Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 18
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
unlike the waves that come up to
the shore of Suminoe,
even during the night,
you seem along the path of dreams
to avoid other people's eyes
Suminoe no
kishi ni yoru nami
yoru sae ya
yume no kayoiji
hito me yokuramu
住の江の
岸による波
よるさへや
夢の通ひ路
人目よくらむ
Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 藤原敏行 (d. 901)
[Japan's oldest lighthouse in Sumiyoshi Park, Osaka]
The complaint of a woman about her lover who doesn't come by ( a so-called "matsu-onna" poem).
"Different from the approach of the waves to the shore of Suminoe, which come both day and night, that I can’t even meet you at night along the paths of my dreams, must be because even in dreams you want to avoid people’s eyes."
It was believed in Heian Japan that lovers could meet in their dreams. In this case, even that is not possible, something which is rhetorically ascribed to the extreme fear of the lover that other people might see him.
This is a poem written in the voice of a woman (although composed by a man), and not a complaint by a man. This is evident because in aristocratic Heian society it was impossible for a woman to go out and visit her lover. Women always stayed in their mansions, sitting in half-dark halls, hidden from the gaze of others behind heavy screens and curtains. The only occasion they could go out would be a pilgrimage to a famous Kannon temple or to see the Kamo festival, but then also they would ride in carriages behind curtains or be veiled themselves. So it were the men who visited the women, but unless they were married, even lovers were not allowed to gaze upon the face of their beloved. Sometimes aristocratic women even didn't want their voice to be heard by men who were not their family, so they would communicate through one of the many servants with whom they were always surrounded, or via a poem (and as handwriting could be revealing, they might have their poems copied out by a servant as well!).
By the way, even after marriage couples would not live together - the wife stayed with her father or other family members and the husband would visit her there, usually for a few nights at a time. This system made polygyny possible for the men; in the Genji Monogatari and the diaries of Heian court ladies we can read how much distress this unequal system caused.
The reason that the man here is afraid to be seen, could be that this is a case of "forbidden love," that is love for a married woman or love for a woman of very different (=lower) status (again a situation we often encounter in The Tale of Genji).
In the Kokinshu this poem is accompanied by a head note stating that it was written during a poetry contest in 953 ("The Empress' Poetry Contest of the Kanpyo Era") and this explains why the male poet here wrote in the voice of a woman - it must have been part of the contest.
It was believed in Heian Japan that lovers could meet in their dreams. In this case, even that is not possible, something which is rhetorically ascribed to the extreme fear of the lover that other people might see him.
This is a poem written in the voice of a woman (although composed by a man), and not a complaint by a man. This is evident because in aristocratic Heian society it was impossible for a woman to go out and visit her lover. Women always stayed in their mansions, sitting in half-dark halls, hidden from the gaze of others behind heavy screens and curtains. The only occasion they could go out would be a pilgrimage to a famous Kannon temple or to see the Kamo festival, but then also they would ride in carriages behind curtains or be veiled themselves. So it were the men who visited the women, but unless they were married, even lovers were not allowed to gaze upon the face of their beloved. Sometimes aristocratic women even didn't want their voice to be heard by men who were not their family, so they would communicate through one of the many servants with whom they were always surrounded, or via a poem (and as handwriting could be revealing, they might have their poems copied out by a servant as well!).
By the way, even after marriage couples would not live together - the wife stayed with her father or other family members and the husband would visit her there, usually for a few nights at a time. This system made polygyny possible for the men; in the Genji Monogatari and the diaries of Heian court ladies we can read how much distress this unequal system caused.
The reason that the man here is afraid to be seen, could be that this is a case of "forbidden love," that is love for a married woman or love for a woman of very different (=lower) status (again a situation we often encounter in The Tale of Genji).
In the Kokinshu this poem is accompanied by a head note stating that it was written during a poetry contest in 953 ("The Empress' Poetry Contest of the Kanpyo Era") and this explains why the male poet here wrote in the voice of a woman - it must have been part of the contest.
Notes
- Suminoe: Sumiyoshi in southern Osaka, the location of the ancient Sumiyoshi Shrine
- yoru nami: waves breaking on the shore. The phrase "Suminoe no kishi ni yoru nami" is a makura kotoba that leads to the next "yoru" (夜), which means "night" - so this is an ingenuous pun: "yoru" as "to approach" and as "night."
