Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 74 (Minamoto no Toshiyori)

  Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 74

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)


it was not for this
I prayed at the Hase Temple:
that she who was already cold to me
would become as pitiless
as the storm blowing down the mountain

ukari keru
hito o Hatsuse no
yama oroshi yo
hageshikare to wa
inoranu mono wo

うかりける
人をはつせの
山おろしよ
はげしかれとは
祈らぬものを

Minamoto no Toshiyori 源俊頼 (1055-1129)

This poem was written at an uta awase, at the home of the Acting Middle Counselor Toshitada, on the theme of "love for a woman who will not meet one even though one has prayed to the gods." Although written on a fixed theme, Teika very much admired this poem as flowing directly from the heart and being profound. The poet complains that his prayer to Kannon, asking that the heartless woman he is in love with might finally respond to him, has gone unanswered - on the contrary, she has become even more pitiless, like the storm wind blowing down Hatsuse mountain - quite the opposite from what he prayed for.

Notes

- ukarikeru hito: someone who is cold towards the poet (even though he is in love with her, she doesn't respond).
- Hatsuse no: Hasedera Temple, with Kiyomizudera and Ishiyamadera one of the three most popular Kannon temples in the Heian period, where people often went to pray to the Bodhisattva of Compassion. "Hatsuse" is the old name for "Hase."
- yamaoroshi yo: the poet addresses the "storm blowing down the mountain." Hase lies in the mountains and is especially in winter a cold place, with a strong northern wind blowing down.
- hageshikare to wa: "hageshiku are," "be fierce" (an order).
- inoranu mono wo: "mono wo" = "shinakatta no ni", "although I didn't".

The Poet

Minamoto no Toshiyori (also "Shunrai," 1055-1129) was the son of Tsunenobu (poem 71) and father of Shun'e (poem 85). As the leading poet of his day, he arranged the Horikawa Hyakushu and edited the fifth imperial anthology, the Kin'yoshu, the "Collection of Golden Leaves." Besides a collection of his poetry, Toshiyori also left an important poetic treatise, the Toshiyori Zuino. He has over 200 poems in the Kin'yoshu and later imperial anthologies.

Kin'yoshu (Kin'yo Wakashu)

The Kin'yoshu (金葉和歌集, "Collection of Golden Leaves"), 10 scrolls, 712 poems was compiled at the behest of the Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa and its first two drafts were finished in 1124 and 1127. It consists of ten volumes containing 716 poems, making it one of the shortest imperial anthologies. Toshiyori's unusually liberal and innovative tastes were disliked by Shirakawa, and thus Shirakawa rejected "at least two drafts". The final compromise is nevertheless remarkably contemporary and descriptive.

Poems included in Hyakunin Isshu: 60, 66, 71, 72, 78 (total 5)

Visiting

The Kannon temple Hasedera was popular with Heian court ladies, who mounted the interminable covered stairway up the mountainside. In spring, peonies line the way. At the top stands the Kannon Hall, built on stilts. Inside one finds the image of Kannon, an 8-m gilded colossus, the present one carved in 1538. The veranda offers a wonderful view out over the valley. The Hatsuse area also is featured in Poem 35 by Ki no Tsuyayuki, and in that article I have provided a more detailed description of Hasedera, plus directions, to which I now refer. Hasedera is a great temple and can be combined on a day trip with Muroji in the same wider area, which has an interesting collection of Buddhist statues.

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).

Photo: own work (Hasedera in Sakurai, Nara prefecture)

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Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 73 (Oe no Masafusa)

  Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 73

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)


the cherries on the peak
of the high mountain
are all in bloom now -
may the mists in the foothills
not arise to hide them

takasago no
onoe no sakura
saki ni keri
toyama no kasumi
tatazu mo aranamu

高砂の
尾の上の桜
咲きにけり
外山の霞
たたずもあらなむ

Oe no Masafusa 大江匡房 (1041-1111)

A straightforward poem. The headnote informs us that it was composed on the sentiment of gazing at mountain cherries far away, when a group of people were drinking and composing poetry at the house of the Palace Minister (Fujiwara no Moromichi). The author asks the mists of the lower hills not to rise and obscure the view of the cherries blooming on the high peaks, probably so that his friends and colleagues at the party can also see them. This would then be the same idea as in poem 26 by Fujiwara no Tadahira, who asks the maples of Mt Ogura to remain for a while so that the emperor may also come and enjoy them.

