(694)
Princess Kamo
Princess Kamo was the granddaughter of Emperor Temmu. She sent this poem to a member of the Ōtomo family.
26
In the moonlit night
I met you, to my joy.
But never will I breathe
Anything of our tryst,
Nor even that I knotu you by sight.
(565)
Prince Kashiwade
Prince Kashiwade was vice-governor general of the Dazaifu (government and defense headquarters of Kyushu).
27
I am envious
Of the wild geese, which forage for food
On the beach at morn
And in the evening wing their way
Toward Yamato, my home.
(954)
Prince Nagata
28
Sadness comes over me,
Freezing my heart and soul,
When chilly rain,
Gathering in heavy clouds,
Streams down from a sullen sky.
(82)
Prince Shiki
Prince Shiki was the seventh son of Emperor Tenji and a distinguished poet. He composed the following poem after Emperor Temmu s Kiyomigahara Palace at Asuka was supplanted by Empress Jitō's Fujiwara Palace.
29
Winds once fluttered
The elegant sleeves
Of the ladies fair.
Now the Asuka Court is gone,
Sigh and mourn the winds through the ruins.
(51)
30
Above the rocky wall
Down which water softly flows,
Clumps of bracken
Fan out in tender green.
Spring has arrived.
(1418)
Princess Tajima
Princess Tajima was a granddaughter of Emperor Temmu. She fell in love with Prince Hozumi, her cousin, the grandson of Emperor Temmu, and their meeting was the subject of gossip.
31
Tortured by sharp tongues,
At the early break of day,
My dear love to meet,
I wade to the far shore of the river,
Which i've never dared to cross.
(116)
Princess Takada
Princess Takada was a great-granddaughter of Emperor Temmu. The following poem was written to Prince Imaki.
32
If you let me know
That you mean to marry me,
l will meet you,
However sharp
People's tongues may be.
(539)
Princess Yamaguchi
The following two poems are among the five poems that Princess Yamaguchi wrote to Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi.
33
As the flood tide comes,
Flowing up the reedy shore,
So my yearning for you,
Surging within me,
Ever overflows my heart.
(617)
34
As drops of dew,
Sparkling on the autumn grass,
Scatter like pearls
With a gentle breath of air,
So my tears never cease to fall.
(1617)
Prince Yuge
Prince Yuge was the sixth son of Emperor Temmu.
35
Moored at a wharf,
Ships roll at the mercy of waves;
So my heart is never at rest,
Pining, wasting for my Love,
Who is now another's bride.
(122)
Prince Yuhara and a Maiden
Prince Yuhara was the son of Prince Shiki and a grandson of Emperor Tenji. This and the following four poems were an exchange with a maiden.
36
The lady of my heart
Is the Laurel in the moon.
She is in my sight,
But is beyond my reach.
Whatever should I do?
(632)
Maiden
37
How I envy your good wife!
You see her always at home,
Yet you never tire of her sight.
Even when you travel,
She is in your company.
(634)
Prince Yuhara
38
I present you
This robe as a keepsake.
Wear it close to you
When you sleep at night,
And you'll be in my embrace.
(636)
Maiden
39
Silent as it is,
I shall look upon your robe
As your very self.
I will wear it close to me,
And I'll ever be with you.
(637)
Prince Yuhara
A poem describing the sentiment of a woman waiting for her lover's coming.
40
In the glorious light
Flowing from the lunar orb,
Let my lover come,
For he dwells not far,
Just beyond yonder hill.
(670)
Footnotes
This poem is traditionally ascribed to Empress Iwa-no-Hime and is said to express her ardent love for her consort, Emperor Nintoku. However, critics say that it was composed by a later poet.
Emperor Nintoku reigned during the second half of the fourth century. During his reign, the influence of the Yamato state, extending over most parts of Japan, reached the zenith of its power. Emperor Nintoku's enormous burial mound, which was built as a symbol of national unity and power, covers an area of eighty acres and is said to be the largest tumulus in the world.
This poem is traditionally ascribed to PrincessYata and expresses her ardent love for Emperor Nintoku, her half brother by a different mother. Later she became Empress Nintoku after the death of his consort, Iwa-no-Hime. Critics also say that this poem is the work of a later poet.
