and yellow leaves when autumn came,
shikitae no sode tazusawari
and holding her hand beneath quilted sleeves
kagami nasu miredo mo akazu
he never tired to see her, radiant like a mirror,68
mochizuki no iya mezurashimi
and sometimes with her lord, who thought
omohoshishi kimi to tokidoki
she was fairer than the full moon,
idemashite asobitamaishi
she would go out on pleasure visits
mike mukau Kinoe no miya oto
to Kinoe palace, where feasts were held,69
tokomiya to sadametamaite
but now she makes that her eternal palace
ajisawau mekoto mo taenu
and her words and eyes are no more.
shikare kamo aya ni kanashimi
And that is why, in his terrible sadness,
nuedori no katakoizuma
like the tiger thrush longing for its mate,
asadori no kayowasu kimi ga
her lord goes to visit her with the morning birds,
natsukusa no omoishinaete
wilting in sorrow like the summer grass,
yūtsuzu no kayuki kakuyuki
going back and forth like the evening star,
ōbune no tayutau mireba
and as we see him reel like a great ship,
nagusamoru kokoro mo arazu
we have no way to give him solace
soko yue ni semu sube shire ya
and do not know what we can do
oto nomi mo na nomi taezu
but let the sound of her name extend
ametsuchi no iya tōnagaku
as far and as long as heaven and earth
shinoi ikamu mina ni kakaseru
and let us mourn by that which shares her name,
Asukagawa yorozu yo made ni
the Asuka River, and for a myriad ages
hashikiyashi waga ōkimi no
may we remember our great and beloved lady
katami ni koko o
here by her memento.
tanka nishū
Two Short Poems
Asukagawa shigarami watashi
If we had placed branches to stop its flow,
sekamaseba nagaruru mizu mo
across the Asuka River,
nodo ni ka aramashi
the running waters would have become still.
Asukagawa asu dani mimu to
River of Tomorrow, and though tomorrow
omoe ya mo
we will not see her
waga ōkimi no mina wasuresenu
we will not forget our great lady’s name. [Introductions and translations by Torquil Duthie]
THIRD PERIOD
The third period, beginning with the capital’s move to Nara in 710 and ending with Yamanoue no Okura’s death in 733, is when the majority of the poems of the Man’yōshū were composed. It includes the reigns of Genmei (707–715), Genshō (715–723), and Shōmu (724–749). With the establishment of a Chinese-style legal (ritsuryō) state, poetic circles appeared in the provinces, formed by middle-rank courtiers who were sent out from the capital as provincial governors. The most notable example of this was the poetic circle at Dazaifu (in Kyushu) headed by Ōtomo no Tabito and Yamanoue no Okura. Volume 5 of the Man’yōshū is devoted entirely to the poetry of Dazaifu and is thought to have been compiled by Okura and Tabito.
YAMABE NO AKAHITO
Yamabe no Akahito was active between 724 and 736, but his exact dates are unknown. Like Hitomaro, there are no references to him except in the prose headnotes to his poems, and for this reason he is thought to have been of low rank. The date of his earliest poem in the Man’yōshū, on Mount Fuji (translated here), is usually estimated to have been between 720 and 724, and the date of his last poem is 736. Akahito is thought to have been at the forefront of a revival of court poetry during Shōmu’s reign. One of Akahito’s signature characteristics is his description of landscape. For this reason, it is often said that Hitomaro was a poet of sound and Akahito was a poet of images.
On Looking at Mount Fuji
The following poem is the first mention of Mount Fuji in the Man’yōshū. The poem opens by announcing Mount Fuji’s mythical origins in language that is reminiscent of the opening phrases of the Kojiki. Then the mountain’s power is described in both spatial terms and temporal terms. The poem closes with an exhortation to transmit the glory of Mount Fuji to future generations.