Notes

- takasago: "sand hills piled high," and therefore simply a noun for "high mountain." Some commentators have it refer to Takasago Mountain in Harima (western Hyogo), but that is not necessary.
- onoe: "high ridge, mountain peak"
- sakinikeri: "ni" indicates completion. "keri" acts as an exclamation mark
- toyama: foothills
- tatazu mo aranamu: "mo" is an intensifier. "namu" indicates a wish, "-shite hoshii."

The Poet

Oe no Masafusa (1041-1111) was a famed poet and Confucian scholar under the emperors Shirakawa, Horikawa, and Toba. Masafusa is known by his title of Gon-Chunagon, "Acting Middle Counselor". He was a confidant of the Cloistered Emperor Horikawa and took part in such poetry contests as the Horikawa Hyakushu. He was also famous as a poet of Sinitic verse. Masafusa was the author of several books, including a collection of anecdotes, as well as a work on ceremonial and public functions, which still is a valuable source of historical information. A collection of his poetry is extant. He has 119 poems in the Go-Shuishu and later imperial collections. Masafusa was the great-grandson of Akazome Emon (poem 59).

Goshuishu (Goshui Wakashu)

Although Masafusa was not one of the compilers, I mention the Goshuishu (後拾遺和歌集, "Later Collection of Gleanings") here as it was compiled during his lifetime, and his poetry has been included in it. This anthology consists of 20 scrolls and approx 1,200 poems. It was ordered in 1075 by Emperor Shirakawa, and completed in 1086. It was compiled by Fujiwara no Michitoshi (1047-1099), who wrote its preface. Noted for a comparatively large contingent of poems written by women.

Poems included in Hyakunin Isshu: 42, 50, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 62, 63, 65, 68, 69, 70, 73 (total 14)

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).


Photo: own work (mountain cherries on Arashiyama in western Kyoto)

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Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 72 (Lady Kii)

 Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 72


Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)


the fickle waves
of the Takashi shore
known far and wide -
I won't let them catch me
and make my sleeves wet

oto ni kiku
Takashi no hama no
adanami wa
kakeji ya sode no
nure mo koso sure

音にきく
高師の浜の
あだ浪は
かけじや袖の
ぬれもこそすれ

Lady Kii 紀伊 (fl. 1061-1113)

A witty poem written at a "love letter" poem competition (kesobumi awase) in 1102 at the time of the Cloistered Emperor Horikawa. Such an uta awase was of course not an actual exchange of love letters, but an exercise in the conventions of courtly love (which never should get too serious). Lady Kii wrote her poem in reply to a poem by Fujiwara no Toshitada (1073-1123), the grandfather of Fujiwara no Teika, which goes as follows:

how I long to tell you
that my secret love is like
the waves of Ariso Beach
driven by the bay-wind
pounding the shore at night

hito shirenu | omoi Ariso no | urakaze ni | nami no yoru koso | iwamahoshikere

This is a poem that is difficult to translate as it contains various puns. "Omoi", love, should be connected to the "ari" of Ariso to make "being in love". Ariso no Ura, Ariso Bay ("Rough Shore"), is a famous utamakura. "Yoru nami", "approaching waves" puns with "yoru", night. So the poet says that he would like to visit his beloved at night "like waves brought by the wind against a rough shore." A rather daring poem, that however also reveals the author's fickleness, leading to the reply where as an image for his insincerity again "waves" are used.

Note how closely Lady Kii follows the texture of the poem by Toshitada, which also contains an utamakura referring to a place at the shore, an image of waves pounding on the shore, a pun on "Takashi" and a pun on "kakeji ya" which refers both to the waves and to her opponent. She deftly tells him that an affair with such a fickle person would cause her much suffering - so her sleeves would get wet because of her tears, rather than by the waves.

Notes

- oto ni kiku: here "oto" means not sound, but "rumor," so "famous"
- Takashi: name of a beautiful beach in Sakai (south of Osaka), an utamakura. Takashi means "tall" and puns with both "waves" and "reputation" in the previous line.
- adanami: unsubstantial, insincere, frivolous；refers both to waves that break in vain on the shore, as to a frivolous person.
- kakejiya: "ji" is a negation. Because the "adanami", frivolous waves, point both at waves and at the courtier she writes this poem to in reply, the double meaning is "I won't let the waves make me wet" and "I won't let you make me cry." 
- nure mo koso sure: "mo" and "koso" used together indicates a fear or worry

The Poet

Lady Kii of Princess Yushi's Household (Yushi Naishinno-ke no Kii 祐子内親王家紀伊, fl. 1061-1113), also known as Ichinomiya no Kii, was a Japanese noblewoman and waka poet active in the Heian period. She was a daughter of Taira no Tsunekata and Lady Koben. In Princess Yushi's salon in which she served (Princess Yushi was the daughter of Emperor Go-Suzaku), also the author of the Sarashina Nikki participated ("the daughter of Sugawara no Takasue"). She took part in several uta awase poetry contests between 1056 and 1113 and has a collection of poetry extant. She has 31 poems in the Go-Shuishu and other imperial anthologies.

