A Hundred Verses from Old Japan

Front matter

A HUNDRED VERSES FROM OLD JAPAN

BEING A

TRANSLATION OF THE HYAKU-NIN-ISSHIU

Poem 1

1

TENCHI TENNŌ

Aki no ta no Kari ho no iho no Toma wo arami Waga koromode wa Tsuyu ni nure-tsutsu.

THE EMPEROR TENCHI

Out in the fields this autumn day They’re busy reaping grain; I sought for shelter ’neath this roof, But fear I sought in vain,— My sleeve is wet with rain.

The Emperor Tenchi reigned from A.D. 668 to 671, his capital was Otsu, not far from Kyōto, and he is chiefly remembered for his kindness and benevolence. It is related, that one day he was scaring birds away, while the harvesters were gathering in the crop, and, when a shower of rain came on, he took shelter in a neighbouring hut; it was, however, thatched only with coarse rushes, which did not afford him much protection, and this is the incident on which the verse is founded.

The picture shows the harvesters hard at work in the field, and the hut where the Emperor took shelter.

Poem 2

2

JITŌ TENNŌ

Haru sugite Natsu ki ni kerashi Shirotae no Koromo hosu teu Ama-no-kagu yama

THE EMPRESS JITŌ

The spring has gone, the summer’s come, And I can just descry The peak of Ama-no-kagu, Where angels of the sky Spread their white robes to dry.

The Empress Jitō reigned A.D. 690–696, during which time saké was first made and drunk in Japan; she was the daughter of the Emperor Tenchi, the writer of the previous verse, and she married the Emperor Temmu, ascending the throne herself on his death. The poem refers to a snow-capped mountain just visible on the horizon. One of the Nō dramas relates, that an angel once came to a pine forest on the coast near Okitsu, and, hanging her feather mantle on a pine tree, climbed a neighbouring mountain to view Mount Fuji; a fisherman, however, found the robe and was about to carry it off with him, when the angel reappeared and begged him to give it her, as without it she could not return to the moon where she lived. He only consented to do so, however, on condition that she would dance for him; and this she accordingly did, draped in her feathery robe on the sandy beach under the shade of the pine trees; after which she floated heavenward, and was lost to view.

Poem 3

3

KAKI-NO-MOTO NO HITOMARO

Ashibiki no Yamadori no o no Shidario no Naga-nagashi yo wo Hitori ka mo nemu.

THE NOBLEMAN KAKI-NO-MOTO

Long is the mountain pheasant’s tail That curves down in its flight; But longer still, it seems to me, Left in my lonely plight, Is this unending night.

The writer was a foundling, picked up and adopted by Abaye at the foot of a persimmon tree, which is in Japanese kaki, from which he got his name. He was an attendant on the Emperor Mommu, who reigned A.D. 697–707, and was one of the great poets of the early days of Japan; he is known as the rival of Akahito Yamabe (see next verse), and after death was deified as a God of Poetry. There is a temple erected in his honour at Ichi-no-Moto, and another at Akashi, not far from Kobe; he died in the year 737.

In the fourth line nagashi may be taken as the adjective ‘long’, or the verb ‘to drift along’; and yo may mean either ‘night’ or ‘life’; so that this line, which I have taken as ‘long, long is the night’, may also mean ‘my life is drifting, drifting along’. Yamadori (pheasant) is literally ‘mountain bird’, and ashibiki is a pillow-word for mountain, which is itself the first half of the word for pheasant.

Poem 4

4

YAMABE NO AKAHITO

Tago no ura ni Uchi-idete mireba Shirotae no Fuji no takane ni Yuki wa furi-tsutsu.

AKAHITO YAMABE

I started off along the shore, The sea shore at Tago, And saw the white and glist’ning peak Of Fuji all aglow Through falling flakes of snow.

Akahito Yamabe lived about A.D. 700, and was one of the greatest of the early poets; he was contemporary with Kaki-no-Moto, the writer of the previous verse, and like him was deified as a God of Poetry. Tago is a seaside place in the Province of Izu, famous for its beautiful view of Mount Fuji.

