Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 35
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
of people, well,
you never know the heart,
yet at the old place
the blossoms as ever
are fragrant in their full splendor
hito wa isa
kokoro mo shirazu
furusato wa
hana zo mukashi no
ka ni nioi keru
人はいさ
心も知らず
ふるさとは
花ぞむかしの
香に匂ひける
Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (872–945)
[Plum blossoms]
"I don't know whether you feel the same about me as in the past, but the
plum blossoms at least are blooming with the same scent as always."
The Kokinshu has the following head note: "One day, after a long
absence, the poet stopped again at a house where he had often lodged
when he made a pilgrimage to Hasuse. The owner said to him: "As you see,
there is a perfectly good place to spend the night here." Tsurayuki
broke off a blossoming branch from a plum tree nearby and composed this
poem." (The owner's words teased Tsurayuki for the fact that he had not
come for such a long time).
Hatsuse lies to the SE of Nara, 75 km from Kyoto (so a very long journey
in those days) and was know for Hasedera temple, a Kannon temple which
was an important pilgrimage center in Heian times (and in fact still is today).
Notes
- hito: points at the owner of the house (I think the term "inn" which is sometimes used, is too modern), but I have translated it more in general.
- isa (usually with shirazu): "saa, do desho ka?" "well..."
- furusato: a nostalgic, beloved place, not necessarily one's hometown
- hana: The poem only speaks about "hana", blossoms, but as "sakura" or
cherry blossoms don't have any fragrance, the poet must be speaking about
plum blossoms which are famous for their subtle scent. The poet would as was customary attach the paper with his poem it to some object, here a spray of plum blossoms he breaks off the tree.
- ka ni noikeru: to be in full bloom with a good scent.
The poet
Ki no Tsurayuki was one of the greatest of the classical poets, and the first writer of Japanese prose (Tosa Nikki, a fictional travel account). He was the chief compiler of the Kokinshu, in which work he was assisted by the authors of verses Nos. 29, 30 and 33. This anthology was compiled at the order of emperor Daigo and was finished in 905, containing some eleven hundred poems in 20 volumes. Ki no Tsurayuki also wrote the Japanese preface to the anthology, the first critical essay on waka. Tsurayuki dealt with the
history of the waka from its mythological origin to the waka of his
time. He classified the poems into genres, referred to some important poets
and evaluated his predecessors.
Tsurayuki himself was also famous for his waka and his name is also mentioned in the Genji Monogatari as a waka master (in the story Emperor Uda orders him and a number of female poets to write waka on door panels).
After holding several offices in Heiankyo, Tsurayuki was appointed provincial governor of Tosa Province and stayed there from 930 to 935. He was later probably transferred to Suo Province, as a record of a waka party he held in his home in Suo has come down to us.
There is an anthology of Tsurayuki's waka called Tsurayuki-shu. He probably put these together himself. Many of his poems have also been included in other major waka anthologies such as Kokinshu and other imperial collections. In the three oldest of the imperial waka anthologies, he was one of the most popular waka poets.
[Hasedera]
Kokinshu (Kokin Wakashu)
The compilers of the anthology were four court poets, led by Ki no Tsurayuki (872-945) and also including his cousin Ki no Tomonori (who died before its completion), Oshikochi no Mitsune, and Mibu no Tadamine. Tsurayuki wrote the Japanese preface and Ki no Yoshimochi the Sinitic preface. The poems were chosen from 3 groups: (1) anonymous poems from older and more recent times, (2) poems from the period of the "Six Poetic Sages" (Rokkasen, mid-ninth century), and (3) poems by the compilers and their contemporaries. The "Six Poetic Sages," who attained their status by having been discussed in Tsurayuki's foreword, include Bishop Henjo (17 poems), Ariwara no Nakahira (30 poems), Fun'ya no Yasuhide (5 poems), Priest Kisen (1 poem), Ono no Komachi (18 poems) and Otomo no Kuronushi (3 poems). The compilers themselves are represented by 244 poems: Tsurayuki with over 100 (the highest number of any poet). Another 6 poets, including Lady Ise and Priest Sosei are represented by 10 or more poems each. Over 120 named poets are represented, among whom 30 women. But the anonymous poems, with a number of 450, form the largest group.
The Kokinshu set the tradition of arranging the poems not by author, but by topic, which was followed by the other 20 imperial collections. Topics were seasonal poems (book 1 to 6), love poems (11-15), congratulatory poems, parting, travel, laments and miscellaneous topics. The proportions make clear that seasonal and love poems were considered the essential topical concerns of lyric poetry.
Within a given topic the poems were also arranged in meaningful sequences: the seasonal poems follow the course of a particular season from beginning to end, and in the same way the course of a love affair is followed through time.
Poems included in Hyakunin Isshu: 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 43, 35, 36 (total 24).
[The earliest extant manuscript of the Kokinshu (early 12th c.),
a national treasure kept at the Tokyo National Museum]
Visiting
Hasedera is a fascinating temple. During the Heian period it was a center of the Kannon cult, like Kiyomizudera in Kyoto and Ishiyamadera in Otsu. The impressive Kannon Hall, built on stilts against the steep cliff, as Kiyomizudera in Kyoto, stands towering on the mountain slope. Inside pilgrims find a most wondrous ten meter tall statue, a standing Thousand-headed Kannon, who carries a flower vase in the left
hand, and a monk’s staff and rosary in
the right hand. That last feature is characteristic of Jizo statues, and
this Kannon is therefore a fusion with that other beloved Bodhisattva,
the meek Jizo. The Kannon Hall is reached via a long covered and gently graded staircase, and the temple is
especially popular in the spring, when the peonies that line
this staircase are in bloom. The temple was in Heian times favored by members of the
nobility, such as the authors of the Kagero Nikki and the Sarashina
Nikki (these Kannon temples welcomed visits by women, in contrast to other monastic establishments as Koyasan where women were not allowed to enter). Hasedera was consistently popular with visitors, something which was also helped by the
fact it was situated on what was then the route from Kyoto to the Ise Shrine.
(15 min walk from Hasedera St on the Kintetsu Osaka line. https://www.hasedera.or.jp/)
[The long covered staircase in Hasedera]
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 in this post my own work. Painting of Ki no Tsurayuki from Wikipedia
Hyakunin Isshu Index