Naotanomu kitanonoyukino asaborake atonakikotoni uzumorurumiwa

English Translation

Still I put my trust—
in the snow of Kitano
at break of morning,
for I lie buried under
a thing that leaves no trace

Meaning

Still I put my trust there: in the Kitano snow at daybreak, where I lie buried under a thing without trace or ground.

Commentary

Book Nine: Kitano no Yuki

In the fourth month of Bunei 3 there was a visit for the dedication at the Rengeoin. The senior retired emperor wore a red outer robe and the new retired emperor a blue one, and the lay junior empress rode in the retired empress's carriage. Ten nobles attended, headed by the empress's steward Moritsugu, with twelve courtiers; the guardsmen wore wisteria and yellow rose, and even the grooms and stablemen were splendid past anything, a spectacle beyond ordinary sights. The imperial visit came about noon that day, with every office and official present. The officiant was the bishop Shoki, and the gifts to the various parties were piled as high as the priests themselves. The votive text was fair-copied by Tsunetomo of the third rank on purple paper, and for the tablet the one Norinaga had written at the founding in the Chokan era, which had escaped the fire, was used again. When people's minds had settled a little, word came that something troublesome had arisen in the east, and on the eighth of the seventh month the shogun came up to the capital, quite suddenly. It had always been said that his first journey up would be arranged with unequalled splendour, but he came unexpectedly and in very poor state, and was lodged in the cypress-bark house that had been built on the north side of Rokuhara at the time of his going down. At this period those who governed in the east were Tokimune, Governor of Sagami, and Masamura of the Left Capital Office; Tokimune was Tokiyori's heir and Masamura the fourth son of that Yoshitoki. At the southern Rokuhara in the capital were Tokishige of Mutsu and Tokisuke of the Ceremonial Ministry. In place of the prince of Central Affairs, his own son, aged three and borne by the daughter of the Konoe house, received the shogunal edict on the twenty-seventh of the seventh month and was given the fourth rank. The Middle Counselor Tsunetada was sent down east as messenger, and matters were smoothed over; about the tenth month the prince moved to the Tsuchimikado Madenokoji residence, formerly Shomeimon'in's, after which the retired emperor and his mother the junior empress came and met him for the first time. Suitable people came to serve him and his life became ordinary enough, but after going down in Kencho 4 at the age of eleven he had spent fifteen years in a household of great bustle and reverence, and in contrast to that, the narrator supposes, there must have been times when he felt lonely and forlorn. That this prince was a saint of poetry was on everyone's lips, and lines of his such as the one on the withered moor were praised by all. For that very reason, warriors who had thought of stirring up the world attended him night and day, being fond of the poems he composed so well, until men of the same mind gathered around him and it was put about that the prince too was inclined that way. In the second month of the following year the Nirvana rite was performed at the Jokongoin of the Kameyama villa on the fifteenth, followed by five days of eight-lecture services for which only the most learned were chosen. The senior lord held eight lectures at Nishi Hachijo for the late Higashiyama lord; the regent of Nijo performed a consecration at the Komyobuji; and at the Takatsukasa house the thirteenth-year rites for the late lady were held with great ceremony. Ankamon'in too held services. About that time the commander of the house became Inner Minister, and when the banquet season ended the great feast was held, with the new Major Counselor Tameuji as guest of honour. Higashi Nijoin also made a pilgrimage to Kumano. From the twenty-third of the fourth month the retired emperor again copied the Lotus Sutra at the Kameyama villa, and the retired empress copied it too. On the twenty-third of the fifth month he copied two further sutras for the tenfold offering, and the three Pure Land sutras as well. The assembly was more magnificent than ever: jewelled banners and lapis canopies flashed light into the sky, and the gold and silver ornaments lit the ground past any brush's power to describe. At the music the new retired emperor and the Middle Counselor Sanekane of Imadegawa played the lute, and the finest performers gave their utmost. One copy was offered to the Kitano shrine, another and the three sutras were taken to Hachiman, and the retired empress's copy was placed at Yokawa. That year the summer rains scarcely broke; the Miyagawa in Ise flooded its banks, and the high priestess travelled by boat. Four years after her going down, following old precedent, she was granted the title of junior empress. About the ninth month of that year the senior retired emperor, the new retired emperor and Omiya-in visited the Hino villa of the Minister of the Left of the Konoe house, where every splendour was exhausted. About the same time Ankamon'in went to see Amanohashidate in Tango and then down to the hot springs at Kinosaki in Tajima; she was fond of children's dances, dancing girls and rustic performances, somewhat surpassing the Ikuhomon'in of old. About that time too, after days of autumn rain, when a break appeared in the clouds and the sky looked desolate, the senior retired emperor, the new retired emperor, Omiya-in and Higashi Nijoin were all together in one apartment. The chancellor Kinsuke and the lay lord Saneuji of Tokiwai were in attendance, and wine was