response to the question

1

Introduction to the Kokinshū

The Kokin wakashū, or Kokinshū, is a collection of 1,111 Japanese poems (waka), that was compiled and presented to Emperor Daigo (r. 897-930) in the early 10th century. Its main compiler was the famous poet Ki no Tsurayuki (872?-945?), who also wrote the Kana Preface to the collection and included ninety-nine of his own poems. Literally, Kokin wakashū means “Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese poems.” The Japanese poem, waka or uta, is a 31 syllable form in five measures in a pattern of 5/7/5/7/7 syllables, and was so called to distinguish it from shi, Chinese poetry, which was also commonly practiced by the Heian court. One of the objectives of the Kokinshū was to bring waka to the forefront of the cultural life of the imperial court. The collection is therefore an attempt to create a normative source of poetic associations, motifs, and styles, which would become a standard for composing poetry. It thus includes poems that are representative of a particular topic (eg. “cherry blossoms,” “deer,” “moon”), and/or representative in style, and/or composed by famous poets (both “ancient” and “modern”). The Kokinshū also sets up narrative sequences that affect the meaning of each individual poem by placing it in a particular context relative to other poems. This is a brief selection of twenty-four poems, from Volumes 1-2 (Spring), 4-5 (Autumn) and 11-15 (Love).

2

Volumes 1-2 (Spring)

Composed on a day when spring arrived in the old year

Ariwara no Motokata

1 Spring has arrived

before the end of the year:

the year to date,

are we to call it “last year”?

or do we call it “this year” 1

1 The Heian court used a combination of a lunar calendar to count the months and a solar calendar to

mark the seasons. The solar calendar year was made up of 24 seasonal periods of 15 days to make a year of 360 days (which was adjusted periodically to match the actual solar year of 365.2422 days). The lunar calendar year was made up of 12 months of 29.5 days (alternating months of 29 and 30 days) to total 354 days. Because the two calendars are 6 days apart, every two or three years an extra intercalary month would be added to the lunar calendar to adjust it to the solar year. This meant that in years with twelve lunar months the lunar New Year would always arrive before the solar New Year, but in years when intercalary months were used the first day of spring (the beginning of the solar year) would arrive— somewhat paradoxically—before the end of the lunar year. This is the circumstance described in the poem. While the paradox is the result of adjusting the calendar, it produces a (somewhat exaggerated, given that it occurred every two or three years) disconcerting feeling of celebrating the beginning of spring before the lunar new year (the first day of the first month).

Some commentators have suggested that the coincidence of the old year with the new year in the poem is an allusion to the title of the anthology, “Ancient and Modern.” Even more broadly, it can perhaps be interpreted both as a declaration of the imperial calendar’s authority over the temporal realm and as the anthology’s opening question about the temporal perspective from which courtiers write poetry about the passing of time.

3

A poem on the beginning of spring by the Nijō Empress

4 Spring has arrived

before the snow has gone;

perhaps now

the warbler’s frozen tears

will melt away at last?

Topic unknown

Author unknown

5 Though the warbler

cries to summon the spring

as it alights

on the branch of the plum tree

snow continues to fall

4

Composed on fallen snow covering the trees

Dharma Master Sosei

6 Perhaps he thinks

they are blossoms because

spring has arrived?

White snow covers the branches

on which the warbler cries.

Topic unknown

Author unknown

7 So profoundly

has my mind become colored

by my hopes,

that the lingering snow

appears to me like blossoms.

According to some, this is a poem by the former Great Minister of the Realm

5

At the height of the blossoms, composed looking down at the capital

56 In the distance,

willows and cherry blossoms

mingle and weave

so the capital is

covered in spring brocade

Topic unknown

Author unknown

71 I admire how

the cherry blossoms scatter

with no regrets:

Why remain in the world

until the bitter end?

6

Topic unknown

Ōtomo no Kuronushi

88 This soft rainfall

it must be made of tears:

for who is there

that does not feel regret

when cherry blossoms scatter?

Composed when he visited a mountain temple

Tsurayuki

117 In my lodgings

on the spring mountainside

asleep at night,

even within my dreams

the blossoms keep on scattering

7

Volumes 4-5 (Autumn)

Topic unknown

Author unknown

184 Seeing the light

of the moon as it seeps

through the branches,

the melancholy season

of autumn has arrived.

Topic unknown

Author unknown

205 In the evenings

when the cicadas cry,

no one visits

this hut up on the mountain

except for the autumn wind

8

Topic unknown

Author unknown

211 The night is cold

without a robe to borrow,

as wild geese cry

and the bush clover’s leaves

have begun to change color

According to some, this poem is by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Topic unknown

Author unknown

215 Deep in the hills

treading through scarlet leaves,

a deer cries out,

and in its voice I hear

all the sadness of autumn.

9

Topic unknown

Author unknown

221 Are they the tears

shed by the flying geese

that cross the sky,

the dewdrops on the clover

by this house where I languish?

Composed at the poetry contest held at Prince Koresada’s house

Toshiyuki no Ason

257 How can it be

that from the single color

of the white dew

the autumn leaves are dyed

into thousands of hues?2

2 The theory underlying this and the following poems is that dew drops (together with frost and raindrops of cold autumn showers) are the cause of the coloration of the leaves. "White dew" is often a near synonym for "dew" but the specific association of autumn with the color white (following Chinese theories of the "five elements") is exploited here to underscore the paradox.

10

Topic unknown

Author unknown

290 The blowing wind

takes the form of a robe

of many hues

that are the leaves of autumn

scattering from the trees

11

Volumes 11-15 (Love Poems)

On the day when the Right Guards exhibited their archery and horse racing, from the lower

blinds of the carriage that was standing across from him, for just a moment he glimpsed the

face of a woman, composed this and sent it to her.

Ariwara no Narihira no Ason

476 Longing for someone

I neither did not see

nor truly saw,

confused I spent the day

gazing at the long rains

Response

Author unknown

477 Why be confused

by whether you knew me

or knew me not?

Surely it is your feelings

that should make it all clear.

12

Topic unknown

Ono no Komachi

552 Did I see him

because I fell asleep

thinking of him?

Had I known I was dreaming

I would not have awoken3

553 In a slumber

I saw the one I love,

and ever since

I have begun to trust

in these things they call dreams.

554 When my longing

is at its most intense

in the pitch dark

night I reverse my robes

and wear them inside out.

3 According to superstition, dreaming of someone meant that either they were thinking of you, or you of them. All three poems on this page are by Komachi.

13

Topic unknown

Author unknown

633 Though I hide it,

when my longing becomes

too much to bear,

like the moon from the hills

I come out to see her.

Topic unknown

Author unknown

772 “Perhaps he’ll come?”

but I know he will not,

when the cicadas

are singing in the evening,

and I still stand here waiting

14

Topic unknown

Author unknown

820 Worse than the rain

and fallen leaves in autumn,

is the sadness

of listening to the words

of a heart that has changed4

(Introduction and Translations by Torquil Duthie)

4 There is a pun on aki (autumn) and aki (grow tired of)