- yoru sae ya: sae means "of course in the daytime, and even at night." "Ya" expresses doubt.
- hitome mo: the eyes of other people around us
- yokuramu: "yoku" is written as 避く and has the meaning of "avert, avoid."
- -ramu: a conjecture, linked to the previous "ya". ”Why do you try to avoid them?"
[Fujiwara no Toshiuki with a page and an attendant, viewing the drum-bridge of Sumiyoshi temple among pine trees in a band of mist, by Kuniyoshi]
The Poet
The poet is Lord (Ason) Fujiwara no Toshiyuki (d. 901), who also was a renowned calligrapher and middle-ranking official. He served four emperors (from Seiwa through Uda) and has 28 poems in various imperial anthologies.
[Sumiyoshi Shrine, Osaka]
Visiting
The ancient Sumiyoshi Shrine, a deity of not only seamen, fishers and farmers, but also of waka poets, was according to legend founded by the mythical Empress Jingu. She dedicated it to the deities who protected her when she crossed the sea to invade Korea (an invasion which is also pure myth). A guardian of seafarers, Sumiyoshi's 2,000 branches are commonly found in seaports. The Osaka head shrine has National Treasure status and is one of the most interesting places to visit in Osaka.
The style in which the shrine has been built, called Sumiyoshi-zukuri, is characterized by straight roofs which are decorated by two sets of forked finials (chigi) and five horizontal billets (katsuogi). The shrines have their entrance under the gable and are surrounded by a fence. The four shrine buildings were reconstructed in 1810.
The Sumiyoshi deity was very popular in the Heian period and also plays an important role in the Tale of Genji: he helps Genji, after his banishment to Suma, to regain a successful career in the capital. See chapter 14 in the Genji, The Pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi.
As the deities of Sumiyoshi are worshiped as guardians of sea voyagers, along the approach to the shrine stand many stone lanterns which have been donated by sailors and shipowners. The arched bridge in the grounds (see picture) is said to have been contributed by Yodogimi, the consort of Hideyoshi, in the Keicho era (1696-1615). The Otaue Matsuri (rice planting festival) on June 14 and the Sumiyoshi Matsuri (summer festival) from July 30 to August 1 are famous. Sumiyoshi Park, west of the shrine, is noted for its huge pine trees. These grew once right on the beach, but are separated from it now by reclaimed land. In the park also stands a copy of Japan's oldest lighthouse.
Although now built up and changed beyond recognition, the coast at Suminoe used to be very beautiful and was especially famous for its pine trees. Those pine trees are silently alluded to in the poem, as they are homonyms with the verb "waiting," and that is after all the fate of the woman in the poem...
It is only 9 min by Nankai line from Namba St in Osaka to Sumiyoshi Taisha St.
The style in which the shrine has been built, called Sumiyoshi-zukuri, is characterized by straight roofs which are decorated by two sets of forked finials (chigi) and five horizontal billets (katsuogi). The shrines have their entrance under the gable and are surrounded by a fence. The four shrine buildings were reconstructed in 1810.
The Sumiyoshi deity was very popular in the Heian period and also plays an important role in the Tale of Genji: he helps Genji, after his banishment to Suma, to regain a successful career in the capital. See chapter 14 in the Genji, The Pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi.
As the deities of Sumiyoshi are worshiped as guardians of sea voyagers, along the approach to the shrine stand many stone lanterns which have been donated by sailors and shipowners. The arched bridge in the grounds (see picture) is said to have been contributed by Yodogimi, the consort of Hideyoshi, in the Keicho era (1696-1615). The Otaue Matsuri (rice planting festival) on June 14 and the Sumiyoshi Matsuri (summer festival) from July 30 to August 1 are famous. Sumiyoshi Park, west of the shrine, is noted for its huge pine trees. These grew once right on the beach, but are separated from it now by reclaimed land. In the park also stands a copy of Japan's oldest lighthouse.
Although now built up and changed beyond recognition, the coast at Suminoe used to be very beautiful and was especially famous for its pine trees. Those pine trees are silently alluded to in the poem, as they are homonyms with the verb "waiting," and that is after all the fate of the woman in the poem...
It is only 9 min by Nankai line from Namba St in Osaka to Sumiyoshi Taisha St.
[Sumiyoshi Shrine]
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 my own work.