Written down on a pieice of folded paper when the snow was falling, around when he was deciding to become a monk.
世の中にふるぞはかなき白雪のかつはきえぬる物としるしる
| yo no naka ni Furu zo Fakanaki sirayuki no katu Fa kienu mono to sirusiru | Through this mundane world Fleetingly falling The snow, so white, Is swift to vanish— That I know only too well… |
Fujiwara no Takamitsu
While he was residing at Mount Hiei, and someone asked him for some incense, he sent this, attached to a branch of plum from which the blossom had scattered.
春すぎてちりはてにける梅の花ただかばかりぞ枝にのこれる
| Faru sugite tiriFatekeru mume no Fana tada ka bakari zo eda ni nokoreru | Spring is gone and All scattered are The plum blossoms: Only their fragrance Lingers on the branch! |
Dharma Master Jogan
When gazing at the moon, around the time he got the idea to become a monk.
かくばかりへがたく見ゆる世の中にうら山しくもすめる月かな
| kaku bakari Fegataku miyuru yo no naka ni urayamasiku mo sumeru tuki kana | When so very Hard it seems to pass through This mundane world Indeed, I envy The moon, dwelling there, so clear! |
Fujiwara no Takamitsu
Rhododendron [sakunamusa].
紫の色にはさくなむさしのの草のゆかりと人もこそ見れ
| murasaki no iro ni Fa saku na musasino no kusa no yukari to Fito mo koso mire | In violet Hues it must bloom not— Lest on Musashi Plain With the grasses a bond Folk, too, imagine! |
Dharma Master Jogan
Jogan alludes to the sentiments expressed in KKS XVII: 867 here.
The only surviving poem from this match[i] occurs in the personal collection of Fujiwara no Takamitsu 藤原高光 (939-?), Takamitsu-shū (11), with the headnote, ‘From a scarlet plum blossom match.’
うぐひすのすをくひそむるむめの花いろもにほひもをしくも有るかな
| uguisu no su o kuisomuru mume no hana iro mo nioi mo oshiku mo aru kana | The warbler has His nest begun to weave Among the plum blossom; Their hues and glow, both, How he must regret! |
1
While scarlet plum (kōbai 紅梅) is used as a topic for acrostics in Uda’in uta’awase (905), there are no other examples of it being used in any other poetry match, nor are there any other examples of ‘scarlet plum matches’ (kōbai awase 紅梅合) recorded. Given what we know of the details of Takamitsu’s life and career (see below), Hagitani (1958, 419) suggests that it is most likely that this was a private event for Takamitsu’s intimate circle, held in late 960 or early 961.
Takamitsu was the eighth son of Fujiwara no Morosuke 藤原師輔 (909-960) and was appointed to the position of Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division (Ukonoe shōshō 右近衛少将) in 960; he is also listed among the participants in the Dairi uta’awase – Tentoku yo-nen. In 961, however, he took orders under the name of Jokaku 如覚, settling in Tōnomine 多武峰 in what is now Nara prefecture the following year.[ii] The poems he exchanged here with his wife and sister formed the basis for Tōnomine shōshō monogatari 多武峯少将物語 (‘Tale of the Minor Captain in Tōnomine’), a short work thought to be produced a few years afterwards. Despite his limited poetic oeuvre, Fujiwara no Kintō regarded him sufficiently highly to include him as one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, although perhaps this is unsurprising as Takamitsu’s daughter was the mother of Kintō’s wife; he has a total of twenty-three poems in imperial anthologies, including four in Shūishū, under both his lay and religious names.[iii]
[i] Aru tokoro no kōbai awase 或所紅梅合
[ii] Eiga monogatari relates the events surrounding Takamitsu’s taking orders, remarking, ‘Someone is sure to mention Takamitsu whenever people speak of sad things’ (McCullough and McCullough 1980, 92)
[iii] The poems are: Rhododendron [sakunamusa]. 紫の色にはさくなむさしのの草のゆかりと人もこそ見れ murasaki no / iro ni wa saku na / musashino no / kusa no yukari to / hito mo koso mire ‘In violet hues / It must bloom not— / Lest on Musashi Plain / With the grasses a bond / Folk, too, imagine!’ Dharma Master Jogan (VII: 360); When gazing at the moon, around the time he got the idea to become a monk. かくばかりへがたく見ゆる世の中にうら山しくもすめる月かな kaku bakari / hegataku miyuru / yo no naka ni / urayamashiku mo / sumeru tsuki kana ‘When so very / Hard it seems to pass through / This mundane world / Indeed, I envy / The moon, dwelling there, so clear!’ Fujiwara no Takamitsu (VIII: 435); While he was residing at Mount Hiei, and someone asked him for some incense, he sent this, attached to a branch of plum from which the blossom had scattered. 春すぎてちりはてにける梅の花ただかばかりぞ枝にのこれる haru sugite / chirihatekeru / mume no hana / tada ka bakari zo / eda ni nokoreru ‘Spring is gone and / All scattered are / The plum blossoms: / Only their fragrance / Lingers on the branch!’ Dharma Master Jogan (XVI: 1063); and: Written down on a pieice of folded paper when the snow was falling, around when he was deciding to become a monk. 世の中にふるぞはかなき白雪のかつはきえぬる物としるしる yo no naka ni / furu zo hakanaki / shirayuki no / katsu wa kienu / mono to shirushiru ‘Through this mundane world / Fleetingly falling / The snow, so white, / Is swift to vanish— / That I know only too well…’ Fujiwara no Takamitsu (XX: 1332)
The only record of this poetry match’s existence is in the headnote to the poems in Motozane-shū (180, 181), which simply reads ‘From a poetry match’. Hagitani (1958, 418) suggests that, as these poems are recorded separately in this work from Motozane’s other poems for poetry matches, they are most likely from a different contest, the details of which have now been lost. Given the topic of ‘Cuckoos’, however, it most likely will have taken place in the late spring or early summer.