[Takashi Beach in Izumo Province (now Osaka) by Hiroshige]

"Takashi no Hama" used to be a beautiful shore on Osaka Bay, as caught by Hiroshige in this beautiful print from his series "Famous Views of the 60-odd Provinces." Today, it lies in Sakai City, south of Osaka, and the coast here has been completely built up, while in the bay artificial islands have been created on reclaimed land to house industry, port facilities, and parks. There is nothing to see here, but for completeness' sake herea re the directions. It is a 5-min walk from Takashinohama Station on the Nankai Electric Railway on the Takashinohama branch line (which branches off in Hagoromo). https://goo.gl/maps/YST882dJg3gYNW6g6

 

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).

Ukiyo-e: Wikipedia

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Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 71 (Minamoto no Tsunenobu)

Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 71


Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)


when evening falls,
through rice plants before the gate,
it comes whistling,
and then blows into my rush-hut:
the autumn breeze

yu sareba
kadota no inaba
otozurete
ashi no maroya ni
akikaze zo fuku

夕されば
門田の稲葉
おとづれて
あしのまろやに
秋風ぞふく

Minamoto no Tsunenobu 源経信 (1016–1097)

Despite its natural feeling, the above poem was composed on a set topic ("country house and autumn wind") during a poetry contest - which however really took place in the mountain villa of one of the participants. As Mostow says, the poem was appreciated as an early example of the descriptive landscape poetry that emerged around this time. This was a highly prized poem that makes readers feel the loneliness of autumn with all their senses - first the poet sees and hears the wind, and next he feels it on his skin. 

Notes

- sareba: "saru" indicates movement, so "when evening comes", "when it becomes evening"
- kadota no inaba: "kadota" is a rice field lying before the gate of the house.
- otozurete: "otozuru" originally means "to make a sound." Here its has the double meaning of "oto wo tatete otozurete kuru," describing how the wind whistles through the leaves of the rice plants before reaching the hermitage.
- ashi no maroya: a temporary house built of crude reeds
- zo: intensifier.

The Poet

The  courtier and official ("Major Counselor") Minamoto no Tsunenobu (1016 - 1097) excelled in poetry and music, and was also versed in courtly etiquette. In versatility, he was compared to Fujiwara no Kinto. Although he had a very successful career, at age 82 he ended up in banishment in Dazaifu. Tsunenobu participated in many poetry contests and was regarded as one of the best poets of his time. 86 poems have been included in the Go-Shuishu and other imperial collections. His personal collection is extant, as is a diary. Tsunenobu was the father of Toshiyori (poem 74).

 

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).

Photo: Wikipedia

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Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poems, One Poem Each): Poem 70 (Ryozen)

   Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 70

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)

when from loneliness
I step outside my hut
and look about
everywhere I see the same
autumn evening

sabishisa ni
yado o tachi idete
nagamureba
izuko mo onaji
aki no yugure
      
寂しさに
宿を立出て
ながむれば
いづこもおなじ
秋の夕暮

Ryozen 良暹 (998-1064)

The poet, a monk living in seclusion, is moved by the poignancy of the autumn scene.

Notes

sabishisa ni: "ni" indicates the reason, "sabishii no de"

yado: here "an", hut
nagamureba: "nagamu," "to stare with emotion." "ba" indicates the situation, "nagameta tokoro".

"izuku mo onaji":  ambiguous as this can be interpreted as a full stop, or as modifying "evening".

The Poet

Master of the Law Ryozen (dates unknown, but flourished c. 998-1064) was a Tendai monk from Enryakuji on Mt Hiei, who served as abbot of the Gion monastery (now the Yasaka shrine), lived as a hermit in Ohara and ended his life at Unrin'in, a large temple which in Heian times stood at Murasakino before Daitokuji in the 14th c. took over the area. Thirty-one of his poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Goshuishu on. He joined several "utaawase" contests in his time.   

