And nearly fallen in.
On the ground is spread mere straw,
Whereon we all sleep.
My old parents crouch near my head.
My poor wife and children
Huddle near my feet.
We but groan,
And the children cry piteously.
In the sunken hearth
There is no spark of fire.
The cooking pot
Has so Long been out of use
That it is draped with spiders' webs.
We never dream of cooking rice.
* * * * * * *
Their voices
Were feeble, Like night birds,
When to crown their ills,
Came as far as their bedside
Came the Loud shouts
Of the village headman, whip in hand,
Dunning for their tax.
Is this a way of life?
Wretched beyond help?
(892)
137
Too hard is my Life,
Far beyond all help and succor.
How I wish to escape
From this world of misery!
But the sight of my children halts me.
(903)
This elegy with two envoys has no author's name, but from its content and style, it is believed to be Okura's work. It is not known whether he lost his own child or not, but many commentators say that he did. This elegy and its envoys are rated among his best works.
138
What do l care for
Gold, or silver?
We were blessed with a child
Worth more than his weight in gold.
Before down,
When the morning star rose,
Our child, Furuhi,
Would not Leave our bedside,
Frolicking with us,
Boisterous or quiet.
While at dusk,
When the evening star appeared,
Saying, "Now let's go to sleep,"
He would Lead us to our beds.
"Father, Mother, don't leave me,
I will sleep between you."
Lovely beyond words,
He was our immense delight,
Though we could never know
What would occur.
Suddenly,
Came an evil blight.
He was struck with plague,
Growing worse every day.
Mirror in hand,
Fervently we prayed to the gods,
Lifting our faces
To the gods of the heavens;
Prostrating ourselves
To the gods of the earth.
"Cure him,
If that is your will," we prayed.
But never did he mend,
For even a moment.
Each day
Weaker and feebler he became,
Fewer and fainter his words,
Till at Last he breathed his last.
In dismay and grief,
Down we Lay on the floor in tears.
We had Lost our pearl,
Our darling child.
In despair we beat our breasts.
Thus is the way of the world.
(904)
Envoy
139
My dying child
Is too young to know the way.
I will reward you,
O you who show the way to the world below.
Please bear him on your back.
(905 & 906)
140
One who is born a man,
Lives to no purpose
If he makes no name
Worth being handed down
For a myriad of years.
(978)
Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi (718-785)
Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi, a preeminent poet and the most important compiler of the Man'yōshū, was born the eldest son of Ōtomo-no-Tabito. During his boyhood, when he was in Kyushu with his father, he was under the edifying influence of his fathers poetry circle. At the age of thirteen, he lost his father. Thereafter, he was under the tutelage of his aunt Sakanoue-no-Iratsume, who was a distinguished poet. When he was twenty years old, he entered court service. The next year he lost his first wife. Being a refined noble of a celebrated family, he was a favorite with young ladies in the capital, and he exchanged love poems with more than a dozen ladies, many of which he included in the Man'yōshū. Later after exchanging love poems with his cousin, Saka-noue-no-Ōiratsume, he married her. She was a daughter of his aunt Sakanoue-no-Iratsume and was also a talented poet.
In 746, when he was twenty-eight years old, he was appointed vice-minister in the Department of the Imperial Household and he was able to participate in the compilation of a large collection of poetry, which the Imperial Bureau of Poetry had just commenced. In the same year he was appointed governor of the large province of Etchū (present-day Toyama prefecture). Being away from the arena of political strife for the five years of his governorship, he composed many of his finest poems. In 751 he was recalled to the capital as vice-minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs.
141
Transient is Life.
But we have Lived free of care,
My wife and I,
As though we might Live
A thousand years.
(470)
142
A brilliant flower,
So radiant that even
The mountains shone,
Faded all too soon—
Our glorious crown prince.
(477)
143
Could I be cured of
The agony of love,
Fain would I be turned
into a tree or a stone
With no feeling, dead to my heart.
(722)
144
None can be born
Into this world again.
How can I forego
The pleasure of your company
And sleep alone?
(733)
145
Meeting in a dream
Is a painful disappointment.
Waking in delight,
I reached for you
With both hands, but in vain.
(741)
146
I can see the image of my love,
Tearful, wistful, forlorn,
Loath to part
When l left her house
At the break of day.
(754)
147
While it was still dark,
Oft l took leave of my love.
Never did I Leave her home
But I felt my heart in flame,
Pierced to the core.
(755)
148
I say I am going
To see your hedge,
Now in lovely bloom.
But what I desire
is to look at you.
(778)
149
I never see a crescent moon
In the evening sky
But I recall
The Lovely brows
Of a beauty I once glimpsed.
(994)
150
Going to the sea,
l shall be a watery corpse.
Going to the meadows,
I shall be a grass-grown corpse.
As Long as I die
By the side of the sovereign
What do I care?
(excerpt of a long poem; 4094)
151
Amid the vernal fields,
Where the blossoming peach trees
Spread ruby tints,
Stands a winsome lady
In the fragrant floral shade.
(4139)
152
Many maidens fair
Draw fresh water with roped pails
At the temple well,
Where abundant lilies white
Are in fragrant bloom.
(4143)
The following three poems are thought to be the best
works of Yakamochi.
