Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 16
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
even if I depart
for Mount Inaba,
whose peak is covered with pines -
if I hear that you pine for me
I will immediately hurry back
tachiwakare
Inaba no yama no
mine ni ouru
matsu to shi kikaba
ima kaerikomu
| 立ち別れ いなばの山の 峰に生ふる まつとしきかば 今かへりこむ |
Ariwara no Yukihira 在原行平 (818-893)
Regret about the parting from friends in the capital when being sent as governor to the provinces. The poet stresses how difficult it is for him to leave. This poem was probably written during the farewell party held for the poet. The poem contains two pivot words (kakekotoba) and the first three lines form a preface (jokotoba).
Notes
- tachiwakare: "tachi-" serves for emphasis of "-wakare". ”I bid you all farewell."
- Mount Inaba 稲葉 (a mountain in Inaba Province, close to the seat of the provincial government, in what is now Tottori Prefecture) is also a pun on "inaba 往なば," "even if I depart." Mount Inaba her stands for the Province of Inaba where Yukihira had to go on his new assigment.
- matsu to shi kikeba: "matsu" 松 in line four means both "pine tree" (峰に生ふる松) and "to wait" 待つ - or "to pine" (待つとし聞けば). "し" is an intensifier. Note that the pine tree standing lonely on the mountain is also a symbol for the loneliness of the poet in Inaba Province.
- ima: here not "now" as usual, but rather "soon," "immediately."
[Ariwara no Yukihira in exile on Suma Beach,
with the two fishing girl sisters, by Yoshitoshi]
with the two fishing girl sisters, by Yoshitoshi]
The Poet
The courtier, bureaucrat and poet Ariwara no Yukihira (818-893) was the scholarly older brother (by a different mother) of Ariwara no Narihira (Poem 17) and a grandson of Emperor Heizei, via Prince Abo. He reached the court rank of Chunagon, middle counselor. Four authentic poems have been preserved in the Kokinshu, and four more in the Gosenshu. The present poem was written in 855 when Yukihira was sent to serve as governor of Inaba Province (now part of Tottori Prefecture). Provincial governor was a middle-ranking position, financially not unattractive, but unpopular as it meant one had to leave the bright lights (and further career possibilities) of the capital.In later times, Yukihira was in the first place known for his exile to Suma (in present-day Kobe), where he presumably had a love affair with two fisher girls, Matsukaze and Murasame. The sisters waited in vain for Yukihira after he had returned to the capital Heiankyo (Kyoto). This story was picked up in the Noh play Matsukaze and also led to a popular change in interpretation of the present poem: instead of reading it as written when Yukihira left Heiankyo to go to Inaba, it was interpreted as written when Yukihira was leaving Inaba, to return to the sisters on the beach of Suma (although this disregards the opening line!). Yukihira's exile in Suma may also have inspired Murasaki Shikibu to have her hero Genji exiled to the same place in the Suma and Akashi chapters of the The Tale of Genji.
[Tottori sand dunes]
Visiting
(1) Inaba is a low mountain (at 249m) and is part of Tottori City. As there is nothing to see, it is better to visit elsewhere in Tottori City. Most famous are the large sand dunes (sakyu), a 2-km wide and 16-km long expanse of wind-patterned yellow-brown sand fringed with twisted pines, set against the Japan Sea. The dunes are best at sunrise and sundown. They were used for surrealist photos by photographer Ueda Shoji (whose museum stands in Kishimoto in the western part of Tottori prefecture) and they were also used for shooting Teshigahara Hiroshi's film The Woman in The Dunes.Other places to visit in Tottori are Kannon'in Tei'en, a small temple with a fine 17th c. garden composed of a large pond, wooded hill and crane-tortoise islets, and Jinpukaku, a handsome Renaissance style villa built in 1907 for the crown prince (the later Emperor Taisho). There is also an attractive folk museum, Tottori Mingei Bijutsukan.
(2) Suma beach is close to Suma St on the JR Sanyo line out of Kobe. There is a 1.5 km long stretch of sand here. Although Suma is a famous utamakura, there is little left that reminds one of the past. However, there is an interesting temple nearby, Sumadera, where Basho, Buson and many others wrote poetry and which also is close to a famous battleground from the Heike Monogatari. Also in the vicinity is Suma Rikyu Park, a tasteful modern park with fountains and beautiful flowers of the season.
[The coast of Suma]
References: Pictures of the Heart, The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua S. Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996); Traditional Japanese Poetry, An Anthology, by Steven D. Carter (Stanford University Press, 1991); Hyakunin Isshu by Inoue Muneo, etc. (Shinchosha, 1990); Genshoku Hyakunin Isshu by Suzuki Hideo, etc. (Buneido, 1997); Ogura Hyakunin Isshu at Japanese Text Initiative (University of Virginia Library Etext Center); Hyakunin Isshu wo aruku by Shimaoka Shin (Kofusha Shuppan); Hyakunin Isshu, Ocho waka kara chusei waka e by Inoue Muneo (Chikuma Shoin, 2004); Basho's Haiku (2 vols) by Toshiharu Oseko (Maruzen, 1990); The Ise Stories by Joshua S. Mostow and Royall Tyler (University of Hawai'i Press, 2010); Kokin Wakashu, The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry by Helen Craig McCullough (Stanford University Press, 1985); Kokinshu, A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius (University of Tokyo Press, 1984); Kokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1994); Shinkokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1995); Taketori Monogatari-Ise Monogatari-Yamato Monogatari-Heichu Monogatari (Shogakkan, 1994).
Photos from Wikipedia.