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).

Photo:Wikipedia

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Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 69 (Noin)

   Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 69

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)

the maple leaves
torn from Mount Mimuro
by the storm's blast
turn the Tatsuta River
into a rich brocade

arashi fuku
Mimuro no yama no
momijiba wa
Tatsuta no kawa no
nishiki narikeri
      
あらし吹く
三室の山の
もみぢ葉は
龍田の川の
にしきなりけり

Noin 能因 (988-1051)

[Tatsuta River, Ikaruga, Nara]

The above poem was written for a palace poetry contest held in 1049. It is not based on actual observation, for the distance between the famous mountain and equally famous river (both utamakura) is about 25 kilometers, much too far for Mt Miwa's maple leaves to be blown into the Tatsuta river. The confusion between maple leaves and brocade is a conventional one. Poem 17 by Ariwara no Narihira also treats the association between maple leaves and the Tatsuta river.

Notes

• A direct and straightforward poem.
• Mt Mimuro is another name for Mt Miwa, which is a mountain located in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. It has through the ages been an important religious spot and is home to one of the earliest Shinto shrines, Omiwa Shrine. 
• The River Tatsuta in Heguri, Ikoma District, Nara Prefecture was famous for its fiery red momiji (autumn leaves) and appears frequently in classical poetry,
  

 

The Poet

Tachibana no Nagayasu (988 – c. 1051), also known as Master of the Law Noin, was a Japanese poet and monk of the late Heian period. After studying at the imperial university, at age 26 he took vows and started traveling throughout Japan, writing poems about the scenes he visited. He studied poetry under Fujiwara no Nagato. A collection of his poetry is extant, as well as a poetic treatise. Sixty-five of his poems have been included in the Go-Shuishu and later imperial collections.
 

Visiting

A visit to the Tatsuta River has been introduced under Poem 17, to which I here refer.

More worthy of a visit is the Omiwa Shrine, one of Japan's oldest and most beautiful Shinto shrines, standing at the foot of 467m high Mt Miwa. The handsome structure in the shrine court is the Haiden, or oratory. There is no hall to house the kami because the kami dwells on the mountain itself. According to ancient legend, it appears in the form of a snake. The Omiwa Srhine also has deep connections with sake brewing: the brew was handed down to mankind by Omononushi, the deity of the shrine, and continues to be offered to him as a way of thanksgiving. In the Manyoshu, "umazake," "delicious sake," is employed as an epithet for the Omiwa Shrine, and the term "miwa" itself was used to designate sake in the past. See my detailed article about the Omiwa Shrine at this blog, also for directions.

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).

    Photo: Wikipedia

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Mieczysław Karłowicz: Eternal Songs (1906)

Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876-1909) was a Polish composer and conductor, one of the most promising composers of his generation, and one of the first in Poland to express himself intensively through the genre of the symphonic poem. 

Karlowicz was born in a well-to-do musical family. In his youth, he spent some time traveling through Europe and in 1887 his family settled in Warsaw where he studied violin and later also composition. In 1895 he moved to Berlin where - besides music - he also occupied himself with music history, philosophy, psychology and physics. By the time he returned to Warsaw in 1901 he had composed several songs, many of which remain in the Polish repertory, the Serenade for Strings, the Rebirth Symphony and incidental music to the play The White Dove. A violin concerto soon followed. In 1903 he took a seat on the board of the Warsaw Music Society where he organized the symphony orchestra. He became fascinated with the symphonic poem and applied himself very actively to it. Between 1904 and 1909 he composed six of them. Disenchanted with Warsaw’s musical life, Karlowicz eventually spent more time abroad and at Zakopane, a vacation village in the Polish highlands, pursuing his interests in mountaineering, skiing and photography. He was also one of the first to own a bicycle. During a ski trip in February 1909, Karłowicz was caught in an avalanche and killed at a tragically young age.

The programs of his symphonic poems reflect the ideals of pantheism, expressive sorrowfulness, and Wagnerian symbols of love and death. At some times, Karłowicz’s work also moved toward the philosophy of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. A master orchestrator, Karłowicz drew on orchestral writing of Strauss, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky, but his music, dominated by a mood of sadness, melancholy, and resignation, has a clearly individual character. His symphonic poems and lieder showed a great talent.