In ancient days marriage between half brother and sister was permitted if their mothers were different.
The "watchman" alludes to Emperor Tenji.
In the Japanese of No. 6, the beauty of the princess is compared to a gromwell plant (murasaki-gusa), from which a violet dye is obtained. In the translation, it is replaced by the more familiar rose.
Some say that Nos. 5 and 6 were introduced as an entertainment at a dinner party given after the hunting was over. Others say that they were privately exchanged between Prince Ōama and Princess Nukata.
In 663 an expedition was sent to Korea to aid the Kingdom of Paekche. It mustered its forces at Nigitatsu, on Shikoku island facing the Seto Inland Sea. At the headquarters were Empress Saimei, Crown Prince Naka-no-Ōe, the de facto supreme commander, and his consort, Princess Nukata, together with Prince Ōama and his consort, Princess Ota. Princess Nukata is presumed to have been performing the duty of expressing the sovereigns command and intentions in poetry. The expedition sustained a total defeat by the combined fleets of Tang and Silla.
In ancient times it was believed that a god could enter into a woman but not into a man, and a woman was regarded as a mysterious being capable of deriving divine inspiration and of supplicating divine protection. In the event of war, a woman of high birth accompanied a warship.
This poem has been regarded as difficult to appreciate. The merits of spring and autumn were frequently compared at poetry contests.
This poem contains a play on words with reference to sanekazura (here translated as "sleeping vine"), which is a climbing plant of the genus Magnolia.
Some days after exchanging the above poems, the pair had a tryst.
Being "hidden behind the clouds" was a euphemism for death in the Man'yō days.
His tragic death, the pathos of his elegy, and the dirges his sister composed (Nos. 18 to 20) left deep impressions on the minds of his contemporaries and later generations.
The Japanese word translated here as "laurel" is katsura (Judas tree). The Japanese phrase meaning "katsura tree in the moon" originates from
a Chinese proverb and is used in allusion to something precious that is visible but unobtainable.
A faithful translation of the fifth line reads: "Though it does not speak to me."
Ten Poets
Ten poets are selected here as being of major importance. It is their poetry that immortalizes the Man'yōshū. These ten poets are divided into two groups; the five poets of the first group are the best known and most important.
Five Preeminent Poets
Kakinomoto-no-Hitomaro
Yamabe-no-Akahito
Ōtomo-no-Tabito
Yamanoue-no-Okura
Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi
Five Major Poets
Takechi-no-Kurohito
Takahashi Mushimaro
Lady Ōtomo-no-Sakanoue
Maiden Sano-no-Chigami
Lady Kasa
Five Preeminent Poets
Kakinomoto-no-Hitomaro
Kakinomoto-no-Hitomaro was a court poet during Empress Jitō's reign (686-702). His superb poetry may be divided into two types: ceremonial and lyric. His ceremonial poetry is unsurpassed. He must have enjoyed immense popularity in the imperial salon. When the empress or members of the imperial family made trips for pleasure, hunting, and the like, he was in their retinue and composed peerless eulogies, extolling the glory of the imperial reign. When a member of the imperial family passed away, he composed elegies in incomparable rhetoric. These poems comprise his ceremonial poetry.
But it is in his lyric poetry, in both quality and quantity, that he stands out as the prince of poets, not only during the Man'yō days but throughout the entire history of Japanese literature. His lyricism is so beautiful, so deep in feeling, and so felicitously expressive of the genuine love and subtle feelings of men and women that he has been venerated as a "Saint of Poetry" (kasei). The best of his lyric poems are presented in this collection.
The Man'yōshū contains a total of eighty-four poems of his genuine composition, sixty-six of which are short and eighteen are long poems. The Man'yōshū also includes 365 anonymous poems taken from the Hitomaro Collection. It is thought that some of the poems in the Hitomaro Collection are his, and the remaining are those that he selected from contemporary poems and folk songs, some of which he is supposed to have touched or improved.
