Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 33
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
in these spring days
with the tranquil light
pervading everywhere -
why should the blossoms scatter
with such restless hearts?
hisakata no
hikari nodokeki
haru no hi ni
shizugokoro naku
hana no chiruran
久方の
光のどけき
春の日に
しづ心なく
花のちるらむ
Ki no Tomonori (died 905 or 907)
One of the most famous poems in the Hyakunin Isshu, "composed on the falling of the cherry blossoms." The poem sets up a contradiction between the peaceful, balmy spring day (representative of the beneficial imperial rule) and the frenzied scattering of the cherry blossoms, as if their hearts are uneasy - or is it not the flowers whose hearts are unquiet, but the hearts of those who watch them fall? I think it is the latter, and those restless thoughts must then be caused by the lonely feelings that fill the spectators after the blossoms are gone.
Notes
- hisakata: a "pillow-word" for heaven, generally used in poetry in conjunction with such words as sun, moon,
sky, or, as in this case, hikari, the light (of heaven). "ubiquitous," "omnipresent," "pervasive."
- hikari: meant is the light of the sun
- nodokeki: nodaka
- shizugokoro naku: (scattering) without a calm heart
- hana no chiruramu: "no" indicates the subject of the sentence. "-ramu" indicates a question, "why should the blossoms scatter?"
The poet
Ki no Tomonori (c. 850–c. 905/907) was a court poet and one of the compilers of the Kokinshu, though he died before its completion. Ki no Tsurayuki (poem 35) , his more famous cousin, was the leader of the compilation effort. Ki no Tomonori is the author of several poems in the Kokinshu, and a few of his poems also appear in later official collections.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
Hyakunin Isshu Index