[Zakopane, Tatra mountains, Poland]

Eternal Songs (Odwieczne Pieśni ) is Karłowicz's second symphonic poem which he completed in 1906. It is the fullest manifestation of the composer’s pantheistic credo and has three parts: 1. The song of eternal yearning; 2. The song of love and death; 3. The song of eternal Being. Karłowicz did not write a program for the work, but several musical motifs in the composition were commented on by him, such as "inconsolable yearning," "withdrawal," "death longing," "death"; the last movement was preceded by "Grandeur, power, majesty, eternity, inexorability, inevitability." This points to the influence that the philosopher Schopenhauer must have had on Karłowicz. On his trips through the Tatra mountains he had mystical experiences. For example, he wrote in one of his diaries, "When I am at a lonely height, on one of the mountain peaks, I seem to dissolve into the environment, thinking stops, I am not an individual, and I feel surrounded by the powerful, infinite breathing of eternity. The hours I spend in this semi-conscious state are a transient return to non-existence, they give peace in the confrontation of life with death, they speak to me of eternal hope and dissolution into the universe."

The first part (Andante lento) is dominated by an "eternal longing" theme first heard in the English horn. The second "song" (Andante con moto) falls into two parts: the first is a deliberately restless treatment of the love theme and the second an elaboration of the death theme derived from a funeral song. The last song (Moderato) is based on the "eternal Being" theme that seems to underline in an almost mathematical way the grandeur of Karłowicz superhuman concept.

Eternal Songs is here played by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia directed by Michal Nesterowicz.

[Written with input from the article on Karlowicz at the Dutch-language Wikipedia]

Arnold Bax: Tintagel

Tintagel Castle in north Cornwall has a long (but in itself purely fictional) association with the Arthurian legends - it is most famously used as location for these stories in the poem Idylls of the King by Tennyson. But even without any legend the cliff crowned with the castle ruin and the wide vistas of the Atlantic that can be seen from there are interesting enough in themselves.

The musical style of Arnold Bax (1883 - 1953) blends elements of Romanticism and Impressionism, with a marked Celtic influence. His orchestral scores are notable for their complexity and colorful instrumentation. Bax wrote his tone-poem Tintagel in 1917, after a visit there with his lover the pianist Harriet Cohen. The music evokes the ruined castle and the Atlantic, with overtones of the historical associations of the place. But in the surging sea music Bax also expresses his own passion and the tumultuous problems arising from it - Bax was married and finally didn't want to give up his family.

 

Symphonic Poems

Hunnenschlacht by Franz Liszt

This symphonic poem, in one movement, was completed in 1857 and belongs to Liszt's later symphonic poems. He began composing Hunnenschlacht in 1855 when the genre of "symphonic poem" had already taken off. More and more composers became interested in this new genre. 

[Hunnenschlacht by Wilhelm von Kaulbach, painted in 1837]

The idea for this composition by Liszt came (once again) from Liszt's friend, Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein. She was fascinated by a fresco - a depiction of a historical scene of the great Battle of the Catalaunian Fields in 451 - by German painter Wilhelm von Kaulbach that hung near the steps of the then Berliner Museum until World War II and was painted in 1837. The princess sent Liszt a reproduction of it.

At the battle, a Roman coalition led by General Flavius Aëtius and the Visigothic King Theodoric tried to stop a savage onslaught by the Hun armies led by Attila. According to legend, the battle was of such enormous intensity and barbarity that the spirits of the victims were still fighting with each other after their souls had left their bodies. Kaulbach portrays both the heavenly and the earthly element and shows that the Christians eventually overcame the 'savages'. Liszt absolutely wanted to set this fresco to music and he even planned some other musical pieces on historical scenes of Kaulbach which should be named as a cycle 'Weltgeschichte in Bildern und Musik'. But, as with the symphonic poem Heroïde funèbre, he only composed this one symphonic poem.

Hunnenschlacht is so-called "war music." Liszt sets two ideas against each other: the 'savages' (the Huns) are portrayed by a barbaric theme in which this theme is given a Hungarian-sounding twist. In contrast, the civilized Christians, seen here as the defenders of Christianity, are given a theme based on the refrain Crux fidelis from a Gregorian hymn. This hymn is attributed to 6th century bishop Venantius Fortunatus. 'The light of the Christians blinds the pagan savages,' Liszt wrote in his program.

The first section of the piece, marked Tempestuoso, allegro non troppo carries Liszt's instruction: "Conductors: the entire color should be kept very dark, and all instruments must sound like ghosts." Liszt achieves much of this effect by having  the entire string section play with mutes, even in fortissimo passages. This section depicts an atmosphere of foreboding and suppressed rage before the battle breaks out.