Poem 5

5

SARU MARU TAIU

Oku yama ni Momiji fumi wake Naku shika no Koe kiku toki zo Aki wa kanashiki.

SARU MARU, A SHINTO OFFICIAL

I hear the stag’s pathetic call Far up the mountain side, While tramping o’er the maple leaves Wind-scattered far and wide This sad, sad autumn tide.

Very little is known of this writer, but he probably lived not later than A.D. 800. Stags and the crimson leaves of the maple are frequently used symbolically of autumn.

Poem 6

6

CHŪ-NAGON YAKAMOCHI

Kasasagi no Wataseru hashi ni Oku shimo no Shiroki wo mireba Yo zo fuke ni keru.

THE IMPERIAL ADVISER YAKAMOCHI

When on the Magpies’ Bridge I see The Hoar-frost King has cast His sparkling mantle, well I know The night is nearly past, Daylight approaches fast.

The author of this verse was Governor of the Province of Kōshū, and Viceroy of the more or less uncivilized northern and eastern parts of Japan; he died A.D. 785. There was a bridge or passageway in the Imperial Palace at Kyōto called the Magpies’ Bridge, but there is also an allusion here to the old legend about the Weaver and Herdsman. It is said, that the Weaver (the star Vega) was a maiden, who dwelt on one side of the River of the Milky Way, and who was employed in making clothes for the Gods. But one day the Sun took pity upon her, and gave her in marriage to the Herdboy (the star Aquila), who lived on the other side of the river. But as the result of this was that the supply of clothes fell short, she was only permitted to visit her husband once a year, viz. on the seventh night of the seventh month; and on this night, it is said, the magpies in a dense flock form a bridge for her across the river. The hoar frost forms just before day breaks. The illustration shows the Herdboy crossing on the Bridge of Magpies to his bride.

Poem 7

7

ABE NO NAKAMARO

Ama no hara Furisake-mireba Kasuga naru Mikasa no yama ni Ideshi tsuki kamo.

NAKAMARO ABE

While gazing up into the sky, My thoughts have wandered far; Methinks I see the rising moon Above Mount Mikasa At far-off Kasuga.

The poet, when sixteen years of age, was sent with two others to China, to discover the secret of the Chinese calendar, and on the night before sailing for home his friends gave him a farewell banquet. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and after dinner he composed this verse. Another account, however, says that the Emperor of China, becoming suspicious, caused him to be invited to a dinner at the top of a high pagoda, and then had the stairs removed, in order that he might be left to die of hunger. Nakamaro is said to have bitten his hand and written this verse with his blood, after which he appears to have escaped and fled to Annam. Kasuga, pronounced Kasunga, is a famous temple at the foot of Mount Mikasa, near Nara, the poet’s home; the verse was written in the year 726, and the author died in 780.

Poem 8

8

KIZEN HŌSHI

Waga iho wa Miyako no tatsumi Shika zo sumu Yo wo Uji yama to Hito wa iu nari.

THE PRIEST KIZEN

My home is near the Capital, My humble cottage bare Lies south-east on Mount Uji; so The people all declare My life’s a ‘Hill of Care’.

The priest Kizen lived on Mount Uji, which lies south-east of Kyōto, at this time the Capital. The word uji or ushi means ‘sorrow’; so he says that, as he lives on Mount Sorrow, his friends say his life is ‘a mountain of sorrows’. Notice also the two words yama to in the fourth line, which, if read as one word, form the ancient name of Japan. In the picture we see the priest sitting alone in his little hut, his poverty being shown by the patches on the roof.

Poem 9

9

ONO NO KOMACHI

Hana no iro wa Utsuri ni keri na Itazura ni Waga mi yo ni furu Nagame seshi ma ni.

KOMACHI ONO

The blossom’s tint is washed away By heavy showers of rain; My charms, which once I prized so much, Are also on the wane,— Both bloomed, alas! in vain.

The writer was a famous poetess, who lived A.D. 834–880. She is remembered for her talent, her beauty, her pride, her love of luxury, her frailty, and her miserable old age. The magic of her art is said to have overcome a severe drought, from which the country suffered in the year 866, when prayers to the Gods had proved useless.

