I noted in Posts 1, 2 and 3 that there are several aspects of composition used in Fujiwara's tanka collection. One of them was to praise the most prosperous period of the Imperial Family both in name and reality. I explained this by introducing tanka that illustrate it.
But during this period of tanka composition the Emperor gradually lost authority and was replaced by the head noble of the Fujiwara family who yielded political power on behalf of the samurai class.
Ironically, both people in the Imperial family and the court nobles had large incomes and enough free time to compose tanka.
This time, I would like to introduce poems by poets from these periods that were composed under the standard concept of composing aesthetic tanka expressing their pleasure and grave attitude despite the emperor having lost all power.
These tanka were all selected from among eight anthologies, that is, 1st Kokin, 2nd Gosen, 3rd Shui, 4th Goshui, 5th Kinyo, 6th Shika, 7th Senzai and 8th Shin-Kokin.This time, I chose 5 tanka from among the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th anthologies.
As a note, I provide an outline of these anthologies below: The 4th of the eight anthologies (1086), Goshui, was compiled by Michitoshi Fujiwara (1047-1099) and ordered by Emperor Shirakawa(the 72nd , term 1073-87). The 5th of the eight anthologies (1126), Kinyo, was compiled by Toshiyori Minamoto (1055-1129) and ordered by Emperor Shirakawa(the 72nd , term 1073-87).
The 6th of the eight anthologies (1151), Shika, was compiled by Akisuke Fujiwara（1090～1155）and ordered by Emperor Sutoku (the 75th , term 1123-42). The 7th of the eight anthologies (1188), Senzai, was compiled by Shunzei Fujiwara (1114-1204) and ordered by Emperor Go-Shirakawa (the 77th , term 1155-58).
The two poems by Masafusa Oe 073(1041-1111) and by Nagayasu Tachibana 069 (988-1050) appeared in the anthology, Goshui (1086), a poem by Tsunenobu Minamoto 071(1016-1097) appeared in the anthology Kinyo (1126), a poem by Ise no Taifu 061 (989-1060), appeared in the anthology, Shika (1151), and last, a poem by Sadayori Fujiwara 064(995-1045), appeared in the anthology, Senzai (1188).
First I would like to introduce two poems by Masafusa Oe (1041-1111) and by Nagayasu Tachibana (988-1050), who was called Monk Noin, both of which appeared in the anthology, Goshui (1086)
(1041-1111)
Ta ka sa go no
wo no he no sa ku ra
sa ki ni ke ri
to ya ma no ka su mi
ta ta zu mo a ra na mu
As cherry blossoms
begin to come to full bloom
upon the peaks of
high mountains in the distance,
I hope the mists never rise.
Reference:
(6) Tanka in June （2000）平成12年
http://homepage3.nifty.com/PLABOT/plimer_course18.html
In this tanka, the author tries to express how beautiful the cherry blossoms are in full bloom on the peaks of high mountains in the distance and because of this, he asked the mists that normally obscure them rise never to do so, as if they were human beings. This technique of tanka composition is called "Gijin-ho" or 'personification,' which I have mentioned before.
Furthermore, he uses another technique of tanka composition called “Kugire” composing tanka by dividing the poem between lines. This technique comes in two variants. In this case, he uses a way called ‘Sanku-gire’ to divide between the ‘third and fourth line,’ which was often used in tanka among such anthologies as were published after Kokin-shu. It makes tanka nimble, flowing and elegant. Furthermore, it gives tanka a seven-five rhythm when it is recited.
When I read the explanation written before this tanka, he seems to have composed this on the theme of, “the cherry blossoms which are in full bloom in the distance” and he seems to have composed it when he was invited to a poetry party held in the residence of Moromichi Fujiwara (please refer to the Fujiwara family tree printed below.) who was the 15th descendant of Kamatari Fujiwara, the founder of this family and one of the great-grandchildren of Michinaga Fujiwara.