The second section, Più mosso, begins with a battle cry in the horns, which is then taken up by the strings. The main battle theme is then stated, a fully formed version of material from the very opening. This entire section makes use of the so-called gypsy scale, which Liszt frequently used in his Hungarian-themed compositions. In this section Liszt introduces an unusual effect: against the current of the raucous battle music in the rest of the orchestra, the trombones play the ancient plainchant melody "Crux fidelis". Liszt's own description of this section was of "two opposing streams of light in which the Huns and the Cross are moving." The "Crux fidelis" theme is later taken up by the strings in a quiet, peaceful contrasting section.

The tension between the two poles is, of course, resolved at the end of the piece by an apotheosis in which the Gregorian melody takes center stage. The music grows in intensity, eventually including an organ and offstage brass section, and it ends triumphantly.

The painter, the German Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1805-1874) was mainly noted as a muralist - his monumental frescoes decorate many walls of public buildings and palaces in Munich, the city where he was mainly active. He displayed much creative fertility and was inspired by poems of Klopstock and Goethe, but also by ancient Greek mythology.

[Includes information from Dutch and English Wikipedia]

The Hermit by Joseph von Eichendorff (Germany, 1837)

The Hermit

Joseph von Eichendorff (Germany, 1837)

translated by Ad Blankestijn

 
Come, comfort of the world, you silent night!
How gently you climb down from the hills,
The breezes are all asleep,
Just a sailor, wearied of traveling,
Sings his evening song over the waters
In praise of God in the harbor.

The years go by like the clouds
And leave me here in solitude,
Forgotten by the world,
You miraculously came to me,
While I was sitting lost in thought
Here at the rustling forest.

O comfort of the world, you silent night!
The day made me so tired,
The wide sea is already dark,
Let me rest from joy and trouble,
Until the eternal dawn
Shoots through the silent forest.

Der Einsiedler

Komm, Trost der Welt, du stille Nacht!
Wie steigst Du von den Bergen sacht,
Die Lüfte alle schlafen,
Ein Schiffer nur noch, wandermüd,
Singt übers Meer sein Abendlied
Zu Gottes Lob im Hafen.

Die Jahre wie die Wolken gehn
Und lassen mich hier einsam stehn,
Die Welt hat mich vergessen,
Da tratst Du wunderbar zu mir,
Wenn ich beim Waldesrauschen hier
Gedankenvoll gesessen.

O Trost der Welt, Du stille Nacht!
Der Tag hat mich so müd gemacht,
Das weite Meer schon dunkelt,
Lass ausruhn mich von Lust und Not,
Bis dass das ew’ge Morgenrot
Den stillen Wald durchfunkelt.

 

[Joseph von Eichendorff]

Joseph Karl Benedikt Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788-1857) was a German Romantic writer and poet. He is counted among the most important German writers who are still admired today. Many of his poems were set to music (by Robert Schumann and others) and often sung. His novella "Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts" (1826) is considered the climax and at the same time the end of Romanticism.

Born at Lubowitz Castle near Ratibor as the son of a Prussian officer, Joseph Eichendorff enjoyed an aristocratic-Catholic upbringing and completed his studies in law in 1812, and took part in the liberation war against Napoleon. In 1815 he published his first prose work, "Anung und Gegenwart". He entered the service of the Prussian government and made a career as a civil servant, which culminated in his appointment as a secret government councilor in 1841. During this period he wrote most of his short stories. In 1837 the first collection of Eichendorff's poems appeared, some of which were culled from the narrative works. After retiring due to illness in 1844, he devoted himself mainly to journalism.

Eichendorff's idyllic descriptions of nature and simple life are characterized by a simple imagery and choice of words. Behind this, however, there is a complex network of metaphorical symbolism for the interpretation of the world, nature and the soul. Due to his strong attachment to a mystic Catholic faith, many of Eichendorff's works are set in a religious context, but without the agony or missionary zeal of some of his contemporaries. It is also noteworthy that - unlike so many other romantics under Fichte's influence - he did not succumb to any German nationalism that downgraded other peoples, but instead Eichendorff sought European coexistence.

As central motifs of his poetry can be named: the night and the forest, longing and eros, home, strangers, loneliness and farewell. These recurring elements are not clearly defined and open up to different, sometimes contradicting poetic interpretations, which gives the poem its tension and removes it from triviality.