153
This fair spring day
The hills are veiled in gauzy haze,
Blithe with warblers' songs
In the mellow evening light,
While I am veiled in sorrow.
(4290)
154
As the autumn breeze
Softly blows past my abode,
Faintly from the yard comes
The rustling of bamboo leaves,
With the deepening of dusk.
(4291)
155
This balmy spring day-
Fields bathe in mellow Light,
With ascending Larks
Pouring forth a flood of bright song,
While thought weighs down my soul.
(4292)
Five Major Poets
Takechi-no-Kurohito
Takechi-no-Kurohito was a leading court poet and a contemporary of Kakinomoto-no-Hitomaro. He was a tireless traveler and excelled in the graphic portrayal of the landscapes of the places that he visited.
156
Where'er shall I lodge
Should nightfall envelop me
in the desolate fields
Of Takashima
Out of sight and sound of man?
(275)
157
Coming to the fork in the road,
Being of one mind,
My dear love and I
Found it hard to part,
Each going one way.
(276)
Takahashi Mushimaro
Takahashi Mushimaro was an outstanding romantic poet contemporary with Ōtomo-no-Tabito. Many of his poems are based on legendary stories. His poetry excels in the graphic description of nature and is rich in imagination. While he was an official in East Japan, he visited Mt. Tsukuba and wrote a long, important poem, which is introduced here.
158
At the waters of Mohakitsu
On Mt. Tsukuba, where eagles dwell,
Men and women gather.
Joining hands, they dance away,
Singing Lustily.
I will Lie with others' wives,
And Let men here
Come and woo my wife at will.
'Tis our festival,
Which of old the guardian god
Of the mountain
Has never banned.
Today let's be free
And celebrate.
(1759)
159
Envoy
Even if clouds rise
Around the Lofty peak,
And if showers drench us,
How can we Leave,
Giving up this festival?
(1760)
Lady Ōtomo-no-Sakanoue
Ōtomo-no-Sakanoue, the half sister of Ōtomo-no-Tabito by a different mother, was an accomplished lyricist who combined talent and beauty. Her poetry is noted for a refined delicacy, as distinguished from the poetry of the early period of the Man'yōshū, which is marked by simplicity and vigor.
Her mother was Lady Ishikawa, a talented poet whose reply poem to the poem (No. 15) by Prince Ōtsu, Emperor Temmu's son, is included (No. 16) in this book. When young, Sakanoue was the greatly cherished favorite of Prince Hozumi, Emperor Tenji's son. After the prince died, she was loved by Fujiwara Maro, the son of Fujiwara Fuhito, who was the most powerful statesman in those days. Later she married her half brother by a different mother, Ōtomo-no-Sukunamaro, and bore him Lady Ōtomo-no-Ōiratsume, who married Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi. After Ōtomo-no-Tabito died, she became the guardian of the Ōtomo clan and a good tutor to her nephew, Ōtomo-no-Yaka-mochi. She was amorous in nature and enjoyed love for love's sake.
160
As ripples ever gleam
On the Saho River
Where the plovers cry,
So my longing for you,
Knows no rest.
(526)
161
Now that I hove placed
My jewel, my daughter dear,
In her husband's hands,
I will rest my head on the pillow,
Whereupon her head once rested.
(652)
162
Aware
That it is no use
Pining away,
Yet and yet, I find myself
Lost in my love of you.
(658)
163
After years
Of our ardent love,
We meet today.
Speak endearing words to me
That our love may be unending.
(661)
164
Now I think I'll die.
No more do I care to live.
For so long as I Live,
'Tis beyond hope
That I'll win my dear one's heart.
(684)
165
Do not give me
Such sweet smiles.
As drifting white clouds
Hide the mountains,
So let our Love be hidden.
(688)
166
O agony is Love.
Walking along the shore,
Should I find shells of forgetfulness,
I would gather them
To soothe my pain.
(964)
A poem composed at a social event given by the Ōtomo clan.
167
Let's be merry over cups
And enjoy our fill tonight.
See the trees and grass,
How they grow and bloom in spring,
And in autumn wither and fade.
(995)
168
Spring has arrived.
Mists blur hills and fields,
The earth has come to life.
The fires of Love
Quicken and trouble my heart.
(1450)
169
Deep in my heart
Love's star Lily blooms,
Blushing unseen,
In summer's verdure.
Painful is Love, unrequited.
(1500)
170
Thinking of me,
Weep alone.
Never appear sad or melancholy,
Heaving heavy sighs,
Lest they see you're sick with love.
(2604)
Maiden Sano-no-Chigami and Nakatomi-no-Yakamori
Maiden Sano-no-Chigami was a low-grade clerk in the office of the Grand Shrine of Ise. No one was permitted to marry a woman serving this shrine. Nakatomi-no-Yakamori, who was a court official, fell in love with her. On the charge of acting against this ordinance, he was banished to Echizen Province, about sixty kilometers north of the capital. While he was in banishment, he was able to exchange love letters and poems with her on four occasions. Their sixty-three poems are preserved in the Man'yōshū. On the whole, the ardent love poems by the lady, who gave her heart to Yakamori, have greater pathos and appeal than the love poems that he sent to her.
Years later Yakamori was pardoned and was able to return home, but none of the poems that they might have written after his return is included in the Man'yōshū.
Written on Water Page 6