oshimu tote orishi bakari o mume no hana sode ni nioi no taezumaru kana
How dear to me, I think, are, Just plucked, These plum blossoms, for Their scent upon my sleeves Will ever cling!
6
[i] This poem is included in Shoku kokinshū (I: 66), attributed to Kanemori, with the headnote ‘A poem from the Poetry Match held by the Reikeiden Junior Consort’.
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!
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]
[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)
saohime no ito somekakuru aoyagi o fuki na midari so haru no yamakaze
Princess Sao Has dyed the dangling threads of Green willow— O, don’t blow them into tangles, Spring breeze from the mountains!
Kanemori 6
Warblers should have appeared here, but this is a poem about willows, so it loses.
しろたへの雪ふりやまぬ梅がえにいまぞうぐひす花となくなる
shirotae no yuki furiyamanu ume ga e ni ima zo uguisu hana to nakunaru
White as mulberry cloth The snow falls unceasing— Upon the branch of plum, Now, indeed, the warbler, Sings of the blossom!
Kanemori 7
Despite the mistaken composition, His Majesty required the original poem and it was located and recited.
Lord Hiromasa, the Reciter for the Right, mistakenly recited the willow poem. The Left raised an objection, saying, ‘He should have recited the warbler poem but, instead, erroneously recited the willow poem. Should he really be allowed to recite the correct poem now?’ The substance of the Left’s objection was conveyed to His Majesty, who instructed, ‘Provide a report based on prior precedent.’
This minor official advised His Majesty, ‘The Left’s objection is not unreasonable. However, matters such as this are best determined according to the circumstance of the occasion. As this was simply human error, why discriminate against the poem?’
Thus, His Majesty ordered that the poem be recited.
When he did so, Lord Hiromasa turned pale and was unable to recite the poem straight away. Although he finally managed to do so, his voice trembled and the Left laughed at him. Furthermore, the poem’s diction contained the nonsensical expression ‘sings of the blossom’, and thus this was still a loss.
[i] An allusive variation on: A poem from the Empress’ poetry competition held in the Kanpyō period. 花の香を風のたよりにたぐへてぞ鶯さそふしるべにはやる hana no ka o / kaze no tayori ni / taguete zo / uguisu sasou / shirube ni wa yaru ‘The blossoms’ scent / Messaged on the breeze / Brings / An invitation to the warbler / To try and bring him forth!’ Ki no Tomonori (Kokinshū I: 13)
[ii] This poem was included in Gyokuyōshū (I: 42), attributed to Asatada, with the headnote ‘On warblers, from the Palace Poetry Match in Tentoku 4’.
[One of] Two poems composed during a banquet held at the residence of Fujii no muraji Hironari, when sundry princes and gentlemen of the Poetry and Dance Office gathered there in winter, on the 12th day of the Twelfth Month.
In recent times, dances from bygone days have been increasing in popularity, even as those times gradually come to an end. It is only natural that people should sing the songs of yesteryear, pouring out all of the feelings that they had then. Thus, inspired by this atmosphere, two verses of old song were offered up. If there be among those of us who have occasionally gathered together, men of spirit, well-versed in style, let them compete to express their feelings, and match the forms of those refrains of old!
我屋戸之 梅咲有跡 告遣者 来云似有 散去十方吉
わがやどの うめさきたりと つげやらば こといふににたり ちりぬともよし
wa ga yado no ume sakitari to tugeyaraba ko to ipu ni nitari tirinu to mo yosi
Should, ‘At my house The plum has bloomed!’ I announce, then ‘Tis the same as, ‘Come!’ for It will all be scattered soon…
The event was held in the Lady of the Bedchamber’s private apartment, presenting poems on blossoms at the palace. Poems were not presented for the Right.
Plum
かをとめてをりこそしつれむめの花春の霞は立ちかくせども
ka o tomete ori koso shitsure mume no hana haru no kasumi wa tachikakusedomo
To hold their fragrance here, Indeed, have I picked Plum blossoms, though The haze of spring Arise to hide them from my sight…
