Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 29 (Oshikochi no Mitsune)

Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 29

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)


plucking flowers
becomes guesswork -
I see no difference
between the white chrysanthemums
and the frost on them

kokoro-ate ni
woraba ya woramu
hatsu-shimo no
oki-madowaseru
shiragiku no hana 

心あてに
折らばや折らむ
初霜の
おきまどはせる
白菊の花

Oshikochi no Mitsune 凡河内躬恒 (c. 859-925)

Early in the morning stepping into his garden, the poet compares the beauty of clear white, flowering chrysanthemums with the white frost that has newly fallen during the night. Teika, the compiler of the Hyakunin Isshu, must have been attracted to this white-on-white imagery. The comparison of white chrysanthemums with frost may go back to a Chinese poem by Bai Juyi. Of course this is a poetic conceit - it is not really possible that there is so much frost that you can't see where the frost ends and the white chrysanthemum flowers begin. But in this way the poet wants to emphasize the white purity of the chrysanthemums.

I have this time translated rather free, a literal translation is: "Shall I try to break one off? First hoarfrost lies confusingly deceptive on the white chrysanthemums."

Notes

• ate ni: indicated a hypothesis, connects to -ramu in the second line
• oraba ya oramu: "ya" indicates doubt. "-mu" indicates a wish.
• okimadowaseru: the fallen frost becomes unrecognizable
  
• shiragiku no hana: Japanese commentators add "yo" so that it becomes an exclamation
  

[Oshikochi no Mitsune by Kano Tanyu]

The Poet

Oshikochi no Mitsune served as governor of Kai, Izumi and Awaji provinces, and on his return to Kyoto was asked to participate in the compilation of the Kokin Wakashu. He was a friend of Ki no Tsurayuki (poem 35) with whom he frequented the mansion of Kanesuke (poem 27). Almost 200 poems by him have been preserved in various imperial anthologies. He was a master of poetry contests (uta-awase) and wrote a large number of poems to accompany pictures on folding screens (byobu-uta). These were widely admired for their quality and his influence at the time was quite large.

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