanka: In unbearable
longing / I look at the sky over your dwelling. / The spring rain falls, /
Sifted through the haze. However,
Shunzei did not forget to gaze at grim realities. In one of his tanka he thought that the time
was coming for him to enter the grave whose place he had decided and a cricket
was ‘crying’ as if it were calling him under the wormwood plants. It may remind the reader of suffering as in “Remember
my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!” (Lamentations
3:19)
9 Fujiwara no Teika
(1162
– 1241)
The
black hair through which
I
used to run my hand for her;
Now
strand by strand
It
rises before my mind
When
I lie down alone.
A son of Fujiwara no Shunzei, Teika
became the poet, critic and teacher who best represents the Shin Kokin
era. He was one of the six poets
designated to compile Shin Kokin Wakashu,
and later became the sole compiler of the ninth imperial anthology, Shin Chokusen
Wakashu (New Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poems). While writing poems and literary reviews he
kept a diary for 56 years. He also
studied the early novels. His last piece
of literary work was the selection of 100 tanka by 100 poets,
which is widely played as a card game by children and adults even today.
Shin
Kokin Wakashu grew out of the encounter of the passionate and
strong leadership of ex-Emperor Gotoba with the poetic genius of Teika. Their arguments and quarrels, which were
caused by the differences in their strong personalities and critical views on
tanka, later led to their complete estrangement.
This tanka is an allusion to one written
by Lady Izumi (978? – ?) and a scene in Tales of Ise which is believed to have
developed from a collection of poems written by Ariwara
no Narihira (825 – 880). However, Teika employed one of his poetic
ideals in this tanka, creating a much more powerful effect. He developed his father’s ideal, yugen, and established yoen which created a mysterious,
romantic and dreamy atmosphere.
10 Monk Saigyo
(1118
– 1190)
Sending
my soul away
To
where the moon has sunk
Behind
the mountain,
What
shall I do with my body
Left
in the darkness?
l
The moon has sunk
behind the mountain in the west where the
l
The darkness after the
moon has disappeared in the west symbolises spiritual
darkness. The speaker realises that his real being has not yet,
in fact, shed all its earthy desires.
This tanka is highly religious, but it is
not classified as a poem on Buddhism in Shin
Kokin Wakashu. It is categorised
under “miscellany”. The great majority
of the poems under “Buddhism” are those on teachings in the Buddhist scriptures
and poems written by great Buddhist figures.
One of these is the one Monk Jakuren composed, imagining a scene in
which Amitabha
and other Bodhisattvas come down from
Paradise on a purple cloud playing a musical instrument called the koto to welcome
the spirit when a devotee of Amitabha dies: The sound
of the koto
invites me / To the purple cloud road, / As the pines on the peak / Sing in the
wind / Blowing away this suffering world.
Saigyo did not pretend to be spiritually
awakened, but he expressed the difficulty of attaining religious enlightenment
by shedding all earthly desires. After
having spent years as a travelling monk, he has not escaped from earthly human
feeling when he is moved by the sight of snipe taking wing from the marsh in
the autumn dusk (see tanka No 6). Saigyo
was not the only one who had the difficulty.
A new sect of Buddhism based on salvation by a power other than one’s
own efforts was emerging during his last years.
In 1175 Honen established the
11 Princess Shikishi
(1149
– 1201)
Broken
by the sound of the wind
That
plays on the bamboo leaves
Near
the window
A
dream even shorter
Than
my fleeting sleep.
l
The speaker is lying
down in a room with a thin paper window which separates it from the garden with
a growth of bamboo plants with slender stems.
l
She falls asleep for a
short time although she did not intend to do so.
This tanka is classified as a summer poem
and its feature is generally said to be the refreshing feeling of a summer nap
with a wind passing through bamboo plants.
However, when the sensibility of Princess Shikishi and that fact that
she was often ill are taken into consideration, we can assume that this tanka
has a deeper import than that. Isn’t it
the case that the speaker wakens from a fleeting sleep with a touch of anxiety
about her life? The sound of the wind
playing on the bamboo leaves has not only wakened her but also made her realise the fragility of her existence and the
inevitability of its end.
Many Japanese poets
and essayists, including the chief compiler of Manyoshu (Collection of a Myriad of Leaves), Otomo no Yakamochi
(718 – 785), and a court lady and the author of Makura no Soshi (The
Pillow Book), Sei Shonagon
(966? – 1024?), were moved to think of life by
the wind through bamboo. It is generally
said in
12 Princess Shikishi
(1149
– 1201)
The
crowing of the rooster at dawn
Touches
me to the heart:
Here
on my pillow
Heavy
with thoughts
Of
the long night’s sleep.
l
In Buddhist teaching
the “long night’s sleep” is the same as the “long night’s dream” or the “long
night’s darkness” which is a long lethargy of spiritual darkness caused by
earthly desires. The speaker is awake in
bed thinking of the necessity and difficulty of shedding such desires to attain
enlightenment.
l
The crowing of the rooster
at down sounds to the speaker as if it were calling to her to awaken from the
long night’s dream from which she has not yet awakened.
Poets in the Shin Kokin era associated
dawn with the transient nature of things, a deeply Buddhist feeling. Fujiwara no Shunzei wrote about how sad it
was to listen to the Buddhist temple bell telling the hours of dawn. He also wrote a tanka on the mountain stream
that turns to ice on one side and breaks up on the other where he hears, among
the rocks and crags, “the voice of the dawn strangled with tears”. Monk Jakuren wrote a tanka about the wild
geese which are about to return to the North crying desolately under the dawn
sky with the moon shrouded in haze.
On the same theme Princess Shikishi wrote
a tanka from the view point of Bodhisattva
(“enlightened existence” in Sanskrit), that is one who has already attained the
enlightenment of a Buddha but postponed entry into Nirvana, remaining in the
world in order to help others attain enlightenment: Looking afar / In the
stillness of each dawn / I am filled with sadness / That the world has not
awakened / From the deep night’s dream.
In her closing years Princess Shikishi had a serious illness but
maintained a life committed to Buddhism.
She wrote the above tanka in 1200 and died shortly before the compilation
of Shin Kokin Wakashu started in
1201.
13 Fujiwara no Teika
(1162
– 1241)
As
the floating bridge
Of
my spring night dream
Breaks
A
bank of clouds parts from the peak
In
the dawn sky.
l
A floating bridge or
pontoon is a floating platform made by placing wooden boards on a series of
small boats or rafts. It is rather
unstable and shaky.
l
In
Poets in the Shin Kokin era studied early
literature, especially the first imperial anthology compiled in 905 and The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki (970?
– 1014?), the first major novel written in any language. The influence of The Tale of Genji can be seen in this tanka. The name of its last chapter is Yume no Ukihashi (
Because of the association of this poem
with The Tale of Genji and its dreamy
imagery, it may be considered as a love poem.
However, Teika wrote this as a spring poem and it was classified so in
the anthology. Teika composed it when he
was 37 years old, by which time he had witnessed social and political upheavals
and the end of the rule of the aristocracy, had lost his mother, had divorced
and remarried. Teika may have had “transience”
as his theme rather
than “love” or “spring”. Whatever poetic
theme he may have had in his mind behind this tanka, the combination of the
romantic and dreamy atmosphere of the first half (yoen) and the infinite tranquil
space of the second half (yugen)
represents his poetic aesthetics, which exerted a far-reaching influence on
Japanese arts beyond Shin Kokin Wakashu.