The Gosenwakashū (or the Gosenshū for short), the ‘Later Selection of Japanese Poetry’, was the second of the 21 anthologies of waka compiled at imperial command (chokusenshū). Commissioned by Emperor Murakami (926-927; r. 946-967) and completed around 951, it was compiled by Ônakantomi no Yoshinobu, Kiyowara no Motosuke, Minamoto no Shitagō, Ki no Tokibumi and Sakanoe no Mochiki, who go by the collective title of the ‘Five Men of the Pear Jar Room’. The anthology follows the pattern of the Kokinshū, being composed of 20 books, but lacks a preface:
| Book I Book II Book III Book IV Book V Book VI Book VII Book VIII Book IX Book X Book XI Book XII Book XIII Book XIV Book XV Book XVI Book XVII Book XVIII Book XIX Book XX | Spring I Spring II Spring III Summer Autumn I Autumn II Autumn III Winter Love I Love II Love III Love IV Love V Love VI Miscellaneous I Miscellaneous II Miscellaneous III Miscellaneous IV Partings/Travel Felicitations/Laments |
The 20 Books contain a total of 1,426 poems. As its name suggests, it contains works by many of the same poets as its predecessor, but it is interesting for its many lengthy headnotes, seemingly added by the compilers to provide appropriate contexts for the poems.
The principal poets of the collection (those with more than 10 poems included) are: Tsurayuki (74), Ise (70), Mistsune (23), Fujiwara no Kanesuke (23), Taifu (16), Fujiwara no Tokihira (14), Fujiwara no Morosuke (13), Fujiwara no Nakahira (10), Fujiwara no Saneyori (10), Fujiwara no Atsutada (10) and Mibu no Tadamine (10).
The following Gosenshū poems are on WakaPoetry.net:
Book I: Spring 1
Book II: Spring 2
Book III: Spring 3
Book IV: Summer
Book V: Autumn 1
Book VI: Autumn 2
Book VII: Autumn 3
Book VIII: Winter
Book IX: Love 1
Book X: Love 2
Book XI: Love 3
Book XII: Love 4
Book XIII: Love 5
| GSS XIII: 891 GSS XIII: 892 GSS XIII: 916 GSS XIII: 937 GSS XIII: 942 GSS XIII: 960 GSS XIII: 967 | GSS XIII: 968 GSS XIII: 972 GSS XIII: 991 |
Book XIV: Love 6
Book XV: Miscellaneous 1
Book XVI: Miscellaneous 2
Book XVII: Miscellaneous 3
Book XVIII: Miscellaneous 4
| GSS XVIII: 1250 GSS XVIII: 1280 GSS XVIII: 1281 GSS XVIII: 1288 GSS XVIII: 1291 GSS XVIII: 1292 GSS XVIII: 1293 |