Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 45 (Fujiwara no Koremasa / Koretada)

 

Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 45

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)


I can't even imagine
that you would
call me pitiable
so I may end up
wasting my life for nothing

aware to mo
iubeki hito wa
omooede
mi no itazura ni
narinu beki kana

あはれとも
いふべき人は
思ほえで
身のいたづらに
なりぬべきかな

Fujiwara no Koremasa / Koretada 藤原伊尹 (924–972)

Sent to a woman who had turned cold toward the poet and would not see him anymore (the implication is that they have slept together). Another note mentions that although no different from him in rank, one woman he repeatedly sent letters to, made no reply at all. That is when he sent her the above poem. Paraphrase: "I don't even think that you would say that I am to be pitied, so, yearning for you, I am wasting my life." The poet stresses his distress in an attempt to move the heart of the woman.

Notes

• awaredo: pitiable
  
• hito: can point at the woman he loves, but also at people in general.
• iubeki hito: itte kureso na hito
  
• omoede: omoi-ukabanai
• mi no itazura ni: to waste one's life - to die of love
  
• narinubeki kana: -nu indicates completion, -beki is a conjecture. "kitto natte shimau desho yo."
  

 
[Fujiwara no Koretada]

The Poet

Fujiwara no Koretada, also known as Fujiwara no Koremasa, was a courtier and waka-poet from the mid-Heian period. He is alsso known under his posthumous name "Kentokuko." He was the eldest son of Morosuke and regent (sessho) from 970. He was involved in the planning of the Gosenshu, the second imperial waka collection. He has 37 poems in imperial anthologies.

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 Wikipediaa

Hyakunin Isshu Index