Nagayasu Tachibana
(988-1050)
A ra shi fu ku
mi mu ro no ya ma no
mo mi ji ba wa
Ta tsu ta no ka wa no
ni shi ki na ri ke ri
Most crimson leaves of
Mt. Mimuro are scattered
by the hard tempest
so the Tatsuta River
has become covered with them.
In this tanka, the author tries to express the beauty of the scenery of Mt. Mimuro covered with crimson leaves and the Tatsuta River whose surface is overlaid with a carpet like the colorful splendor of the autumn leaves, without using adjectives such as beautiful or pretty. Furthermore, he uses a technique of tanka composition called "Honkadori" to compose tanka using some phrases from refined tanka composed by old poets. That is to say, he composed this using some phrases from the following refined anonymous tanka from the anthology, Kokin.
on the Tatsuta River
many crimson leaves,
a shower must have just dyed
Mt. Mimuro all over.
Next , I would like to introduce a poem by Tsunenobu Minamoto, (1016-1097), which appeared in the anthology, Kinyo (1126).
Tsunenobu Minamoto
(1016-1097)
Yu fu sa re ba
ka do ta no i na ba
o to zu re te
a shi no ma ro ya ni
a ki ka ze zo fu ku
The autumn breeze seems
to have just begun blowing
early this evening:
I hear the rice stalks rustling
from the paddy fields
when I stay in my cottage
whose roof is thatched with reed trunks.
In this tanka, the author tries to express how the breeze, which flutters from the paddy fields near his cottage which thatched with reed trunks, on an autumn evening after long summer days during which it was hot every day, relaxing him without any technique of tanka composition.
The author is said to have composed this tanka when he walked into the paddy fields at Sakyo-ku in Kyoto city on the evening of an autumn day, which reminds everybody of typical autumn landscapes.
Next, I would like to introduce a poem by Ise no Taifu, which appeared in the anthology Shika (1151).
Ise no Taifu
（989-1060）
I ni shi e no
Na ra no mi ya ko no
ya he za ku ra
kyo ko ko no he ni
ni ho hi nu ru ka na
How pretty they are!:
the double cherry blossoms
which come from Nara,
the capital, are now in
full bloom at the new palace.
Reference:
(9) Tanka in September （2000）平成12年
http://homepage3.nifty.com/PLABOT/plimer_course21.html
(11) Tanka in November （2000）平成12年
http://homepage3.nifty.com/PLABOT/plimer_course23.html
In this tanka the author tries to express how pretty the double cherry blossoms, which were delivered from Nara capital, are in full bloom at the new palace. Although this tanka is so simple for the author to express how pretty the cherry blossoms are, she uses several techniques of tanka composition, which I will discuss later. As mentioned above, there are many tanka in which authors used several techniques of composition in this collection, “100 tanka by 100 poets.” So, I would like to introduce them later as well.
As to this tanka, in those days it was customary in the Imperial Palace for a poetess to be in charge of delivering the cherry blossoms from Nara capital to the new palace in Kyoto. The author had an opportunity to be in charge of it instead of a famous author of the novel, “Genji Monogatari, [Murasaki-Shikibu] although she was a newcomer among the court ladies. Most of them paid attention to her; that is they wondered what tanka she had composed. When they found her tanka above, all of them are said to have been amazed it.
Now, I would like to discuss how excellent her tanka is as a tanka with techniques of tanka composition. First of all, in this tanka the words with number are arranged in 7, 8 and 9 order: “nara,” “yae” and “kokonoe.” A word, “na” means 7, a word, “ya” means 8 and a word, “koko” means 9 in Japanese version. A technique of tanka composition with numbers had been used in the period named mist of time in Japan, which I noted in the preface of my lecture, “Classical Tanka Composition.” These poems become a dialogue between Yamatotake no Mikoto and Hitaki no Okina that they composed at Sakaori no Miya (northern area in Japan):
nights have you spent since you left
the new palace, Tsukuba?
by Yamatotake no Mikoto
I have spent nine nights
and also ten days in all
before we got here today.
by Hitaki no Okina
Composing tanka is called "Shikishima no Michi" or 'Way of life' in Japan, while composing haiku is called "Tsukuba no Michi". Haiku dates from this dialog, which the authors composed about Tsukuba. I would like readers to pay attention to how Hitaki no Okina replies not only promptly but also includes the total number (19) of syllables (5/7/7) which are used in this haiku (kata uta). This gives us good evidence of the excellent skills of olden poets.
