Thus it was that two years after the Emperor abdicated, he took the tonsure and went to live at a place called Ninna-ji. Occasionally, he would come to visit the Empress. Her Majesty felt a sorrow unlike any other in the world. When the Emperor came to the place where he had lived before, he would have a meal. The ladies who had served him would be summoned to him and, when they were leaving his presence, the Empress:
言の葉に絶えせぬ露はおくらんやむかしおぼゆる團居したれば
koto no Fa ni
taesenu tuyu Fa
okuran ya
mukasi oboyuru
madowi sitareba
Upon the leaves that are our words Never-ending dew
Falls, does it not?
When as in times long gone
We sit around together…
Fisakata no
naka ni oFitaru
sato nareba
Fikari wo nomi zo
tanomuberanaru
The everlasting (moon):
Growing in its midst
Is his home, so
In its light alone
Must I place my trust.
This poem also occurs as KKS XVIII: 968. In the Kokinshū, however, it has a different headnote, and is regarded as a poem about Ise herself, and not her infant son. As a result, I have varied the translation here to take account of its Ise Shū context.
The original poem refers to a specific tree: the katura tree. There is some disagreement among the commentators as to whether this is the same as the modern katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), a species native to China and Japan. It is an upright, gracefully branching tree, growing up to 15 m (50 feet) tall. Its leaves are reddish purple when they emerge, turn green as they mature, and become yellow to scarlet before they fall. Given the lack of certainty, I used a vaguer term in the English translation.
At a time when one man and another had been making approaches to her, which she had ignored and concentrated on her duties at Court, she served the Emperor of the day. She thought what a good thing it was she had been so dedicated, and gave birth to a Prince. Her parents and others were extraordinarily overjoyed. The Consort who had borne His Majesty Princes, whom she served, was raised to the rank of Empress. The Prince was sent to live in a place called Katsura, while she herself served in the palace of the Empress. One day when the rain was falling, she was gazing sadly upon it and thinking of the Prince; the Empress saw her and said:
月のうちに桂の人をおもふとや雨に涙の添ゐてふるらん
tuki no uti ni
katura no Fito wo
omoFu to ya
ame ni namida no
sowite Fururan
Upon the moon
By the silver tree is the one
You think upon, I’d say;
With the rain, your tears
Keep company, falling down, it seems..
As its name suggests, the ruddy kingfisher (Halcyon coromanda), is a bird whose primary coloration is scarlet and not blue. Sadafun is, however, referring back to his earlier poem here, as the bird was supposed to cry ‘Mitu! Mitu!’.