The first and last couplets may mean either ‘the blossom’s tint fades away under the continued downpour of rain in the world’, or ‘the beauty of this flower (i. e. herself) is fading away as I grow older and older in this life’; while the third line dividing the two couplets means, that the flower’s tint and her own beauty are alike only vanity. This verse, with its double meaning running throughout, is an excellent example of the characteristic Japanese play upon words.

Poem 10

10

SEMI MARU

Kore ya kono Yuku mo kaeru mo Wakarete wa Shiru mo shiranu mo Ausaka no seki.

SEMI MARU

The stranger who has travelled far, The friend with welcome smile, All sorts of men who come and go Meet at this mountain stile,— They meet and rest awhile.

Semi Maru is said to have been the son of the Emperor Uda, who reigned A.D. 888–897. He became blind, and so, being unable to ascend the throne, he retired to a hut on the hills, near to a barrier gate, and amused himself with his guitar. The translation does not fully reproduce the antithesis of the original—‘this or that man, people coming and going, long lost friends and strangers’. The last line is literally ‘the barrier on the mountain road of meeting’; and Ōsaka no Seki, as the name is now spelled, a small hill on the edge of Lake Biwa, not far from Kyōto, is the site commemorated in this verse.

Poem 11

11

SANGI TAKAMURA

Wada no hara Yasoshima kakete Kogi idenu to Hito ni wa tsugeyo Ama no tsuribune.

THE PRIVY COUNCILLOR TAKAMURA

Oh! Fishers in your little boats, Quick! tell my men, I pray, They’ll find me at Yasoshima, I’m being rowed away Far off across the bay.

Takamura, a well-known scholar, rose from poverty to riches on being appointed a Custom-house officer for the ships trading to and from China. His enemies reported him to the Emperor as an extortioner and a thief, and he was deported to Yasoshima, a group of small islands off the coast; he is said to have composed this song and sung it to the fishing-boats, as he was being carried off. He was afterwards pardoned and reinstated, dying in the year 852.

Poem 12

12

SŌJŌ HENJŌ

Amatsu kaze Kumo no kayoiji Fuki tojiyo Otome no sugata Shibashi todomemu.

BISHOP HENJŌ

Oh stormy winds, bring up the clouds, And paint the heavens grey; Lest these fair maids of form divine Should angel wings display, And fly far far away.

The poet’s real name was Munesada Yoshimune, and he was the great-grandson of the Emperor Kwammu. On the death of the Emperor Nimmyō, to whom he was much devoted (A.D. 850), he took holy orders, and in the year 866 was made a bishop. He died in the year 890, at the age of seventy, from being buried, by his own wish, in a small stone tomb covered with soil, with only a small pipe leading from his mouth to the open air; he remained thus, until hunger and exhaustion put an end to his life. He is said to have composed the above verse, before he entered the priesthood, on seeing a dance of some maidens at a Court entertainment; he pretends that the ladies are so beautiful that they can be nothing less than angels, and he is afraid they will fly away, unless the wind will bring up the clouds to bar their passage. In the picture he is shown with two acolytes, apparently addressing the wind.

Poem 13

13

YŌZEI IN

Tsukuba ne no Mine yori otsuru Mina no kawa Koi zo tsumorite Fuchi to nari nuru.

THE RETIRED EMPEROR YŌZEI

The Mina stream comes tumbling down From Mount Tsukuba’s height; Strong as my love, it leaps into A pool as black as night With overwhelming might.

It was a frequent custom in the old days for the Emperors of Japan to retire into the church or private life, when circumstances demanded it. The Emperor Yōzei, who was only nine years of age when he came to the throne, went out of his mind, and was forced by Mototsune Fujiwara to retire; he reigned A.D. 877–884, and did not die till the year 949. The verse was addressed to the Princess Tsuridono-no-Miko. Mount Tsukuba (2,925 feet high) and the River Mina are in the Province of Hitachi.

Koi here means the dark colour of the water from its depth, but it also means his love, and is to be understood both ways. Note also mine, a mountain peak, and Mina, the name of the river.