Eichendorff has been called "not a poet of home, but of homesickness, not of the fulfilled moment, but of longing, not of arrival, but of departure."

The above poem was set to music by Max Reger as Der Einsiedler (The Hermit) Op. 144a, for baritone soloist, five-part choir and orchestra, written in 1915.

"Der Einsiedler" was first published in 1837 in the anthology Deutscher Musenalmanach (German Musen-Almanach) and is included in Eichendorff's Gedichte (Ausgabe 1841), which is available at the German literature website Zeno.org. Eichendorff's work is in the public domain. 

Photo:
Eichendorff: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Lyric Poetry Around the World Index 

Ethel Smyth: Cello Sonata in A minor, op 5.

Ethel Mary Smith (1858-1944) came from an upper-middle-class Victorian family; her father was a general and her mother was of French nationality. Because there was a governess in the family, who had graduated from the Leipzig Conservatory as a pianist, Ethel Mary became interested in music and wanted to study in Leipzig. Because of her father's resistance, she did not go to Leipzig until 1877 for composition studies at the Felix Mendelssohn School of Music and Theatre. 

But she was not very happy in Leipzig with her teachers, including Carl Reinecke from whom she received composition lessons. After a little more than a year she left the conservatory. But she retained close contacts with the Röntgen family and Engelbert Röntgen, the then leader of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, encouraged her to continue with her compositions. The financially affluent Herzogenberg couple also gave her much support. Heinrich von Herzogenberg gave her private lessons in composition after she left the conservatory. In the home of the Herzogenbergs she participated intensively in the cultural life of the city of Leipzig. She got to know important composers and artists personally, such as Clara Schumann, Anton Rubinstein, Edvard Grieg and Johannes Brahms.

Ethel Smyth joined the militant English feminists in 1910 and intensively supported the goals of the British women's movement. Her The March of the Women became the anthem and battle song of the suffragettes.

Smyth was actively involved in sport throughout her life. In her youth, she was a keen horse-rider and tennis player, and she was also a passionate golfer. 

In 1890 she made her debut in England with her Serenade in D at the Crystal Palace. With her Mass in D for choir and orchestra, she garnered great success at the Royal Albert Hall in 1893. Smyth's extensive body of work also includes the Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra, perhaps her best known work. Her opera The Wreckers is considered by some critics to be the most important English opera composed during the period between Purcell and Britten. She left behind a compositional oeuvre ranging from chamber music, through madrigals and choral works and operas to symphonies.

In recognition of her work as a composer and writer, Smyth was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1922, becoming the first female composer to be awarded a damehood.

Below her cello sonata from 1880 is played by the Ekstasis Duo, consisting of Natasha Farny, cello and Eliran Avni, piano.


Women Composers Index

Allegro moderato
Andante non troppo
Allegro vivace e grazioso

Sonnet 127 by William Shakespeare (England, 1609)

Sonnet 127
by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 127

In the old age black was not counted fair,
Or if it were it bore not beauty's name:
But now is black beauty's successive heir,
And beauty slandered with a bastard shame,
For since each hand hath put on nature's power,
Fairing the foul with art's false borrowed face,
Sweet beauty hath no name no holy bower,
But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.
Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black,
Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem,
At such who not born fair no beauty lack,
Slandering creation with a false esteem,
   Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,
   That every tongue says beauty should look so.

[William Shakespeare (1610)]

The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616) needs no further introduction. With 38 plays, 154 sonnets and a number of longer poems, he has exerted an enormous influence on the English language, in which hundreds of words, phrases and quotations can be attributed to him.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even whether the works attributed to him were perhaps written by others.

How original Shakespeare's oeuvre is, is also clear from his sonnets. Although published as a set in 1609, Shakespeare wrote sonnets throughout his career. The 1609 sonnets are divided into two contrasting series: one about conflicted love for a fair young man (the "fair youth" called Mr W.H., possibly William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke), and one about uncontrollable lust for a married woman of dark complexion (the "dark lady"). It is unclear if these figures represent real individuals, and if the authorial "I" who addresses them represents Shakespeare himself.

The originality is of course that the first long series of 126 sonnets is not dedicated to a lady, but to a man, and that the second series (127-152) does not sing the praise of a fair blue-eyed beauty with golden hair (as was the norm since Petrarca and his sonnets dedicated to Laura, but a woman with dark eyes, black hair and, anyway, someone with a dark image - perhaps like the femme fatale from later ages.

