Session 16—Koi no uta from the Kokinshū and the Shin-Kokinshū
Topics for this session
Book IV & V love poems
Introduction of the important poet: Ise
Grammar: review of せば、、、まし
Grammar: ものを
Poems for this session
- 25 月夜よし夜よしと人につげやらば、来とふに似たり。待たずしもあらず。
- 26 冬枯れの野辺とわが身を思ひせば、燃えても春を待たましものを。
- 27 かきやりし、その黒髪の筋ごとにうち伏すほどは面影ぞ立つ。
Details
25 月夜よし夜よしと人につげやらば、来てふに似たり。待たずしもあらず。
つきよ | よし | よ | よし | と | ひと | に | つげやら | ば | こ | てふ | に | に | たり | また | ず | し | も | あらず
Collection: KKS 0692 • 恋 (Book IV)
Author: 詠み人知らず
Notes
「来」（こ） is 命令形
26 冬枯れの野辺とわが身を思ひせば、燃えても春を待たましものを。
ふゆがれ | の | のべ | と | わ | が | み | を | おもひ | せ | ば | もえ | て | も | はる | を | また | まし | ものを
Collection: KKS 0791 • 恋 (Book V)
Author: 伊勢 (いせ) Lady Ise (ca 877–938, so contemporary to the making of the KKS). The "Lady" in her title is for several reasons: 1) she was a high-ranking lady-in-waiting to an imperial consort, she gave birth an emperor's child (although that child died early), 3) she gave birth to a girl (the famous poet Natsukasa) via a prince. She was dynamic and well-connected.
Her 『伊勢集』 is difficult to date and probably not compiled by her but its beginning through the first 30 poems is considered a very early example of the nikki (王朝女流日記文学) genre (even if embedded inside a poetry collection).
Ise is the third major woman poet we are reading in this class. (Ono no Komachi and Shikishi are the others. We read poems by Murasaki Shikibu but she is not considered major.) Another great woman poet of the KKS/SKKS is Izumi Shikibu but, unfortunately, we are not reading any of her poems (although we look at a 本歌, below). (Ink Dark Moon presents translations of Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu poems.) The wiki on "Lady Ise" is inadequate. Here's the Encyclopedia of Japan (Kodansha) entry:
Court lady and classical (waka) poet. Her real name is unknown. Ise was the name of a province of which her father, Fujiwara no Tsugikage, was governor, and it became her sobriquet when she was a lady-in-waiting at court. She is thought to have entered the service of Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda (867－931; r 887－897), around 892. She caught the eye of the emperor and later became a favorite of his fourth son, Prince Atsuyoshi, to whom she bore a daughter, known as Lady Nakatsukasa, who became a famous poet in her own right. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses (Sanjūrokkasen), Ise and Ono no Komachi rank as the two most accomplished women poets of the late 9th and early 10th centuries. The compilers of the first imperial anthology of Japanese classical poetry, the Kokinshū, included 22 of Ise's poems. Seventy are contained in the second imperial anthology, Gosen wakashū.
The 『国史大辞典』 is still better:
平安時代中期の女流歌人。三十六歌仙の一人。生没年不詳だが元慶元年（八七七）ごろ生まれ、天慶二年（九三九）ごろ没したか。父は伊勢守・大和守となった藤原継蔭で受領階級だが、伊勢の血統周辺には顕官や文筆の人もいる。伊勢は寛平三年（八九一）ごろ宇多天皇女御温子のもとに出仕し、父の前官伊勢守によって伊勢と呼ばれたらしい。その間、藤原仲平との恋に破れ、やがて宇多帝の寵を得て皇子を生むが、皇子は幼時に早世。温子没後、敦慶親王との間に一女中務を生む。伊勢は宇多・醍醐・朱雀三朝四十数年にわたり歌人として重きをなし、紀貫之・凡河内躬恒らに伍して歌合にもたびたび出詠し、『古今和歌集』中にも抜群の位置を占め、各種の屏風歌に才幹をふるうなど、女流として前後に比を見ない幅広い活動をした。これは平安時代中期の女流文学の盛時に先がけたものとして、その先駆的意義は大きい。平安時代の女流の諸作品に伊勢の歌は際立って引用され、ことに『源氏物語』において、引歌が多いのみならず、作者の伊勢への傾倒が顕著にみられる。家集に『伊勢集』がある。
Notes
The preface to this poem reads: もの思ひけるころ、ものへまかりける道に野火の燃えけるを見てよめる
Special requests for preparing this poem
- Be able to give me the full list of words in this poem that were flagged anywhere in the bSpace document Kokinshu select love poems ENG with notes
- Be able to say what was our other せば、、、まし poem, and what this grammar construct means
- Be able to state the 掛詞 of this poem.
- Be able to state the 縁語 of this poem.
- Be ready to answer the question: Why is this a Book V poem, not a Book IV poem?
27 かきやりし、その黒髪の筋ごとにうち伏すほどは面影ぞ立つ。
かきやり | し | その | くろかみ | の | すじごと | に | うちふす | ほど | は | おもかげ | ぞ | たつ
Collection: SKKS 1389 • 恋 (Book V)
Author: 藤原定家 (ふじわらのていか) Teika's introduction is at Poem 04. That is the only other poem of his that we read.
Notes
This poem is written from the perspective of the woman.
This poem has a 本歌 from the 『後拾遺集』by Izumi Shikibu: 黒髪の乱れも知らずうち伏せばまづかきやりし人ぞ恋しき (恋三)
Special requests for preparing this poem
- Be ready to answer the question: Why is this a Book V poem?
- Be able to draw a connection to the 本歌 for this poem.
- Be able to speculate on the relationship between this poem and the title of Yosano Akiko's famous poetry collection 『みだれ髪』(1901).
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.