Poem 14

14

KAWARA NO SADAIJIN

Michinoku no Shinobu moji-zuri Tare yue ni Midare-some nishi Ware naranaku ni.

THE MINISTER-OF-THE-LEFT OF THE KAWARA (DISTRICT OF KYŌTO)

Ah! why does love distract my thoughts, Disordering my will! I’m like the pattern on the cloth Of Michinoku hill,— All in confusion still.

The old capital of Kyōto was divided into right and left districts, and the above is only an official title; the poet’s name was Tōru Minamoto, and he died in the year 949. At Michinoku, in the Province of Iwashiro, in old times a kind of figured silk fabric was made, called moji-zuri, embroidered with an intricate pattern, which was formed by placing vine leaves on the material, and rubbing or beating them with a stone until the impression was left on the silk. There is a hill close by, called Mount Shinobu, and a small temple, called Shinobu Moji-zuri Kwannon. Shinobu can also mean ‘a vine’, ‘to love’, or to ‘conceal (my love)’. The meaning of this very involved verse appears to be, that his thoughts are as confused with love as the vine pattern on the embroidered fabric made at Mount Michinoku. The picture seems to show the lady with whom the poet was in love.

Poem 15

15

KWŌKŌ TENNŌ

Kimi ga tame Haru no no ni idete Wakana tsumu Waga koromode ni Yuki wa furi-tsutsu.

THE EMPEROR KWŌKŌ

Mother, for thy sake I have been Where the wakana grow, To bring thee back some fresh green leaves; And see—my koromo Is sprinkled with the snow!

Kwōkō was raised to the throne by the Fujiwara family, when the mad Emperor Yōzei was deposed; he reigned A.D. 885–887, and is said to have composed this verse in honour of his grandmother.

Wakana, literally ‘young leaves’, is a vegetable in season at the New Year; a koromo is really a priest’s garment, but is used here for the Emperor’s robe.

In the picture we see the Emperor gathering the fresh green leaves, and the snow falling from the sky.

Poem 16

16

CHŪ-NAGON ARIWARA NO YUKI-HIRA

Tachi wakare Inaba no yama no Mine ni ōru Matsu to shi kikaba Ima kaeri-komu.

THE IMPERIAL ADVISER YUKI-HIRA ARIWARA

If breezes on Inaba’s peak Sigh through the old pine tree, To whisper in my lonely ears That thou dost pine for me,— Swiftly I’ll fly to thee.

Yuki-hira was the Governor of the Province of Inaba, and half-brother of the writer of the next verse; he died in the year 893, aged 75.

The word matsu in the original may mean ‘a pine tree’, but it may also mean ‘waiting and longing for’. This is an instance of a ‘pivot-word’, imitated to a certain extent in the translation, although in English we have to employ the word twice over, while it only appears once in the Japanese.

The illustration shows the pine tree on the mountain, and the poet standing under it with two attendants.

Poem 17

17

ARIWARA NO NARI-HIRA ASON

Chi haya furu Kami yo mo kikazu Tatsuta gawa Kara kurenai ni Mizu kuguru to wa.

THE MINISTER NARI-HIRA ARIWARA

All red with leaves Tatsuta’s stream So softly purls along, The everlasting Gods themselves, Who judge ’twixt right and wrong, Ne’er heard so sweet a song.

The writer, who lived A.D. 825–880, was the grandson of the Emperor Saga, and was the Don Juan of Old Japan; he was banished because of an intrigue he had with the Empress, and his adventures are fully related in the Ise-Monogatari. The Tatsuta stream is not far from Nara, and is famous for its maples in autumn. Chi haya furu, literally ‘thousand quick brandishing (swords)’, is a ‘pillow-word’, or recognized epithet, for the Gods, and almost corresponds to Virgil’s Pious Aeneas, and Homer’s ‘Odysseus, the son of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices’. It may be noted that these ‘pillow-words’ only occur in the five-syllable lines, never in the longer lines.

In the picture we see the poet looking at a screen, on which is depicted the river with the red maple leaves floating on it.