うのはなの影にかくれて今日までぞ山時鳥声はをしまむ
| unohana no kage ni kakurete kyō made zo yama hototogisu koe wa oshimamu | Within the deutzia’s Shade concealed Until today The mountain cuckoo Seems to regret his song. |
1
いまよりは声なをしみそ時鳥五月待つまのほどぞあるらし
| ima yori wa koe na oshimi so hototogisu satsuki matsu ma no hodo zo arurashi | From now on Your song do not regret, O, cuckoo, For to await the Fifth Month Some time there still seems to be! |
2
When I had gone to a place called the Kawara Mansion with friends to view the plum blossom, and there was no plum blossom there, only the distant sight of cherry.
春霞たちななよりそうすくこき錦とみゆる山のさくらに
| harugasumi tachi na na yori so usu koki nishiki to miyuru yama no sakura ni | O, haze of spring, Arise not and cover not, Either thick or thin, The seeming brocade of Cherry o’er the mountains… |
From a poetry match held by the Reikeiden Junior Consort and Chūjō Lady of the Bedchamber during the reign of the Tenryaku Emperor.
春霞立ちなへだてそ花ざかりみてだにあかぬ山のさくらを
| Farugasumi tati na Fedate so Fanazakari mite dani akanu yama no sakura wo | O, haze of spring, Arising, do not block The flowers’ profusion, for Even of the sight I cannot get my fill Of mountain cherry blossoms… |
Kiyowara no Motosuke
The only surviving poem from this match[i] is by Kiyowara no Motosuke and is included in Shūishū (I: 42) with the headnote ‘From a poetry match held by the Reikeiden Junior Consort and Chūjō Lady of the Bedchamber during the reign of the Tenryaku Emperor’.
春霞立ちなへだてそ花ざかりみてだにあかぬ山のさくらを
| harugasumi tachi na hedate so hanazakari mite dani akanu yama no sakura o | O, haze of spring, Arising, do not block The flowers’ profusion, for Even of the sight I cannot get my fill Of mountain cherry blossoms… |
Given the lack of other evidence of this match, Hagitani (1958, 417) outlines various possibilities for its provenance, including that it might have originally been composed for the Tentoku 4 Palace Poetry Match (see above), but eventually concludes that due to the existence of other matches between ladies in the imperial harem from around this period, and that the women in question, the Reikeiden Junior Consort, Princess Sōshi 荘子女王 (930-1008) and the Chūjō Lady of the Bedchamber, Fujiwara no Shūshi 藤原修子 (dates unknown) were cousins and thus might have been closer than some of the other women in the rear palace, it is not inconceivable that they might have held a joint poetry match, and thus categorises this as coming from a separate event, the records of which have otherwise been lost. It is not possible to date this event with any accuracy, other than that it took place during Murakami’s reign (946-967), but the likelihood is that it was toward the end of the period.
Hagitani also notes the ‘identical construction’ of this poem and one included in Mototsuke’s personal collection:
When I had gone to a place called the Kawara Mansion with friends to view the plum blossom, and there was no plum blossom there, only the distant sight of cherry.
春霞たちななよりそうすくこき錦とみゆる山のさくらに
| harugasumi tachi na na yori so usu koki nishiki to miyuru yama no sakura ni | O, haze of spring, Arise not and cover not, Either thick or thin, The seeming brocade of Cherry o’er the mountains… |
This leads Komachiya (1990, 15) to categorise the poem from this match as ‘a blossom-viewing poem from the Kawara Mansion’ suggesting he considers it a reworking of Motosuke’s other work.
[i] Reikeiden no nyōgo chūjō miyasudokoro uta’awase 麗景殿女御・中将御息所歌合