Sonokamini tanomeshikotono kawaraneba nabetemukashino yoniyakaeran

English Translation

Since what I promised
in those days long ago
has not been changed,
is everything now returning
to the world of former times?

Meaning

Since what I promised long ago has not changed, is everything returning to the world of former times?

Commentary

Book Fifteen: Urachidori

While he reigned, the retired emperor had scarcely any consorts of the proper kind, but after his abdication he indulged himself freely, so that by this time a number of rival ladies had gathered about him. Even so, none stood beside Yugimon'in in his affection. He also treated the daughter of the prince of Central Affairs with unusual regard; she was not the highest in his favour, but he cherished her more gravely than her elder sister had been cherished by the late retired emperor, and she later received a title and was called Eikamon'in. A daughter of the Ichijo regent had also entered service at sixteen as a senior lady while the reigning emperor was living in the house of the minister of Horikawa. At first she had been on close terms with the Major Counselor Mototoshi, but after he went down east she entered the retired emperor's service, rose remarkably in favour, and was made Principal Handmaid, which recalled old times and was delightful. On the morning of her promotion the retired emperor sent her a poem, and the Principal Handmaid replied. Dew and frost gathered, and before long it was Toji 2. Yugimon'in fell vaguely ill, and the retired emperor's alarm was without limit. Prayers, rites and purifications of every kind were performed in vain; it was a bitter and sudden thing. For that reason he took the tonsure and became wholly a holy man. What he felt at that time may be imagined. In the spring of the next year, returning from a visit to Hachiman, he stayed twenty-one days at Toji for the preparatory practice of the consecration; with the bishop Zenjo of Ninnaji as his teacher, thinking perhaps of the days of Kampyo, he studied the esoteric doctrine. In the sixth month he copied the Lotus Sutra according to the strict rule at the Kameyama villa. After taking the tonsure he was hardly waited on by women; men took turns to bring his trays and serve him in everything, and he kept a perpetual fast. The late retired empress had been a rare spiritual friend to him. At the Imabayashi residence in Saga he performed services daily without fail; Imabayashi had been the residence of the junior empress of Kitayama. He had Sanskrit letters embroidered with Yugimon'in's hair, and on the back of that work copied the Lotus Sutra with three obeisances to every character, and had it dedicated at the Sesshuin, with the bishop Kakushu of Daikakuji officiating. Her remains too were placed in a Lotus Hall built at Imabayashi, and on the twenty-fourth of every month he never failed to go there. The depth of his devotion was remarkable. From the beginning of the eighth month the emperor was unwell. Rites of every kind were performed—the five altars, Yakushi, Aizen, secret rituals of all sorts, offerings and horses at every shrine—but he grew steadily worse, and on the twenty-third his state changed; the commotion in the world was past describing. Horses and carriages crossed each other and people crowded in until there was no room, but it availed nothing, and about midnight on the twenty-fifth he died. The palace was like a fire put out, and the darkened aspect of it may be imagined without telling. The empress was a daughter of the chancellor Kinnori of Tokudaiji. Such a thing had rarely befallen that house, and since she had stood high in favour, her grief was past words. She withdrew on the twenty-eighth. The funeral was arranged for the late emperor, and he received the title Go-Nijo In. The commander of the Right, Tomomori of Horikawa, drew up the carriage; what he felt may be guessed. That he had become commander through this emperor's connection with Seikamon'in made it the sadder, and people remarked with surprise that he did not put on mourning. The Principal Handmaid also took the tonsure, and the empress received a title and was called Chorakumon'in. The crown prince went to the Ogimachi residence, the regalia were transferred, and he acceded on the twenty-fifth of the eighth month at the age of twelve. At the Jimyoin nothing but splendid news was heard, while at the Daikakuji, with Yugimon'in's death on top of this, tears can never have dried. The matter of the prince of the Dazaifu office was sent east and met with no objection, so that on the nineteenth of the ninth month the ceremony of his investiture was held and he became crown prince, which consoled