Poem 18

18

FUJIWARA NO TOSHI-YUKI ASON

Sumi-no-ye no Kishi ni yoru nami Yoru sae ya Yume no kayoi-ji Hito-me yokuramu.

THE MINISTER TOSHI-YUKI FUJIWARA

To-night on Sumi-no-ye beach The waves alone draw near; And, as we wander by the cliffs, No prying eyes shall peer, No one shall dream we’re here.

Toshi-yuki, who lived A.D. 880–907, was an officer of the Imperial Guard, and a member of the great and influential Fujiwara family. This family rose into power in the reign of the Emperor Tenchi, and became almost hereditary ministers-of-state. For a long period the Emperors chose their wives from this family only, and to this day a large number of the Japanese nobility are sprung from the same stock. Sumi-no-ye, or Sumi-yoshi, is in the Province of Settsu, near Kobe.

Note the word yoru used twice; in the first instance is a verb, meaning ‘to approach’, and in the next line meaning ‘night’. The illustration shows Toshi-yuki walking on the beach, and evidently waiting for the lady to join him.

Poem 19

19

ISE

Naniwa gata Mijikaki ashi no Fushi no ma mo Awade kono yo wo Sugushite yo to ya.

THE PRINCESS ISE

Short as the joints of bamboo reeds That grow beside the sea On pebble beach at Naniwa, I hope the time may be, When thou ’rt away from me.

The Princess Ise was the daughter of Tsugukage Fujiwara, the Governor of the Province of Ise; hence her name. She lived at the Imperial Court, and was the favourite maid of honour of the Emperor Uda, who reigned A.D. 888–897. She was noted for her talents and gentle disposition, and was the mother of Prince Katsura. Naniwa is the old name of Ōsaka. The picture shows the Princess on the pebble beach at Naniwa, and to the left are the bamboo reeds.

Poem 20

20

MOTO-YOSHI SHINNŌ

Wabi nureba Ima hata onaji Naniwa naru Mi wo tsukushite mo Awamu to zo omou.

THE HEIR-APPARENT MOTO-YOSHI

We met but for a moment, and I’m wretched as before; The tide shall measure out my life, Unless I see once more The maid, whom I adore.

The composer of this verse was the son of the Emperor Yōzei, who reigned A.D. 877–884; he was noted for his love-affairs, and he died in the year 943.

Mi wo tsukushite mo means ‘even though I die in the attempt’, but miotsukushi is a graduated stick, set up to measure the rise and fall of the tide; and Naniwa, the modern seaport of Ōsaka, seems to have been inserted chiefly as the place where this tide-gauge was set up. The poet may have meant, that the river of his tears was so deep as to require a gauge to measure it; or, as Professor MacCauley reads it, he was hinting, that if he could not attain his ends his body would be found at the tide-gauge in Naniwa Bay. The picture seems to show the poet on the verandah and his lady-love looking through the screen.

Poem 21

21

SOSEI HŌSHI

Ima kon to Iishi bakari ni Naga-tsuki no Ariake no tsuki Wo machi izuru kana.

THE PRIEST SOSEI

The moon that shone the whole night through This autumn morn I see, As here I wait thy well-known step, For thou didst promise me— ‘I’ll surely come to thee.’

Sosei is supposed to have been the son of Bishop Henjō, the writer of , born before the latter entered the church, about the year 850. His name as a layman was Hiro-nobu Yoshi-mine, and he became abbot of the Monastery of Riyau-inwin at Iso-no-kami, in the Province of Yamato.

Poem 22

22

BUNYA NO YASUHIDE

Fuku kara ni Aki no kusa ki no Shiborureba Mube yama kaze wo Arashi to iuramu.

YASUHIDE BUNYA

The mountain wind in autumn time Is well called ‘hurricane’; It hurries canes and twigs along, And whirls them o’er the plain To scatter them again.

This well-known writer lived in the ninth century, and was the father of Asayasu, who composed ; he was also Vice-Director of the Imperial Bureau of Fabrics.