The fact that the poet is attracted to a woman who is not beautiful in the conventional sense, makes the Dark Lady sequence defiant of the sonnet tradition. The excuse he gives is that because of the use of cosmetics (something new in the England of Shakespeare's time) one can no longer discern between true and false beauty, so that true beauty has been denigrated. The past in which "black was not counted fair" refers to traditional Elizabethan era priority of light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Shakespeare emphasizes his mistress's cruel and "black" state. 

The Dark Lady sequence distinguishes itself from the Fair Youth sequence with its (somewhat) overt sexuality. The Dark Lady suddenly appears (Sonnet 127), and she and the speaker of the sonnets, the poet, are in a sexual relationship. She is not aristocratic, young, beautiful, intelligent or chaste. Her complexion is muddy, her breath “reeks”, and she is ungainly when she walks. There is no consensus about the identity of the "dark lady," the Sonnets give no information at all about age, background or station in life.

Sonnet 127 quoted from The Sonnets by William Shakespeare at Gutenberg.org. Public Domain text.

Photos:
Portrait Shakespeare: John Taylor , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Lyric Poetry Around the World Index

Rita Strohl: Grande Sonate dramatique "Titus et Bérénice" (1892)

Rita Strohl (real name: Marguerite La Rousse la Villette, 1865-1941) was a French pianist and composer. She was considered highly talented at a young age and was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at the age of thirteen.

Rita Strohl composed various lyrical, symphonic and chamber music pieces. She was celebrated by Camille Saint-Saëns, Vincent d'Indy and Gabriel Fauré. Jane Bathori sang her twelve songs Bilitis to the libretto of Pierre Louÿs, and Pablo Casals played her music. Her withdrawal from Parisian society meant that most of her works were never published or recorded.

She married in 1888 a naval officer, Emile Strohl, with whom she had four children, but she lost her husband in 1900. Around 1903 she met René Billa, known as Richard Burgsthal (1884-1944), a musician and artist whom she married in 1908. Together they conceived the construction of a "little Bayreuth", in Bièvres in the Essonne, intended to accommodate her monumental lyrical frescoes, between opera and oratorio, composed between 1904 and 1923 on her own librettos: a Christian cycle, a Celtic cycle and a Hindu cycle. The project was interrupted by the war and then abandoned for lack of funds.

After her death, she was almost forgotten. Her music has become more popular in recent years, but is still virtually unknown, despite the high quality of the rediscovered works (including the sonata for cello and piano Titus and Berenice).

The score of the cello sonata is headed by the following synopsis: “Titus, who passionately loved Berenice and who was widely thought to have promised to marry her, sent her from Rome, in spite of himself and in spite of herself, in the early days of his empire.” The special feature of this work published in 1892 is that it combines the traditional genre of the sonata with a narrative process. The “dramatic” score tells the story of Titus and Berenice, based on quotations from Racine’s tragedy Bérénice (1670). Each of its movements depicts a stage in the narrative rather than a continuous action. The work is distinguished by contrasts and a great expressive range, obtained through ample textures and varied styles.

The Grande Sonate Dramatique "Titus et Bérénice" has 4 movements and is here played by Hermine HORIOT, violoncelle and Hélène FOUQUART, piano.

Bonus: Rita STROHL, Solitude - played by Hermine Horiot, cello & Hélène Fouquart, piano

Wilhelmine of Prussia: Keyboard Concerto in G minor

A piano concerto by a princess. Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709–1758) was a princess of Prussia (the older sister of Frederick the Great). In 1731, she married Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. She had to move from metropolitan Berlin to the small town of Bayreuth, an uncultured backwater, and spent the rest of her life giving it culture - the baroque buildings and parks built during her reign shape much of the present appearance of the town.

Wilhelmine was also a gifted composer and supporter of music. She worked to develop the musical life of Bayreuth and make it one of the most brilliant cities of the time. Besides hiring an able Kapellmeister, she herself composed an opera, a harpsichord concerto and chamber music.

The Keyboard Concerto in G minor consists of three movements, allegro - cantabile and gavottes I & II. Each movement takes wing from solid and vigorous openings. It is a buoyant, fascinating concerto, that certainly can hold its own next to similar concertos from the first half of the 18th century. It is a very enjoyable piece of music.

Here played by Fernando Miguel Jalôto, harpsichord; Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música; and Reyes Gallardo, concert master.