Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 88
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
due to one brief night together
short as a cut
of a reed from Naniwa bay
must I exhaust myself like the channel markers
and continue to love you for the rest of my days?
Naniwa e no
ashi no karine no
hitoyo yue
mi o tsukushite ya
koi wataru beki
難波江の
芦のかりねの
一夜ゆへ
身をつくしてや
恋わたるべき
Kokamon'in no Betto 皇嘉門院別当 (late 12th c.)
According to the headnote in the Senzaishu, this poem was composed for a waka contest on the topic of "Love: meeting at a travel lodging." The poem is an allusive variation (honkadori) of poem 20 by Motoyoshi. I have tried to bring out the pivot words (kakekotoba) in my translation, which however makes some lines rather long.
Notes
- Naniwa-e: the Bay of Osaka (Osaka was in ancient times called "Naniwa"). As Macmillan mentions, in Teika's time the Inlet of Naniwa was a place famous for meeting pleasure girls.
- karine: pivot word, meaning both "cut root" ("a reed's joint cut at the root") and "temporary sleep." "Temporary sleep" points at lovers sleeping together for one brief night. The reeds of Naniwa are often used as a metaphor for a short time span, as in poem 19 by Lady Ise.
- hito-yo: pivot word, meaning both "one joint/segment (of a reed)" and "one night"
- mi wo tsukushite: pivot word, meaning both "exhausting myself" and "channel marker (for boats in Naniwa Bay)." Channel markers are frequently mentioned in love poetry; as these buoys were made of wood, they decayed quickly in salt water.
- wataru: tsuzukeru, continue. "-beki" indicates conjecture.
The Poet
Kokamon'in no Betto (late 12th c.) was the daughter of Minamoto no Toshitaka. She served as lady-in-waiting to Empress Seishi (1122-11181), the wife of Emperor Sutoku, who after taking the tonsure at the end of her life was known as Kokamon'in. Relatively unknown, she has only 9 poems in the Senzaishu and other imperial anthologies. According to Mostow, Teika probably included this poem by a relatively insignificant poet to echo poem 20 by Motoyoshi.
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