The point of this verse lies in the ideographic characters of the original; yama kaze (mountain wind) being written with two characters, which, when combined, form arashi (hurricane), and this, of course, it is quite impossible to reproduce correctly in the translation. The picture shows the wind blowing down from the mountain behind the poet and waving his sleeves about.

Poem 23

23

ŌYE NO CHISATO

Tsuki mireba Chiji ni mono koso Kanashi kere Waga mi hitotsu no Aki ni wa aranedo.

CHISATO ŌYE

This night the cheerless autumn moon Doth all my mind enthrall; But others also have their griefs, For autumn on us all Hath cast her gloomy pall.

Chisato Ōye is said to have lived about the end of the ninth century; he was the son of a Councillor, and a very fertile poet. He was also famous as a philosopher, and acted as tutor to the Emperor Sei-wa, who reigned A.D. 859–876.

Poem 24

24

KWAN-KE

Kono tabi wa Nusa mo tori-aezu Tamuke-yama Momiji no nishiki Kami no mani-mani.

KWAN-KE

I bring no prayers on coloured silk To deck thy shrine to-day, But take instead these maple leaves, That grow at Tamuké; Finer than silk are they.

The name given above means ‘A house of rushes’, but the poet’s real name was Michizane Sugawara; he was a great minister in the Emperor Uda’s reign and a learned scholar; his works comprise twelve books of poetry and two hundred volumes of history; he was degraded in A.D. 901, and died two years later, an exile in Kinshū, aged fifty-nine. He is worshipped as Tenjin Sama, the God of Calligraphy, and is a favourite deity with schoolboys.

Nusa are strips of coloured silk or cloth inscribed with prayers, which were presented at temples in the old days. Tamuke-yama no Hachiman, a temple at Nara, is the scene of this verse; it is famous for its maple leaves, and the poet intended to say, that the crimson colour of its own maples was finer than any brocade that he could offer. Another allusion is, that Tamuke-yama, near Nara, means ‘The Hill of Offerings’.

Poem 25

25

SANJŌ UDAIJIN

Na ni shi owaba Ausaka yama no Sanekazura Hito ni shirarede Kuru yoshi mo gana.

THE MINISTER-OF-THE-RIGHT OF THE SANJŌ (DISTRICT OF KYŌTO)

I hear thou art as modest as The little creeping spray Upon Mount Ōsaka, which hides Beneath the grass; then, pray, Wander with me to-day.

The writer’s real name was Sadakata Fujiwara, and he died A.D. 932. For an account of the Fujiwara family see verse No. 18. Mount Ōsaka mentioned here is the same place as that referred to in , and when spelled Ausaka it means ‘a hill of meeting’. The suggestion is, that if she is really like the creeping vine which grows on Meeting Hill, she will come and meet him.

Poem 26

26

TEI-SHIN KŌ

Ogura yama Mine no momiji-ba Kokoro araba Ima hito tabi no Miyuki matanamu.

PRINCE TEI-SHIN

The maples of Mount Ogura, If they could understand, Would keep their brilliant leaves, until The Ruler of this land Pass with his royal band.

The above is the posthumous name given to Tada-hira Fujiwara, Imperial Chief Minister of State; he died about the year 936. It is related that the Emperor Uda, after his abdication, visited Mount Ogura in Yamashiro province, and was so greatly struck with the autumn tints of the maples, that he ordered Tada-hira to invite his son, the Emperor Daigo, to visit the scene; and this verse was the invitation. The picture shows the Emperor with his attendants, and the maples all around him.

Poem 27

27

CHŪ-NAGON KANESUKE

Mika no hara Wakite nagaruru Izumi gawa Itsu miki tote ka Koishi-karuramu.

THE IMPERIAL ADVISER KANESUKE

Oh! rippling River Izumi, That flows through Mika plain, Why should the maid I saw but now And soon shall see again Torment my love-sick brain?

Kanesuke was a member of the Fujiwara family; he died in the year 933. The River Izumi is in the Province of Yamashiro.

The word-plays in this verse are—Izumi, in the third line, which is imitated in the next line, and Mika, which is also repeated in the third line. The first three lines of this verse, about the river flowing through the plain, form a ‘preface’, and appear to be inserted merely because itsu miki (when I have seen her) sounds like Izumi.

