Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 43
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
compared with
the feelings in my heart
after we have met and loved
I realize that in the past
I had no cares at all // I never loved at all
ai-mite no
nochi no kokoro ni
kurabureba
mukashi wa mono wo
omowazarikeri
逢ひ見ての
後の心に
くらぶれば
むかしは物を
思はざりけり
Fujiwara no Atsutada 藤原敦忠 (906-943)
"Once you make love to a woman, you'll realize that the feelings before you met were like nothing at all" OR ""Once you make love to a woman, you will be worried about various matters you have never thought of before."
There are three ways to interpret this poem:
(1) As a "morning after" poem (kinuginu no uta). The last line then should be: "as I realize that in the past / I never loved at all" - since actually being with his beloved, the poet's love seems to have increased.
(2) As a poem of "love unable to meet again" (the last line then should be: "as I realize that in the past / I had no cares at all")
(3) With the same ending, but not read as a case in which the lovers could never meet again, but one of the poet, having pledged his love, being assailed with worries about rumors starting or of the woman's love changing.
It seems that Teika preferred either the second or third interpretation (the first one in my line 5; the last one in that line is the translation for the first case).
Notes
- aimiru: "to meet and love", so: to make love.
- nochi no kokoro: the feelings after the first lovemaking
- kurabu: "kuraberu" in modern Japanese
- mukashi wa: in the past i.e. before their lovemaking
- mono wo omowazarikeri: to have had no worries
[Fujiwara no Atsutada by Kano Naonobu]
The Poet
Fujiwara no Atsutada (Gon Chunagon, or "Supernumerary Middle Counselor") was the third son of the powerful minister Tokihira. He was famous for his poetic abilities and was also a renowned musician. A beautiful man, like the fictional Genji, his amorous escapades appear in the Tales of Yamato. About 30 of his poems have come down to us.
References: Pictures of the Heart, The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua S. Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996); One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each, by Peter MacMIllan (Penguin Classics); 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); Chishiki Zero kara no Hyakunin Isshu, by Ariyoshi Tamotsu (Gentosha); Hyakunin Isshu Kaibo Zukan, by Tani Tomoko (X-Knowledge); 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