saki sakazu yoso nite mo mimu yamazakura mine no shirakumo tachi na kakushi so
Whether they blossom, or blossom not In the distance would I gaze Upon the mountain cherries, so O, clouds of white around the peaks, Do not rise to conceal them!
shirakumo no tatsu ka to miyuru sakurabana yama no ma mo naku chiri ya kauran
‘Have clouds, so white, Arisen?’ I wonder, beholding Cherry blossom, but Might the mountains, so swiftly, With their scattering, change?
14
[i] This poem is included in Shūishū (I: 38), as an anonymous poem with the headnote ‘From a palace poetry match held in Tenryaku 9’. It is also included in Shūishō (I: 23) as an anonymous poem with the headnote ‘From a palace poetry match held on the 29th day of the Third Month, Tenryaku 9’.
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
[ii] Kanemori’s poem here can be viewed as a response to the emotions expressed by Ono no Komachi in her famous composition: Topic unknown. 花の色はうつりにけりないたづらにわが身世にふるながめせしまに hana no iro wa / utsurinikeri na / itazura ni / wa ga mi yo ni furu / nagameseshi ma ni ‘The colour of this flower / Has already faded away, / While in idle thoughts / My life goes by, / As I watch the long rains fall.’ (Kokinshū II: 113) (Hagitani and Taniyama 1965, 81)
The Left’s poem expresses the truth of things and has no faults to mention. Its diction is not that good, but it sounds honest. The Right’s poem concluding emotions fail to match reality, which means the poem’s overall quality is inferior. Thus, the Left wins.
[i] Two different variants of this poem occur in other collections: A poem from the Palace Poetry Match held in Tentoku 4. あだなりとつねはしりにきさくらばなをらむほどだにのどけからなん adanari to / tsune wa shiriniki / sakurabana / oramu hodo dani / nodokekaranan ‘That ‘tis fleeting / Ever have I known of / The cherry blossom, but / Even when plucking them, / They seem to ease my heart.’ Middle Counsellor Asatada (Mandaishū II: 272); and: Cherries, from the Palace Poetry Match held in Tentoku 4. あだなりとかねてしりにきさくら花をしむほどだにのどけかるらん adanari to / kanete shiriniki / sakurabana / oshimu hodo dani / nodokekaruran ‘That ‘tis fleeting / Did I know before of / The cherry blossom, but / Even when filled with regret / They seem to ease my heart.’ Middle Counsellor Asatada (Shoku senzaishū II: 140)
[ii] The text of the match reads ‘Motosuke’ here, but as he did not take part in this event, I have corrected this to ‘Motozane’ (Hagitani and Taniyama 1965, 81).
[iii] This poem is included in Goshūishū (I: 138), with the headnote ‘From the Tentoku 4 Poetry Match’, although here it is attributed to Kanemori.
From a poetry match held during the reign of the Tenryraku Emperor.[i]
あしひきの山がくれなるさくら花ちりのこれりと風にしらるな
asiFiki no yamagakure naru sakurabana tirinokoreri to kaze ni siraru na
Within the leg-wearing Mountains concealed, O, cherry blossom, That you linger and not scatter, I would not have the wind discover!
Shōni no myōbu 少弐命婦
[i] The poetry match in question is Dairi uta’awase – Tentoku yo-nen (‘Palace Poetry Match – Tentoku 4’; 960), held by Emperor Murakami 村上 (924-967; r. 946-967). The poem in the match is slightly different.
utsusemi no yo wa yume nare ya sakurabana sakite wa chirinu aware itsu made
Were this cicada shell World a dream to be, then Would the cherry blossom, Bloom and then scatter? How long will such sorrow last?[i]
709
[i] See: Topic unknown. うつせみの世にも似たるか花ざくらさくと見しまにかつちりにけり utsusemi no / yo ni mo nitaru ka / hanazakura / saku to mishi ma ni / katsu chirinikeri ‘This cicada-shell / World do you resemble, / O, cherry blossom? / The moment that I see you bloom / Have you already scattered.’ Anonymous (Kokinshū II: 73)
In the spring of the year following his daughter’s death, when the cherry blossom was in full bloom, he was gazing on the blossom at his house and, with others, composed on the topic of ‘expressing a little of one’s feelings’.
さくら花のどけかりけりなき人をこふる涙ぞまづはおちける
sakurabana nodokekarikeri naki Fito wo koFuru namida zo madu Fa otikeru
The cherry blossom Seem so at peace, but For her who’s gone My loving tears Will be the first to scatter.
