Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 19 (Ise)

Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 19

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)

 are you telling me to go on living
without a single further encounter,
even if that were shorter
than the space between the nodes
on a reed from Naniwa Inlet?

Naniwagata

mijikaki ashi no

fushi no ma mo

awade kono yo o

sugushiteyo to ya

難波潟

みじかき芦の

ふしのまも

あはでこの世を

過ぐしてよとや

 Ise 伊勢 (875-938)

[Heron and Reed, by Suzuki Harunobu]

The hopeless situation of the poetess who can not meet her lover even for the briefest time.

Notes

• Naniwagata: "Naniwa" is the traditional name for the Osaka area; "-gata" (like in Niigata) is an inlet in which the beach is revealed at low tide.
• mijikaki ashi: "ashi" (or yoshi) is the common reed (Phragmites australis); it often figures in Japanese classical poetry for its slimness or beauty when seen reflected in water, and the reeds in the inlets of Naniwa Bay were especially favored among poets. Reed also has very short segments between its nodes, and that idea is used here to suggest the briefest of moments.
• kono yo: "Yo" is "this life," but also the word for a segment of a reed, and therefore a case of word association (engo) with ashi and fushi.
• sugishite yo to ya: "-te yo" is the meireikei, indicating an order. "Ya" expresses doubt. "Are you telling me that I must spend my life like this?"
  

The first three lines are an introduction (jokotoba).  

[Lady Ise, Satakebon Sanjurokkasen]

The Poet

This poem was written by Ise (also called "Ise no miyasudokoro," c. 875 - c. 938), who was born as the daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. In the Heian-period aristocratic ladies did not use their personal name (we don't even know the real name of Murasaki Shikibu, the author of the Genji), but were known under nicknames often based on the position of a male family member. In this case, Ise's father had been provincial governor of Ise (Ise no kami), and that determined her nickname.

 Ise was a court lady (like Murasaki Shikibu), and also a poet famous for her passionate love poems. Her collected poems are set up in a novelistic way, and show us her love affairs with the brothers Fujiwara no Nakahira and Tokihira, and after that Emperor Uda, with whom she had a son. Ise has 22 poems in the Kokinshu alone; in total, 170 poems have been ascribed to her.

In the Ise-shu, her collected poetry, the present poem is given under the heading "Around autumn, when he had spoken cruelly," leading us to guess that the "he" must be an unfeeling lover. In the Kokinshu it is placed in the group of poems on "forbidden love," (i.e. love for a married person or someone of a very different rank), making it - as Mostow says - into "a private complaint about being unable to reveal one's love."

Visiting

[Osaka Harbor with the Tempozan Ferris Wheel and Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan ]

In Osaka Bay you won't find any reed, but instead man-made waterfront islands have proliferated, hosting a wide variety of modern facilities such as museums, theme parks, observatories and shopping centers. In Tempozan Harbor Village (20 min by Chuo subway line from central Osaka), you'll find Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan), the Tempozan Ferris Wheel, and the Naniwa Food Theme Park featuring Osaka's native dishes. Sakishima Island and Cosmo Square are home to the Cosmo Tower (with a spectacular observation deck), Asia Pacific Trade Center, and Nanko Bird Sanctuary. On Sakurajima Island, finally, you'll find Universal Studios Japan.

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/illustrations from Wikipedia.

Hyakunin Isshu Index