Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 67 (Suo no Naishi)

 

  Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 67

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)

your arm as my pillow
for a moment fleeting
as a spring night's dream -
it would be a pity
to ruin my name for that

haru no yo no
yume bakari naru
tamakura ni
kainaku tatan
na koso oshi kere
      
春の夜の
夢ばかりなる
手枕に
かひなく立たむ
名こそ惜しけれ

Suo no Naishi 周防内侍 (1037-1111)

[Suo no Naishi]

Suo no Naishi was a lady-in-waiting at the courts of emperors Shirakawa and Horikawa. According to the head note in the Senzaishu, she composed this poem on a moonlit night when Fujiwara no Tadaie, Shunzei's grandfather, overhearing her whisper to a lady-in-waiting nearby that she would like to have a pillow, playfully offered his arm as a substitute through the separation screen. She composed this poem as a response, meaning that she wouldn’t ruin her reputation for such a pointless thing.

Notes

• tamakura: "arm pillow," the arm of a lover used as a pillow
• kainaku: valueless, pointless
• tatamu: -mu indicates assumption
• na: reputation (Heian court women were afraid to earn the reputation of being fickle)
• Note the concentration of romantic words: "spring night", "dream", "pillow." Although most commentators see this poem as another instance of a witty reply by a court lady (as in Poems 60, 61 and 62), it is also possible to appreciate it as a romantic lyric full of mysterious beauty (yoen), as Teika perhaps did.
  

The Poet

Suo no Naishi (real name: Taira no Chushi / Nakako) was the daughter of Suo no Kami (the Governor of Suo Province - hence her nickname), Taira no Munenaka. Her mother was Minamoto no Masamoto. She served at court through four dynasties under Emperor Go-Reizei, Emperor Go-Sanjo, Emperor Shirakawa, and Emperor Horikawa. After that, she probably became a Buddhist nun due to illness, and appears to have died by 1111. She often participated in poetry contests and also left zotoka (poetry exchanges). 35 of her poems were selected for the Goshui Wakashu and other imperial anthologies. She has her own collection of poems. She is assumed to have been the author of the sequel to the Eiga Monogatari (A Tale of Flowering Fortunes).

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).

 Illustration: Wikimedia Commons

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