Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 21 (Sosei)

Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 21

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)

just because you said
"I'll be right there"
I ended up waiting
for the wan moon at dawn
of the longest month of the year

ima komu to

ihishi bakari ni

nagatsuki no

ariake no tsuki wo

machi-idetsuru kana

今来むと

いひしばかりに

長月の

有明の月を

待ち出でつるかな

Sosei 素性 (c. 844-910)

Sosei Hoshi by Kano Tan'yu, 1648

The complaint of a woman who has waited a long night for her lover who didn't show up (matsu-onna). 

Although the writer is a man, this poem has been written from the point of view of a woman. That is clear from the fact that in the Heian-period women almost never left their houses; it were the men who came visiting, also in the case of (secret) love affairs. As her lover has told her he will come soon, she keeps waiting for him during a long, autumnal night, hoping that he will appear, but all she finally sees is the "ariake no tsuki," the moon that it left in the sky while it is already getting light in the early morning. Ironically, this was the time that lovers usually would leave and head for home.

Such a "morning moon" only appears after the sixteenth day of the lunar month, when the moon is waning - so it is not a full moon but a crescent. "Nagatsuki" refers to the Ninth Month of the lunar calendar (mainly our August), when the nights are long and the moon is beautiful. 

The only point where interpretations may differ in this poem, is how long the woman has been waiting. Kokinshu scholars agree that the woman has been waiting one night, as in my translation above; but Teika, the compiler of the Hyakunin Isshu may have read it more narratively, in the sense that she has waited several months. The last sentence would then become: "many months long."

Notes

• ima komu to: "ima" is "soon". "Although you said you would soon come."
• ihishi bakari ni: "bakari" indicates a restriction. "Because you said it, I believed it and waited."
• ariake no tsuki: see above
• machi idetsuru ka na: "machi idezu", to wait for something". It looks as if she has been waiting for the moon of daybreak.
  
  

The Poet

Sosei, who had the title "hoshi," "Master of the Law", was the son of Archbishop Henjo, the author of Poem No. 12 in the Hyakunin Isshu. Sosei, along with his father Henjo, was active in waka poetry as a priest close to the court. At first, Sosei was a courtier, but he became an ordained priest early in his life. When Prince Tsuneyasu, a son of Emperor Ninmyo, was ordained and made Unrinin his palace, Henjo and Sosei were permitted stay there. After the death of the prince, Henjo was entrusted with the management of Unrinin, and Sosei continued to reside at Unrinin after the death of Henjo. The temple became known as a venue for waka and Sinitic poetry gatherings. Later, Sosei moved to Ryoin'in in Yamato. He was often invited to the poetry contests of Emperor Uda. The date of his death is unknown, but as he wrote a poem on a folding screen in front of Emperor Daigo on October 2, 909, he was still alive at that time. Sixty-one of his poems were included in the Kokinshu (36 poems) and other imperial waka anthologies. His private collection also exists. Sosei is known for his witty poetry.

Visiting

Unrin'in has already been introduced in the chapter on Henjo.

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).

Illustrations from Wikipedia

Hyakunin Isshu Index