served. Receiving the cup from the senior retired emperor, the chancellor said that he had reached the summit of office and rank; that with the empress as she was, if a prince were born the glory of his house would not decline; that Sanekane was no poor sort of man and gave him no anxiety; but that one grief lay at the bottom of his heart. It was that he felt he must die before the lay chancellor, and he wept as he said it, so that all who heard were moved. About then a great wind blew and countless houses were destroyed; the Meidodono was overturned and the shrine of the guardian deity of the Bureau of Divination fell as well. Divination was performed, and it was reported that a person of consequence stood in no light danger. Sure enough the chancellor Kinsuke of Saionji fell ill about that time, and for all the rites and readings at every hill and temple he died on the twelfth of the tenth month. Those who grieved, beginning with the lay lord, were past counting, and the empress went into mourning. On the night of the funeral someone stole the head from the coffin, which was a strange business. The senior empress rose daily in favour. Princesses and princes had been born to her and had died at once, so that when she showed signs again that year there was great anxiety, and prayers rang out from every hill and temple. The minister made boundless vows, and at the Kamo shrine a petition written by the empress herself was sealed in the sanctuary inside the jewel box he most prized among her furnishings. On the first day of the twelfth month of Bunei 4, amid the shrieking of the spirits that appeared, a splendid jewel of a prince was born, and the minister's heart was at last at ease. Since the senior retired emperor and Omiya-in made much of this new prince above all, Higashi Nijoin brooded over the Saionji connection and heard of it with no good grace. About then the regency passed to the Minister of the Left of the Konoe house, who was twenty-two, the eldest son of the lord of Okanoya. Horses were sent from both retired emperors in congratulation, Omiya-in gave a koto and Higashi Nijoin a flute. He was called the Nishitani lord and also the Jinshin'in regent.
The prince of Central Affairs, that is Prince Munetaka, was Go-Saga's eldest son and had gone down east as shogun in Kencho 4 at the age of eleven. His mother was the daughter of Taira no Munenori, who had served Shijoin as Hyoe no Naishi. His own son, borne by a daughter of the Konoe house, received the shogunal edict at three in his father's place. The senior retired emperor is Go-Saga and the new retired emperor Go-Fukakusa. Omiya-in was the daughter of Saneuji of Saionji and the mother of Go-Fukakusa and Kameyama; Higashi Nijoin was Saneuji's second daughter and had been Go-Fukakusa's empress. The lay lord of Tokiwai is Saneuji, and the chancellor Kinsuke was his son, who dies in this book. The senior empress was the daughter of the Minister of the Right Saneo; the empress was Kinsuke's daughter, later called Imadegawain, and the Middle Counselor Sanekane of Imadegawa was also Kinsuke's son. Those governing in the east were Tokimune of Sagami and Masamura of the Left Capital Office, Tokimune being Tokiyori's heir and Masamura the fourth son of Yoshitoki. The Minister of the Left of Konoe was the eldest son of Lord Kanetsune of Okanoya, later called the Nishitani lord and the Jinshin'in regent.
Prince Munetaka, who had come up suddenly from the east in the seventh month of Bunei 3, was lodged in the cypress-bark house at Rokuhara and about the tenth month moved to the Tsuchimikado Madenokoji residence. In contrast to fifteen years of life in the east, the narrator supposes, there must have been times when he felt lonely and forlorn, and quotes first "Toratonomi motenasareshiwa mukashinite imawanezumino anauyononaka".
This poem he composed on a morning of heavy snow, when he went out to look toward the riding ground of the Right Guards, which lay near the Kitano shrine. He was Go-Saga's eldest son and had gone down east as shogun in Kencho 4 at eleven.
That this prince was a saint of poetry was on everyone's lips, the narrator says, and lines of his such as the one on the withered moor were praised by all. For that very reason, warriors who had thought of stirring up the world attended him night and day, being fond of the poems he composed so well, until men of the same mind gathered about him and it was put about that the prince too was inclined that way.
The title of this book comes from the second line of this poem.

The first line says that he trusts still, without naming what he trusts. The second brings in the Kitano shrine, and from that the object of his trust becomes clear: the god enshrined there is a man who was exiled on a false charge, so that a place name alone lays his own position, suspected of what he had not done, over the poem. The third line is the hour of first light, when the whiteness of snow is at its sharpest. In the lower lines the phrase for leaving no trace means both that the fallen snow shows no footprints and that the accusation has no ground whatever. The verb at the close means both to be buried in snow and to sink out of the world's knowledge, and the poem breaks off on its particle. The scene of the upper lines settles directly onto the speaker's condition: from the single matter of snow he draws whiteness, tracelessness and burial and applies all three to himself, so that a plea of innocence is made without a single word of protest. The title of the book comes from that second line, continuing the pattern of the second, third and seventh books, where a phrase from a poem gives the book its name.

Author

Prince Munetaka

Source

Masukagami

Other