Poem 28

28

MINAMOTO NO MUNE-YUKI ASON

Yama zato wa Fuyu zo sabishisa Masari keru Hito-me mo kusa mo Karenu to omoeba.

THE MINISTER MUNE-YUKI MINAMOTO

The mountain village solitude In winter time I dread; It seems as if, when friends are gone, And trees their leaves have shed, All men and plants are dead.

The poet was a grandson of the Emperor Kwōkō, and died A.D. 940. The Minamoto family, who sprang from the Emperor Seiwa, who reigned 856–877, was at one time very powerful, and produced many famous men, including Yoritomo, the great founder of the Shōgunate. The Taira family and the Minamotos were the Yorks and Lancasters of mediaeval Japan; but, after thirty years of warfare, Yoritomo finally defeated his rivals in a great battle fought at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of Shimonoseki, in 1185; the entire Taira family was exterminated, including women and children, and the infant Emperor Antoku. The Minamoto clan themselves became extinct in 1219, when Sanetomo was murdered at Kamakura, as related in the note to .

Poem 29

29

ŌSHI-KŌCHI NO MITSUNE

Kokoro-ate ni Orabaya oramu Hatsu shimo no Oki madowaseru Shira giku no hana.

MITSUNE ŌSHI-KŌCHI

It was a white chrysanthemum I came to take away; But, which are coloured, which are white, I’m half afraid to say, So thick the frost to-day!

Mitsune lived some time in the beginning of the tenth century, and was one of the compilers of Odes Ancient and Modern (the Kokinshiu). The illustration shows him with a boy in attendance, trying to make up his mind which flower he will pick.

Poem 30

30

NIBU NO TADAMINE

Ariake no Tsurenaku mieshi Wakare yori Akatsuki bakari Uki-mono wa nashi.

TADAMINE NIBU

I hate the cold unfriendly moon, That shines at early morn; And nothing seems so sad and grey, When I am left forlorn, As day’s returning dawn.

The writer lived to the age of ninety-nine, and died in the year 965. He was, like the composer of the previous verse, one of the compilers of the Kokinshiu, and was also the father of the author of .

The picture seems to show the poet all alone looking out at the early dawn, but the moon is not visible.

Poem 31

31

SAKA-NO-UYE NO KORENORI

Asaborake Ariake no tsuki to Miru made ni Yoshino no sato ni Fureru shira yuki.

KORENORI SAKA-NO-UYE

Surely the morning moon, I thought, Has bathed the hill in light; But, no; I see it is the snow That, falling in the night, Has made Yoshino white.

Little is known about this poet, but he is said to have lived some time in the tenth century. Yoshino is a mountain village in the Province of Yamato, famous for its cherry blossoms; at one time it contained the Imperial Summer Palace. In the illustration we see the poet looking across at the village on the hills all covered with snow.

Poem 32

32

HARUMICHI NO TSURAKI

Yama gawa ni Kaze no kaketaru Shigarami wa Nagare mo aenu Momiji nari keri.

TSURAKI HARUMICHI

The stormy winds of yesterday The maple branches shook; And see! a mass of crimson leaves Has lodged within that nook, And choked the mountain brook.

The writer of this verse died in the year 864.

Poem 33

33

KINO TOMONORI

Hisakata no Hikari nodokeki Haru no hi ni Shizu kokoro naku Hana no chiruramu.

TOMONORI KINO

The spring has come, and once again The sun shines in the sky; So gently smile the heavens, that It almost makes me cry, When blossoms droop and die.

Tomonori Kino was the grandson of Uchisukune Take, a famous warrior, and nephew of Tsura-yuki, who composed verse No. 35; he was one of the compilers of the Kokinshiu, and died at the beginning of the tenth century. He refers in this verse to the fall of the cherry blossoms.

Hisakata is a ‘pillow-word’ for heaven, without any definite meaning in the present day; it is generally used in poetry in conjunction with such words as sun, moon, sky, or, as in this case, ‘the light’ (of heaven).