Hitomaro was one of many toneri, a lower official who attended a sovereign or a member of the imperial family, handling miscellaneous jobs. Hitomaro first entered the service of Crown Prince Kusakabe. In 689, when the crown prince died, he was transferred to the service of First Minister Prince Takechi, who was a highly popular man of distinguished ability, but in 696 Takechi died suddenly, and Hitomaro took office at Empress Jitō's court.
In ancient days all higher offices were monopolized by members of the imperial family and the higher nobility. The way was open for the sons of officials and people of position to enter government service by means of an examination system, but it was practically impossible for those who did not come of a noble family to rise to a higher office. Officials of the sixth and lower court ranks were classed as "lower officials."
Poems written by the members of the imperial family and higher officials were accepted for the Man'yōshū, and these were accompanied by biographical sketches and brief notes. Poetry by officials of lower rank and by commoners is included in the Man'yōshū, but not accompanied by biographical sketches or notes. Hitomaro's poems in the Man'yōshū have no accompanying biographical sketch or notes, and he is thus presumed to have been a lower-ranking official. Accordingly, his life and activities have to be surmised from his poetry.
After First Minister Prince Takechi died unexpectedly, the late Crown Prince Kusakabe s young son was enthroned as Emperor Mommu in 697 under the regency of Empress Jito, his grandmother.
Emperor Temmu's absolute sovereignty had been secure. Empress Jito was a woman of talent and dignity, but many princes and powerful lords were disgruntled with her arbitrary rule. As a boy, Hitomaro witnessed the tragic Jinshin War of 672, and he must have known that her reign was not altogether stable or secure. In his ceremonial poetry, he is said to incorporate his generation's adulatory ideal of imperial rule. After Empress Jito died in 702, real political power passed to the hands of Fujiwara Fuhito, young Emperor Mommu s father-in-law. (Fuhito's daughter was Emperor Mommu's consort.) Hitomaro must have been disappointed. He no longer composed poetry glorifying the imperial reign or eulogizing the newly risen Fujiwara family. He was transferred to the government office of remote Iwami Province (present-day Shimane prefecture). There he married his beloved second wife, Yusami, also a poet, an educated woman and daughter of a country squire. In 707, when he was ordered to return to the capital, he had to leave her behind. The long elegiac poem below (No. 42) with two short epilogues, which describes his parting sentiment, is considered one of his masterpieces. After his service in Iwami Province, nothing is known about his life. He is supposed to have died sometime before 710, when the capital was transferred to Nara.
Hitomaro composed the following poem while on an overnight hunt in the retinue of Prince Karu (later Emperor Mommu).
41
Over the eastern fields
Pours the mellow golden light
Of the rising sun.
In the western sky, the moon
Declines behind the hills.
(48)
42
'Tis often said,
That the Tsuno Coast
Of the Sea of Iwami
Has no sandy shore
Nor a good Lagoon.
Even though there is no good bay
Nor Lagoon,
Whales abound off the coast.
And green sleek seaweed
Grows abundant in the sea.
Wings of winds at dawn
Wings of foamy waves at eve
Bring green smooth seaweed
To the pebbly strand.
The poet, leaving his wife behind, starts for the capital.
Sorely was I grieved
When l had to Leave my wife,
Who oft twined round me
Smooth and tender as seaweed,
Which with wind and wave,
Drifts upon the seo.
The poet now climbs a mountain on his way to the capital.
As I Look back
Toward my darling's home,
At each turn of the road Over this mountain,
Lower and Lower falls the town,
Higher and higher the mountains rise.
O you Mountain which I climb,
Become flat!
Let me once glimpse
My lovely wife,
Downcast
As the wilting summer grass,
Pining after me.
(131)
This long poem is followed by the following two.
43
Through the trees,
Can my darling wife at home
See me wave my arms,
Bidding her my last farewell,
From the top of Mt. Takatsuno.
(132)
44
At the top of the hill
Overgrown with bamboo grass
Rustling in the wind,
How I yearn for my dear wife
Left alone at home.
(133)
The following two poems are the envoys of a long poem that is not included here.
45
Rapidly
My gray horse has carried me
To the mountaintop,
To the height of floating clouds
Far past my sweet one's abode.
(136)
46
O you tinted leaves!
Cease your swirling about.
Through the vista of trees,
Written on Water Page 3