Shunzei is suggesting that only poems selected for inclusion in the imperially commissioned anthologies were of sufficient quality to be used as source-material for allusive variation for poems in the highly formal context of a poetry competition. His memory is faulty in this case, though, as Koremitsu’s poem is included in the Shikashū.

Shunzei is referring to the Yin-Yang belief that the world was composed of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. As part of this theory, each season was associated with a particular colour – with Winter’s being black – hence his remarks on the aptness of the poems use of colour.

Shunzei is misquoting a poem from the Kokinshu here, albeit one which exists in different versions in different version of the text. See: KKS V: 284.

Princess Tatsuta (tatsuta hime 龍田姫) was a deity said to have governance over autumn and, in particular, in turning leaves to their autumn colours.

‘Flowing haze’ (流霞; ryūka) was a special type of sake, said to have been drunk by sages. In waka poetry, references to kasumi no iro (‘the colour of haze’) were conventionally assumed to refer to a pale blue shade – the purported colour of this sake. Shunzei’s complaint is that Suetsune is being overly clever in his poem, and ending up confusing his audience.

The Hall of Longevity (Chángshēng Diàn; 長生殿) was the name of a building within the Huaqing Palace (華清宮) built on the orders of Emperor Taizong (太宗) (598-649; r. 626-649), the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty as a retreat away from the capital.

Both of these were poetic locations, famous for their views of the moon. The poem is essentially saying, the view of the moon from Hirosawa Pond is better than at either of the other places.

Tang Xuanzong 唐玄宗 (685-762; r. 712-756) was one of the most famous emperors of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was chiefly known in Japan from the lengthy poem by Bai Juyi 白居易 (772–846), the ‘Song of Everlasting Sorrow’ (長恨歌), which recounted the emperor’s love for his concubine, Yang Guifei 楊貴妃 (719-756), and his grief after her death. Xuanzong reputedly had large numbers of concubines, but neglected them for Yang – the assocications, therefore, are of bitter loneliness and jealousy.

Saigyō’s poem first appeared in the Shinkokinshu, of which Teika was one of the compilers. The commentators speculate that knowledge of it may have only circulated amongst the younger generation of poets at the time – hence Shunzei’s comment.

In his judgement Shunzei is referring to the famous incident in The Tale of Genji where the hero, while waiting for the gate of his wet-nurse’s house to be opened, looks out from his carriage and sees some flowers blooming on the fence of the house next door. He smiles and says, ‘Distant strangers,’ to himself. One of his bodyguards, overhearing then identifies the flowers for him.