Umenohana haruwaharunimo aranuyoo itsutoshiriteka sakiniouran

English Translation

Blossoms of the plum,
in a world where spring itself
is no longer spring,
by what reckoning of the season
have you opened and grown fragrant?

Meaning

Plum blossoms, in a world where spring is no longer spring, how did you know the season, that you open and grow fragrant?

Commentary

Book Ten: Asukagawa

On the twentieth of the first month of Bunei 5 the fiftieth-day rite for the reigning emperor's infant son was held at the Tominokoji residence where the senior retired emperor lived. Since the senior retired emperor would turn fifty the following year, preparations for his jubilee were already the business of the world. The opening ceremony of the music office was held in the palace, and the rehearsal, first set for the twenty-third, was delayed by rain until early the next day. A seat for the senior retired emperor was placed in the stair bay of the main hall, with the new retired emperor's to the west, while to the east sat Omiya-in and Higashi Nijoin, both in white trousers and two robes. The cloistered princes of Shogoin and Emmanin, the prince of Central Affairs of Tsuchimikado, the abbot of Ninnaji and the cloistered prince of Kajii all gathered without exception, and on the veranda the nobles ranged east and west, headed by the regent. When the hour came the dancers entered, and the colours of the hunting robes, outer robes, unlined robes and trousers of each, with their embroidery and applied ornament, are recorded one by one; the Bansuraku, Chikyu, Ryo-o, Rindai, Seigaiha and Taiheiraku were danced. On the seventeenth of the second month there was another dance viewing at the new retired emperor's Tominokoji residence; Omiya-in came quietly first, and the senior retired emperor arrived later in the day. Since it was only a short walk from the Reizei residence, the musicians and dancers walked over in their costumes, and twelve guardsmen, with blossom broken and brocades layered, cleared the way with brilliant cries. Ogimachiin watched from a corner bay of the hall. As the party left, a lute in a red brocade bag was presented. Meanwhile word came of the Mongol forces, and the jubilee was abandoned, to everyone's great disappointment. Court and warriors alike thought of nothing else, though it soon quieted. The reigning emperor's son was proclaimed prince on the twenty-sixth of the sixth month and made crown prince on the twenty-fifth of the eighth. Splendid as this was, the lay lord found it hard to bear, sunk as he was in grief for the minister who had died before him. The empress did not return to court even after her mourning, and the world seemed altogether changed and full of resentment. The senior retired emperor gradually turned his mind to fulfilling his intention. On the thirteenth night of the ninth month of that year he viewed the moon at the Shirakawa residence, with nobles and courtiers gathered as usual, and a poetry contest was held. Ladies of the palace were summoned, and the prizes, made in various elegant forms after the fifty-four chapters of the Genji, were distributed even to the courtiers. Two imperial poems from that occasion are quoted. It was by these poems, people said, that he settled his intention, and all wrung their sleeves and their voices altered. The lay Minister of Popular Affairs Tameie, who judged, is said to have replied that he could only torment himself and had no words to set down. On the fifth of the tenth month there was a progress to the Kameyama villa. Since it was to be his last journey, everything was prepared with special care; the new retired emperor came as usual, and Omiya-in and Higashi Nijoin rode together in one carriage. They first visited the Kitano and Hirano shrines, and the guardsmen broke every branch of blossom and dressed almost past decency, knowing it was the last time. Horses were presented at both shrines. Even the sky turned to showers, and the storm that carried off the leaves seemed to know the season, so that many felt their tears contend. The prince of Central Affairs sent a line about how sleeves must be wet that day, and a reply was made. That very night the senior retired emperor took the tonsure, with the cloistered prince of Shorenin as his preceptor. Rites for his own future salvation began soon after, and he now gave himself wholly to the Law, questioning masters on the meditation treatises, on the depths of the esoteric teaching and on the doctrines of the Pure Land. On the first of the third month of the following year Gekkamon'in died suddenly. About the tenth month of Bunei 7 the cloistered emperor dedicated a copy of the Lotus Sutra written in his own hand, and for the eight lectures the most famous and learned priests were summoned; on the second night there was an imperial visit. In the first month of the next year he and the new retired emperor quietly divided into two sides for a contest, with prizes made after the spirit of the Ise monogatari, and then of the Genji, elegantly and wittily contrived. In the autumn of the year after, Higashi Nijoin gave birth, and every great and secret rite was performed. As her state only weakened, the retired emperor held her hand and wept, and no one there could keep composed. The child born at last was a princess, which was a disappointment, but since the mother had seemed as good as gone they took her safety as cause for joy. The cloistered emperor, if anything, made much of the child out of pity. From about that time the cloistered emperor was often unwell, and great rites were begun. In the first month of the next year, on the seventeenth, he went to the Kameyama villa, and high and low felt that this must be the end. The medicine to be taken on the road, sealed in a silver flask, was found empty when called for near Uchino, which alarmed him further. On the seventh of the second month he moved to the