Everywhere alike,
Would that all the mountain peaks
Might become quite flat—
If there were no mountain edge,
The moon would not slip behind.
- Meaning
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I wish that all the mountain peaks everywhere would become flat. If there were no mountain ridge, the moon would not slip behind it.
- Commentary
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82. The Heart in Spring
Long ago there was a prince called Prince Koretaka. Beyond Yamazaki there was a detached palace at a place called Minase, and every year when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom he would visit that palace. At such times he would always bring with him the man who was then the head of the Right Horse Bureau.
They did not devote themselves much to falconry but spent their time drinking wine and delighting in composing poems. At a residence by the Yodo River at Katano they sat beneath a splendid cherry tree, and people of many different ranks among the attendants composed poems.
After leaving those cherry blossoms and returning toward the Minase palace, night fell. One of the attendants had a servant bring wine from Katano. In search of a suitable place to enjoy the wine, they came to a place called Amanogawa, where they drank wine and composed poems in enjoyment before returning to the Minase palace.
Even after returning they continued drinking and talking late into the night, and the prince, now drunk, went into his sleeping chamber. By then the moon had passed midnight and was leaning westward, about to hide behind the mountain ridge.
The poem here was composed by Ki no Aritsune in response to the poem composed by the head of the Right Horse Bureau:
“Not yet satisfied,
Yet already does the moon
Hide itself away—
Would that the mountain’s far edge
Might flee and not let it in.”
Like the poem composed by the head of the Right Horse Bureau, it expresses regret both that the moon is about to hide and that the prince has gone into his sleeping chamber. It may be understood as a poem composed in sympathy with the feelings expressed by the head of the Right Horse Bureau.
The head of the Right Horse Bureau was Ariwara no Narihira, and Ki no Aritsune and Narihira were relatives of Prince Koretaka. Prince Koretaka once had the prospect of becoming crown prince, but when Prince Sadami became crown prince instead, Prince Koretaka eventually entered the religious life. It may be that the excursion to the detached palace described in this episode took place during a period in which Prince Koretaka was quietly preparing his heart before taking vows.
- Source
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Ise Monogatari
- Other
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