Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 84
if I live longer
shall I again
yearn for the present time?
the world I once regarded as bitter
now is dear to me!
nagaraeba
mata konogoro ya
shinobaremu
ushi to mishi yo zo
ima wa koishiki
ながらへば
またこの頃や
しのばれむ
憂しと見し世ぞ
今は恋しき
Fujiwara no Kiyosuke (1104- 1177)
"If it is true that time heals all wounds, the poet may even look back with equanimity at the troubled times of today." Kiyosuke could be writing about the disappointments in his own life, such as the failure to have the Shoku Shikashu recognized as an official collection. Other commentators mention the general decline of the world, or the political disturbances of the Hogen era. It seems that he bases himself on a poem by Bai Juyi.
Notes
-nagaraeba: moshi ikinagaraete ita naraba
- "ya" indicates a light doubt; "mu" indicates a presumption. "ima ga natsukashiku omoiokosareru koto daro ka."
- ushi to mise yo: tsurai to omotte ita kakko
The Poet
Fujiwara no Kiyosuke (1104- 1177) was the second son of Akisuke (poem 79), from whom he inherited the leadership of the Rokujo school of poetry. He compiled the Shoku Shikashu for Emperor Nijo, but as his sponsor died before it was completed, it was prevented from becoming an official imperial anthology. He was one of the first to apply rules of choosing themes, participants and judges in the uta-awase poetry gatherings. His standards of judging poetry, made him a rival of Fujiwara no Shunzei. Kiyosuke has 94 poems in the Senzaishu and later imperial collections; a personal collection is also extant.
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
Hyakunin Isshu Index