Juryoin, which he had long designated for this purpose. There was an imperial visit on the eleventh, and after a day he said all he had to say, weeping; the new retired emperor also came. From the morning of the seventeenth his condition changed, holy teachers were summoned, and at the hour of the cock that day he died at fifty-three. He is called Go-Saga In; the year was Bunei 9. On the twenty-third, the first seventh day, Omiya-in took the tonsure, and the whole realm went into black. The Provisional Middle Counselor Kinkatsu, elder brother of the senior empress, had been dearly loved by the late retired emperor from an early age and had attended him day and night, so that being left behind on that final road grieved him past bearing in his youth. Breaking a spray from the beautiful red plum before the western wing, the Consultant and Middle Captain Tomouji sent him a message, and he replied. He had said he would come and talk that evening, and the Middle Captain, also a favourite of the late retired emperor and feeling him a friend of the same mind, waited all day; but he never appeared, having taken the tonsure that very night. The Middle Counselor Kinmune too, worn down perhaps by a hopeless attachment, died; and before long the senior empress died as well. Sinking further, the minister grew steadily weaker. Feeling that he would not live to see the crown prince's reign, he composed a poem, and unable to bear his grief he died; grief, indeed, can end a life. Since the new retired emperor survived, the world expected that authority would pass to him in the cloistered emperor's place, but the disposition made was that it should follow the reigning emperor's line. The Chokodo estates, the province of Harima and the Atsuta shrine in Owari were assigned. Before long people's loyalties divided into the retired emperor's party and the emperor's, and awkward incidents arose. That summer the crown prince was unwell for days, and the emperor was alarmed and had rites performed. His eyes and colour looked strangely yellow, so moxa was applied, and he soon recovered. Earthquakes were frequent that year and the world unsettled, so from the fifteenth of the tenth month the cloistered prince of Emmanin attended in the palace and performed the rite of Sonjo-o; but on the evening of the twentieth fire broke out from the second wing. Omiya-in was in the palace and left in haste, and the crown prince was put into her carriage. The chest containing the late retired emperor's testament and the other treasures were got out safely, though in the confusion the box with the divination papers and the birth robes burned. The emperor went by hand-litter to the Oshikoji residence, and, finding the world ever more unsettled, seemed to be turning his mind toward abdication.
The senior retired emperor, later the cloistered emperor, is Go-Saga, who takes the tonsure in this book and dies on the seventeenth of the second month of Bunei 9 at fifty-three. The new retired emperor is Go-Fukakusa and the reigning emperor Kameyama. 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 is Saneuji of Tokiwai, and the minister who had died before him was his son, the chancellor Kinsuke. The senior empress was the daughter of the former Minister of the Left Saneo and the mother of the reigning emperor's son, later crown prince. The Provisional Middle Counselor Kinkatsu and the Middle Counselor Kinmune were both Saneo's sons and her elder brothers. The prince of Central Affairs of Tsuchimikado is Prince Munetaka, Go-Saga's eldest son, who had gone east as shogun and had by now returned to the capital. Gekkamon'in was the retired emperor's daughter. The Consultant and Middle Captain Tomouji served close to the retired emperor, and the lay Minister of Popular Affairs Tameie, of the house of poetry, judged this contest.
On the seventeenth of the second month of Bunei 9 Go-Saga died at fifty-three, and on the twenty-third, the first seventh day, Omiya-in took the tonsure. The whole realm went into black, and those who had served him morning and evening grieved past all measure.
The Provisional Middle Counselor Kinkatsu, elder brother of the senior empress, had been dearly loved by the late retired emperor from an early age and had attended him day and night, so that being left behind on that final road grieved him past bearing in his youth.
Breaking a spray from the beautiful red plum before the western wing, the Consultant and Middle Captain Tomouji sent this poem to the Middle Counselor. Tomouji had served close to the late retired emperor.
Kinkatsu replied with "Kokoroaraba koromoukiyono umenohana oriwasurezuba niowazaramashi". He had said he would come and talk that evening, and the Middle Captain, also a favourite of the late retired emperor and feeling him a friend of the same mind, waited all day hoping to share his grief; but he never appeared, having taken the tonsure that very night.

The first line is the red plum he had broken and sent, set down as a noun of address. The second repeats the same word twice, so that although by the calendar it is spring, in the heart it is not, and both senses are held together. The third line makes that world the object and carries into the lower lines. The interrogative particle in the fourth is answered at the close by the auxiliary of present conjecture: by what reckoning does it open and grow fragrant? To eyes sunk in mourning, flowers that bloom on schedule seem out of place, and the poem states this by questioning the blossom rather than reproaching it, so that it never becomes an accusation. The reply, "Kokoroaraba koromoukiyono umenohana oriwasurezuba niowazaramashi", answers the question directly, and the exchange runs closely joined. It is a scene in which two men bearing the same grief for the late retired emperor reach one another through a flower.

Author

Minamoto no Tomouji

Source

Masukagami

Other