Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 46
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
like a boatman
crossing Yura Straits
whose rudder cord is broken
I've lost my way
on the road of love
Yura no to o
wataru funabito
kaji o tae
yukue mo shiranu
koi no michi kana
由良のとを
わたる舟人
かぢをたえ
行く方もしらぬ
恋の道かな
Sone no Yoshitada 曾禰好忠 (2nd half 10th c.)
"Like the course of a boat that has lost its rudder, the path of love is also uncertain."
Notes
- Yura no to or Yura Straits: there are two possible locations. (1) The Kitan Straits at Yura on Awaji Island. (2) The mouth of the Yura River in northern Kyoto Prefecture. It is unclear to which of the two the poet is referring, but as he had been stationed in Tango (Northern Kyoto Prefecture), the second location is more likely (although the first option was the more famous, also as an utamakura). Rather than referring to an actual location, the poet seems to have chosen the Yura no To for its sound: "Yura" resembles "yureru" or "yurayura", the unsteady rocking of a boat.
- kaji: this is both a rudder and an oar.
- kaji o tae: "he loses his oar", but another interpretation considers "o" as a noun, the cord with which the oar/helm was attached to the boat, so that the translation becomes "his helm-cord is broken." This latter interpretation was favored by Teika.
- The first 3 lines are a preface (jokotoba); "yukue mo shiranu" is a
pivot phrase linked to both the rudderless boat and the lover who
doesn't know his way.
The poet
Sone no Yoshitada flourished in the second half of the tenth century. He served as secretary (jo) of Tango Province, leading to the sobriquet Sotan(go). He was known as an eccentric individual with numerous anecdotes told about him, and his poetry is also characterized by a rather daring style. About 90 of his poems have appeared in imperial anthologies. Sone no Yoshitada is also the author of the earliest known one-hundred poem sequence (hyakushu uta), composed around 960. The Yoshitada hyakushu is arranged like a mini-anthology, with seasonal, love and miscellaneous poems. The verses are plaintive in tone, lamenting the author's low station and the unpredictability of life.Visiting
Yura no to or Yura Straits.
(1) The Kitan Straits at Yura on Awaji Island. Yura is a small, picturesque coastal village in the south of Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture. It faces the Kitan Strait – the narrow strait of water which separates Awaji from Wakayama. Yura’s main attraction is Narugashima Island, a tiny strip of land providing a natural harbor for Yura’s fishing fleet. The island contains the ruins of Yura’s castle, which was abandoned in the early 17th century. Ferries link Yura with the island, and Yura itself can be reached by bus from the bus center in Yumoto (the capital of Awaji). Also see this website: http://en.kuniumi-awaji.jp/heritage/26kitankaikyo/
[Train running on the Yura River bridge]
(2) The mouth of the Yura River in Miyazu City in northern Kyoto Prefecture. The thing to see in Kyoto's Yura is the Yura River Bridge, a single-track bridge approximately 550 meters long and 3 meters above the water surface that spans near the mouth of the Yura River. Completed in 1924, the red rust-colored iron bridge gives a sense of history! The "Akamatsu" sightseeing train runs along the Yura River bridge on the Tango Railway and Miyamai Line (between Nishi Maizuru and Miyazu stations). Maizuru is about 1 hr 40 min by express train from Kyoto, Miyazu just under 2 hrs. There also highway buses from Kyoto.
When you are in the vicinity, don't miss to see Ama no Hashidate, one of Japan's Three Famous Views - a pinebar stretching across Miyazu Bay like a "heavenly bridge." The pine trees on the 3.6 km long sandbar have been twisted into fantastic shapes. It connects Monju, near Amanohashidate Station, to Kasamatsu Park on the other side of the Bay. There are also sightseeing boats. About 3 km (6 min by bus) from Kasamatsu terminal, up the mountain, stands the old Buddhist temple Nariaiji - the 28th of the 33 holy Kannon temples for pilgrimage in western japan.
[Ama no Hashidate from Kasamatsu Park]
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).
Photos from Wikipedia
Hyakunin Isshu Index