3:317–318
A poem by Yamabe no Akahito on looking at Mount Fuji, with one envoy.
ametsuchi no
Since the heavens
wakareshi toki yu
and earth were parted,
kamu sabite
it has stood, godlike,
takaku tōtoki
lofty and noble,
Suruga naru
the high peak of Fuji
Fuji no takane o
in Suruga;
ama no hara
when I look up to see it
furisake mireba
in heaven’s high plain,
wataru hi no
hidden is the light
kage mo kakurai
of the sky-crossing sun,
invisible the glow
hikari mo miezu
of the shining moon;
shirakumo mo
even the white clouds
iyuki habakari
fear to move over it,
tokijiku so
and for all time
yuki wa furikeru
the snows are falling;
kataritsugi
let us tell about it,
iitsugi yukamu
and pass on the word
Fuji no takane wa
of Fuji’s high peak.
hanka
Envoy
Tago no ura yu
Going out on Tago Bay,
uchiidete mireba
when I look
mashiro ni so
it is pure white;
Fuji no takane ni
on the high peak of Fuji
yuki wa furikeru
snow is falling.
[Introduction by Torquil Duthie and translation by Anne Commons]
YAMANOUE NO OKURA
Perhaps because of his low rank, nothing is known about the first half of Yamanoue no Okura’s life (660?–733?). In 701, however, at the age of forty-two, he was selected to go on an embassy to the Tang court in China, where he spent seven years. In 721 he was appointed as one of Emperor Shōmu’s tutors, and in 726 (at the age of sixty-seven), probably as a reward for a lifetime of service to the court, he was appointed governor of Chikuzen, in northern Tsukushi (present-day Kyushu), where he organized a poetic circle with the Dazaifu commander, Ōtomo no Tabito, another major Man’yōshū poet. Volume 5 of the Man’yōshū, which is thought to have been compiled by Okura, is dedicated to the poetry of this circle in Tsukushi. Okura is one of the Man’yōshū’s most idiosyncratic poets. He took almost all the topics of his poems from Chinese texts, and many of his poems include long prefaces in Chinese. His poetry has a strong philosophical content (Buddhist, Confucianist, Daoist), and his choice of themes, such as old age or love for one’s children, was often unusual.
Dialogue with the Impoverished
Okura’s “Dialogue with the Impoverished” is perhaps his best known poem and clearly shows his unique place in the Man’yōshū. The structure of the poem is unconventional, with two chōka in the form of a dialogue, capped by a hanka (envoy).
Although the theme of poverty also is found in Chinese poetry composed in Japan, its use in a Japanese poem was unique to Okura. The poem has long been interpreted as a dialogue between a poor man and an even poorer man. But the first speaker may not be truly poor but merely frustrated in his ambition for higher rank and glory, looking at poverty as an outsider, as someone who feels he has had a taste of suffering. T
he second chōka begins with “Heaven and earth.”
5:892–893
Dialogue with the Impoverished, with a short poem.
kaze majiri
On nights the wind
ame furu yo no
mingles with the falling rain,
ame majiri
nights the rain
yuki furu yo wa
mingles with the falling snow,
sube mo naku
nothing can be done
samuku shiareba
against the bitter cold,
katashio o
and so I nibble
toritsuzu shiroi
a lump of rock salt
kasuyuzake
and sip the lees
uchisusuroite
of saké in hot water,
shiwabukai
clear my throat,
hana bishi bishi ni
sniff, sniff back my running nose,
shika to aranu
and stroke my whiskers,
hige kakinadete
barely even a beard,
are o okite
as I say with pride,
hito wa araji to
“Aside from me alone,
hokoroedo
no man is worthy,” and yet
samuku shiareba
against the bitter cold
asabusama
I pull my hempen
hikikagafuri
quilt tight around me
nuno kataginu
and pile on
ari no kotogoto
every single cloth vest
kisoedomo
that I own, but still
samuki yo sura o
the night is cold as ever.
ware yori mo
And what of those
mazushiki hito no
less fortunate than I?
chichi haha wa
Your father and mother
uekoyuramu
must be starving in the cold.
mekodomo wa
Your wife and children
kou kou naku ramu
must be crying out “food, food.”
kono toki wa
At times like these,
ika ni shitsutsu ka
how do you ever manage
na ga yo wa wataru
to make your way through life?
