Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each): Poem 92 (Lady Sanuki)

   Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 92

Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)


my sleeves are like
rocks out at sea
even at ebb-tide hidden from view
unknown to anyone
and never for a moment dry

waga sode wa
shiohi ni mienu
oki no ishi no
hito koso shirane
kawaku ma mo nashi

わが袖は
潮干に見えぬ
沖の石の
人こそしらね
かはくまもなし


Lady Sanuki 二条院讃岐 (ca. 1141-1217)

A very straightforward poem and an interesting play with conventions - sleeves were wet because of the tears shed on behalf of a fickle lover. Like underwater rocks, far from the shore, here the sleeves are always wet and at the same time hidden from view.

Notes

- shiyohi: ebb tide
- oki: offing, out at sea
- hito koso shirane: this can point in general at "people" (as I have translated it), but at the same time it points at the specific person of the lover

The Poet

Lady Sanuki was the daughter of Minamoto no Yorimasa, a prominent warrior who plays a major role in The Tale of the Heike. She served Ninshi, the consort of Emperor Go-Toba. 73 of her poems were selected for the Senzaishu and other imperial anthologies. She has her own collection of poems.

Visiting

Oki no Ishi, Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture. Taga Castle was a fortification built in the late Nara period at the time that the Yamato court sent a number of military expeditions to what is now the Tohoku region of northern Japan to bring the local Emishi tribes under its control. The Tagajo Stele (Tsubo no Ishibumi) is a stone stele with a Nara period inscription that gives distances to the capital at Nara, the province of the Emishi, and other regions. Basho visited it on his Oku no Hosomichi journey and was moved to tears by the memorial. What is interesting for us is that nearby also the Oki no Ishi (“Rock in the Offing”) can be found which is referred to in our poem. It is a curious pile of overlapping rocks standing in a pond. It looks very much like a fake utamakura that was manufactured long after the date! Nearby is another utamakura, Sue no Matsuyama, which is a scenic spot located on a small hill – “Sue no Maysuyama” is mentioned in Hyakunin Isshu Poem 42. You can find a picture of Oki no Ishi at Google Maps.

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).

    Illustration: Wikipedia

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