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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