ametsuchi wa
Heaven and earth
hiroshi to iedo
are said to be so vast,
a ga tame wa
but for me
saku ya narinuru
have they constricted so?
hitsuki wa
The sun and moon
akashi to iedo
are said to be so bright,
a ga tame wa
but for me
teri ya tamawanu
do they fail to shine?
hito mina ka
Are all men thus,
a nōmi ya shikaru
or is it only so for me?
wakuraba ni
Lucky to be born
hito to wa aru o
in the world of men, and yet …
hitonami ni
I work and toil
are mo tsukuru o
as all men do, and yet …
wata mo naki
my cloth vest,
nuno kataginu no
without even any padding,
miru no goto
dangles off my body
wawake sagareru
like tattered strands of seaweed,
kakafu nōmi
scraps of cloth
kata ni uchikake
wrapped around my shoulders.
fuseio no
In my crumbling
mageio no uchi ni
broken down little hut,
hita tsuchi ni
I spread out straw
wara toki shikite
for bedding on the bare earth.
chichi haha wa
Father and mother
makura no kata ni
are there beside my pillow,
mekodomo wa
wife and children
ato no kata ni
are there at my feet,
kakumi ite
all huddled together
re e samayoi
whimpering with grief.
kamado ni wa
In the stove,
hoke fukitatezu
there is no sign of flame.
koshiki ni wa
In the pot,
kumo no su kakite
a spider has spun its web.
iikashiku
We have forgotten even
koto mo wasurete
what it is to cook rice,
nuedori no
and our helpless cries
nodoyoi oru ni
are weak as the voice of thrushes.
itonokite
Then, worse yet,
mijikaki mono o
“trimming the ends of a thing
hashi kiru to
already too short,”
ieru ga gotoku
as the saying goes,
shimoto toru
there comes the voice
sato osa ga koe wa
of the headman with his whip,
neyado made
reaching into my bedroom
kitachi yobainu
to call me out to him.
kaku bakari
Is this all?
subenaki mono ka
Is this helplessness all there is
yo no naka no michi
of our path through this life?
hanka
Envoy
yo no naka o
We may believe
ushi to yasashi to
that grief and shame are all
omoedomo
there is of the world,
tobitachikanetsu
but because we are not birds
tori ni shi araneba
we cannot simply fly away.
Presented with deep humility by Yamanoue no Okura.
On Thinking of Children
“On Thinking of Children” is the second of three poems presented together by Okura in the Kama district of Chikuzen in 728. Okura begins the preface with two passages from Buddhist scripture. The first passage emphasizes the unconditional love of Shakyamuni for all living creatures by comparing it with his love for Rahula, the son born to him before he renounced all worldly attachments. Okura, however, interprets this as an expression of Shakyamuni’s personal love for his child. In the second quotation, “love” refers to desire as a worldly attachment. If there is no greater love than that for one’s child, then that love is the greatest obstacle to achieving enlightenment.
5:802–803
On Thinking of Children (with preface).
Shakyamuni, the Thus-Come Buddha, with his golden mouth preached, “I care for all living creatures as for my son Rahula.” He also preached, “Of love, none surpasses that for one’s child.” If even the wisest of holy sages had a heart filled with love for his child, who among us mere mortal beings70 could not help but love his child?
uri hameba
Eating melons,
kodomo omōyu
I remember my children.
kuri hameba
Eating chestnuts,
mashite shinowayu
I miss them all the more.
izuku yori
From what source
kitarishi mono zo
do these visions come to me?
manakai ni
Before my eyes
motona kakarite
they uselessly taunt me,
yasui shi isanu
not letting me sleep in peace.
hanka
Envoy
shirogane mo
Not silver,
kugane mo tama mo
or gold, or precious jewels,
nani semu ni
could ever match
&nb
sp; masareru takara
the far greater treasure
ko ni shikame ya mo
that is one’s own child.
Poem on Departing a Banquet
3:337
Poem by Yamanoue no Okura on Departing a Banquet.
Okurara wa
And now Okura
ima wa makaramu
really must be departing.
ko nakuramu