Session 05—Haru no uta from the Kokinshū and the Shin-Kokinshū
Topics for this session
Very early spring waka from KKS and SKKS
Introduction of two important poets: Go-Toba and Shikishi
suffix to adjective stems: −み（−ので）
Poems for this session
- 01 ほのぼのと春こそ空に来にけらし。天の香具山霞たなびく。
- 02 山深み春とも知らぬ松の戸にたえだえかかる雪の玉水。◀
- 03 雪のうちに春は来にけり。うぐひすのこほれる涙いまやとくらむ。◀
Details
01 ほのぼのと春こそ空に来にけらし。天の香具山霞たなびく。
ほのぼのと | はる | こそ | そら | に | き | に | け | らし | あまのかぐやま | かすみ | たなびく
Collection: SKKS 0002 • 春歌上 (second poem, so near the border between winter and spring; the 上 （じょう） means "first book" and is used in these series: 上下 or 上中下, in this case the first of two which is the typical number of spring books in these imperial collections)
Author: 後鳥羽上皇 (ごとばじょうこう) Emperor / Retired emperor Go-Toba: Read Wiki Emperor Go-Toba, "Non-political activities". Also, 太上天皇（だいじょうてんのう）. Highly esteemed poet of his day. Commanded the creation of the SKKS. Early Kamakura period, in the midst of the poetic activity surrounding the creation of the SKKS.
Special requests for preparing this poem
- View these two pages for ほのぼのと: Page 01, Page 02
- Web search (images): たなびく
- Web search (images): 春の霞 ("Kasumi" is a personal name so it isn't very useful as a single keyword)
やま | ふかみ | はる | と | も | しら | ぬ | まつ | の | と | に | たえだえ | かかる | ゆき | の | たまみづ
Collection: SKKS 0003 • 春歌上 (continues directly after above poem)
Author: 式子内親王 (Shikishi/Shokushi Naishinnō) Princess Shikishi: Read Page 1 & 2 of String of Beads: Complete Poems of Princess Shikishi as GoogleBook Preview or otherwise. Shikishi was the Kamo Princess from 1159–69 and studied poetry under the great classicist of his time, Fujiwara Shunzei, and his brilliant son Fujiwara Teika (interpretive description is by me, basic details are from Peter McMillan, One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each : A Translation of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, p148 n89). The third eldest imperial daughter of the powerful Emperor Go-Shirakawa and Kamo Princess, an elite position at the great Kamo Shrine, we should think of her as of exceptional imperial rank. She retired from the Shrine because of illness, became a nun, and never married (文法解説：古今・新古今 p82). We do not know her age but she died in 1201 during the time of the compilation of the SKKS but before it was complete.
Poems by her on these J130 session pages: 02, 09, 15, 18, 21.
03 雪のうちに春は来にけり。うぐひすのこほれる涙いまやとくらむ。
ゆき | の | うち | に | はる | は | き | に | けり | うぐひす | の | こほれ | る | なみだ | いま | や | とく | らむ
Collection: KKS 0004 • 春歌上 (fourth poem in KKS, so, as above, very early in spring)
Author: 二条の后 (にじょうのきさき) Empress Nijō. Her given name is 藤原高子（ふじわらのたかいこ）. This is NOT "Lady Nijō" of The Confessions of Lady Nijō. This is a very high-ranking empress, deeply involved in the marriage politics of the mid-Heian period, alive and active in the years just prior to the compilation of the KKS and dying shortly afterwards. She is known best as the lover of Ariwara no Narihira (of Ise monogatari, etc.). His powerful romantic attraction to her (he spirited her away only to lose her back to the imperial powers) is the background of many Ise episodes. This is her only KKS poem. Online searches of "Nijo" are useless. Try "Takaiko" or work from the Japanese. If interested, you can read a little bit about her in a Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies article: "The Ise monogatari: A Short Cultural History" (Bowring 1992, esp p478).
Special requests for preparing this poem
Poems are covered in the order presented. We may not be able to discuss all poems listed. It is likely that I will add links and preparation requests as we go along, even in the last hour before class. There is no class participation grade so all of this work is optional, but interesting, and will enhance your ability to share in the session. Poem details are given in class and not repeated. Take excellent notes. They are the basis for the test. Our course goals in order of priority: 1) above all, appreciation of the poem as a poem, 2) understanding the components of the poems (the words in their function as grammar and their history in poems), 3) details of authors and collections. Prepare with these priorities in mind.