Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 89
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
jeweled thread of life!
if you are to break, then break now
for if I live on
my strength to hide my love
will grow weak and fail
tama no o yo
taenaba taene
nagaraeba
shinoburu koto no
yowari mo zo suru
玉の緒よ
絶えなば絶えね
ながらへば
しのぶることの
よはりもぞする
Princess Shikishi 式子内親王 (1149? – 1201)
According to the Shinkokinshu, a poem on the theme of "hidden love" (shinobu koi).
Notes
- tama no o: a string of gems - pearls strung together in a necklace or bracelet. As "tama" has the double meaning of "pearl" and "soul", it is also a metaphor for "life," and the breaking of a string of gems could symbolize death. The words "tae," "nagarae" and "yowari" are all engo of "o", string.
- taeneba taenu: if it has to break, let it break now. There is a caesura after this line.
- nagaraeba: "kono mama ikinagaraeta nara", "if I live on like this"
- yowari mo zo suru: the ability to hide her love will grow weaker. "mo zo" expects the situation to become worse with the unspoken meaning of "if that happens, I'll be in trouble."
The Poet
Shikishi (also read "Shokushi") Naishinno was a daughter of Emperor Goshirakawa. From 1159 to 1169 she served as Kamo Vestal (Saiin); never marrying, in her later years she became a Buddhist nun. She studied poetry under Shunzei (Poem 83) and later Teika. Shunzei also wrote the treatise Korai Futeisho ("Notes on Poetic Style through the Ages") at her request. Besides a personal poetry collection, 155 of her poems have been included in the Senzaishu (completed by Shunzei in 1188) and other imperial anthologies; 49 of her poems appear in the Shinkokinshu anthology, more than of any other woman. There exists a tradition that Shikishi and Teika were lovers, but that seems to be fiction. It is however true that they were friends and that Teika often visited her and was concerned about her health - as is clear from the diary he kept. Shikishi also plays a role in Zeami's Noh play "Teika."
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: Wikimedia Commons
Hyakunin Isshu Index