Next, I would like to explain a technique of tanka composition called “Tuiku” or ‘antithesis’ to give your readers a comfortable rhythm and sense of music about after they read your tanka, as is often used in the Western poetic world. First, the words “no” and “he” are used repeatedly. First, a word with “no” is repeated four times: “inishihe-no”, “nara-no”, “miyako-no” and “koko-no-he.” While the other word “he” is repeated three times: “inishi-he”, “ya-he” and “kokono-he.”
The last one is a technique of tanka composition named “Kake-Kotoba” to remind your readers of something that you want to make them think about after they read your tanka. “Kake-Kotoba” stands for a word which holds two different meanings at once though it sounds the same when we read it. There are four kinds of “Kake-Kotoba.” This time one of them, which holds two different noun meanings is used in this tanka. That is to say, the Japanese phrase, “Kokonohe” means both ‘this or now’ and ‘Palace.’
As I discussed above, this is an excellent tanka using several techniques of tanka composition.
In those days many excellent poetesses had appeared including poetess, Ise no Taifu. They are said to have devised and used original Kana characters instead of Chinese ideographs, which were used by males in those days. Because of this development we can assume that Japan had broken off diplomatic relations with China.
At last, I would like to introduce a poem by Sadayori Fujiwara (995-1045) which appeared in the anthology, Senzai (1188).
Sadayori Fujiwara
(995-1045)
A sa bo ra ke
u ji no ka wa gi ri
ta e da e ni
a ra wa re wa ta ru
se ze no a ji ro gi
As the deep mist, which
covers the Uji River,
begins to dissolve,
and wickerwork nets come out
here and there around the dawn.
In this tanka, the author tries to express how refreshed he felt watching wickerwork nets come out here and there on the Uji River after the deep mist began to dissolve around the dawn. As I mentioned before, when one composes tanka on the theme, "Ume", only warblers have been connected with them, although many birds actually visit them. While the wickerwork nets in the Uji River had been used as a tanka theme since the Manyo period when Hitomaro Kakinomoto 660?-720?）did.
You can find this in the literary works such as a novel, “Genji Monogatari” (1001) by Murasaki-Shikibu (978?-1031？, in a diary, “Kagero” by the mother of Michitsuna Fujiwara (937?-995) and a diary, “Sarashina” by a a daughter of Takasue Sugawara (1008-1059?). Furthermore, this river is famous for a residence of Kaneie Fujiwara who was 11th descendant of the founder of te Fujiwara Family, Kamatari Fujiwara (Please refer to the Fujiwara family tree printed below) and a shrine named “Ujino Byodoin.”
I have discussed tanka by poets after the period when Emperors lost authority in the Imperial Palace but they are all poets who expressed the impressions they had in the beauties of every season in their tanka under the standard concept of composing aesthetic tanka.
Michitaka Mutsuo
兼家─┬道隆─┬伊周───………………──睦夫
Kaneie Korechika
│ └隆家Takaie
├道兼Michikane──→
├道綱Michitsuna──→
│ 12 13 14 15 16 17
Michinaga Morozane Tadazane
├道長┬頼道─師実─師道┬忠実┬忠通76
Yorimichi Moromichi Tadamichi76
│ ├家政Iemasa
│ └家隆Ietaka98
│ 13 14 15 16 17
Nagaie Toshitada Teika97
├長家─忠家─俊忠─俊成83┬定家97
Tadaie Shunzei83└寂蓮87
Jyakuren87
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