Chigiriokishi yamanokonohano shitamomiji someshikoromoni akikazezofuku

English Translation

The promise once made
by the leaves upon the mountain,
the low red leaves—
over the robe they dyed
the autumn wind is blowing

Meaning

The low leaves of the mountain kept the colour they had promised, and now the autumn wind blows across the robe they dyed.

Commentary

Book One: Odoro no Shita

Go-Toba, the eighty-second sovereign, was the fourth son of Takakura. After the Taira fled west with the child emperor Antoku, the Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa summoned his grandsons to look at them; the third prince wept and would not go near him, but the fourth prince climbed at once onto his knee and seemed fond of him, so the Cloistered Emperor exclaimed that here was a true grandson, and in the eighth month of Juei 2 set him on the throne at the age of four. The sacred sword had gone down into the sea with the former emperor, so that for the first time an accession took place without the three regalia. After the Cloistered Emperor's death Go-Toba ruled in his own right; the realm was at peace and the way of poetry flourished. In Kenkyu 9, at nineteen, he abdicated to Tsuchimikado and began his cloistered rule, building a villa at Minase where he spent himself on the pleasures of the seasons. He held the poetry contest in fifteen hundred rounds, established the Bureau of Poetry, had the Shinkokinshu compiled, and held its celebratory banquet in Genkyu 2. In Jogen 4 he set Tsuchimikado aside and raised Juntoku to the throne, and Juntoku too gave himself to poetry. At Minase the retired emperor played go and small archery, explained the old precedent of the stakes, and had a guardsman prepare the dish described by Murasaki Shikibu—in everything he showed the range of his gifts. At the selected poetry contest of Kempo 2, Fujiwara no Hideyoshi of the Northern Guard was called on for nine poems; the Yoshimizu bishop Jien offered the retired emperor a long poem, and Teika wrote a long poem in reply on the spot. The new retired emperor Tsuchimikado composed a hundred poems privately, showed them to Ietaka and Teika, and exchanged poems with Teika.
Go-Toba's personal name was Takahira; he was the fourth son of Takakura, and his mother was Shichijoin, daughter of Nobutaka, Master of the Office of Palace Repairs. Tsuchimikado's personal name was Tamehito, and his mother was Shomeimon'in, daughter of the priest Noen and adopted daughter of the Inner Minister Michichika. Juntoku's personal name was Morinari, and his mother was Shumeimon'in. The regent Kujo Yoshitsune was called a saint of poetry, and the compilers of the Shinkokinshu were Michitomo, Ariie, Teika, Ietaka and Masatsune. The Middle Counselor Kanemitsu, Fujiwara no Kanemitsu, and the Middle Counselor Sukezane, Fujiwara no Sukezane, were each called on for screen poems at an accession thanksgiving. Kunaikyo was descended from Emperor Murakami through the Minister of the Left Toshifusa, and was the daughter of a man who died holding only the fourth rank. Fujiwara no Hideyoshi served in the retired emperor's Northern Guard, and the Yoshimizu bishop Jien was a poet-monk who long held the office of Tendai abbot.
The selected poetry contest was held at the Minase villa and judged by general discussion on the spot. Around the ninth month of Kempo 2 only the finest pieces were drawn out.
Among the Northern Guard was one Fujiwara no Hideyoshi, a devotee long recognised in the art. That such a man should be included was ordinary enough, but where even the poems of the highest nobles ran to no more than one, two or three, Hideyoshi was called on for nine, and moreover served on the retired emperor's own side. This poem stood on the right of the seventh round, against "Akashigata urajihareyuku asanagini kirinikogiiru amanotsuribune".
The narrator reports having heard that this was for him an honour to last a lifetime, beyond anything else. The passage then recalls how Mitsune was summoned to the foot of the stair, and how the Biwa minister visited Tsurayuki's house, and remarks that in recent times Saigyo was such a poet, and that Hideyoshi in the present age may nearly surpass the old masters.

The first line speaks of a promise made beforehand, opening with the conceit that the colour had been pledged in advance. The second line leads to the third, where the leaves on the lower branches have turned first. So far the poem accounts for the colour; the fourth line shifts to the robe dyed with it. That leaves should dye a robe rests on the old figure of autumn leaves as a dyestuff. The emphatic particle at the close binds colour to wind, sight to touch, as the autumn air moves over the dyed cloth. Where the retired emperor's poem gives a morning seascape at Akashi, this gives the colour of an autumn mountain, so that sea against mountain and morning against autumn wind make the pairing of the round; and leaves, red foliage, dyeing and autumn wind are all linked through autumn.

Author

Fujiwara no Hideyoshi

Source

Masukagami

Other