somewhat those who had felt the world was ending. Because the tenth month of that year was a long month, following what is called the precedent of Hogen, the proclamation was made on the first of the eleventh month, so that with the new reign even the calendar was altered. The accession was on the sixteenth of the eleventh month, with Fuyuhira of Go-Shonenin as regent, who offered his congratulations that day and then attended the procession. The purification was on the twenty-first of the tenth month of Enkyo 2 and the thanksgiving on the twenty-fourth. On the third of the first month of Ocho 1 the emperor came of age at fifteen, with the personal name Tomihito; the regent placed the cap and Iehira dressed the hair. After the ceremony in the southern hall he changed his robes and came out again, and music began in the Seiryoden: the regent on the koto, the commander of the Right Kinaki on the lute, the Major Counselor Fuyutoki of Tsuchimikado on the mouth organ, the Middle Counselor Fuyuuji of Oimikado on the wagon, and the Middle Counselor Kanesue of Saionji on the flute. It was splendid and various, and lasted till dawn; on the fifth there was an after-banquet, quieter and pleasanter still. Since this emperor had been made the son of the new retired emperor, the filial visits were made before him, and Kogimon'in too had the feeling of being mother of the realm, so that all was splendid. The retired emperor's fame in the way of poetry was so great that much had been expected of him, but because of the trouble over the compilers in the Shoo era no anthology had appeared, which he found bitterly disappointing, and he composed a poem about it. Resolving that it should be done at last, he charged the Major Counselor Tamekane, who gathered poems from the Manyoshu onward. It was presented on the twenty-eighth of the third month of Showa 1 and is called the Gyokuyoshu. This Tamekane was the son of Tamenori, the younger brother of the Major Counselor Tameuji. He stood highest in the retired emperor's favour, and so was appointed compiler; many were jealous, but to no purpose. The style of poetry this retired emperor preferred differed from what the former Major Counselor Tameyo thought right. His hand too was admirable, and people of the time said he surpassed even Kozei of old, writing both gracefully and strongly. Showa 2 came, and he resolved to fulfil his long-held intention that year. Toward the end of the ninth month, while he was in retreat at Kamo in secret, there were some charming happenings. The ladies near him were all in tears, and as the sky at the month's end looked full of feeling, he composed a poem, and then another. The others too, as a shower swept over them, found their sleeves harder to bear than the parting of the last day of autumn itself. Tameko of the third rank composed a poem, and one more is preserved without a name. On the fifteenth of the tenth month there was a visit to the Fushimi residence. Thinking it his last journey, everything was prepared past describing; he rode in a hooded carriage, with nobles and courtiers past counting in attendance. Having handed over the government of the realm to the new retired emperor, he lived quietly and mostly at the Fushimi residence, until a vague illness dragged on and he died on the third of the ninth month of Bumpo 1. He is called Fushimi In. The grief of his mother Genkimon'in and of Eifukumon'in may be imagined. Since the emperor's mourning was of the lighter form, the realm did not change colour. He had many daughters, but only Shogimon'in and Enmeimon'in received titles. The removal about this time to the palace built by the east on the site of the old residence at Nijo Tominokoji was a very fine thing. As for recent events, the narrator says, everyone has seen them, so she leaves them out.
The retired emperor means, at the beginning of this book, Go-Uda, who takes the tonsure after Yugimon'in's death and becomes wholly a holy man. From the middle of the book it means Fushimi, famous in the way of poetry, who had the Gyokuyoshu compiled by the Major Counselor Tamekane, fulfilled his religious intention in Showa 2, and died on the third of the ninth month of Bumpo 1. Yugimon'in was Go-Fukakusa's daughter and had gone to Go-Uda. The daughter of the prince of Central Affairs was later called Eikamon'in. The Principal Handmaid was a daughter of the Ichijo regent; she first entered service while the reigning emperor was living in the house of the minister of Horikawa, was on close terms with the Major Counselor Mototoshi, and entered the retired emperor's service after he went down east. The emperor is Go-Nijo, who dies in this book on the twenty-fifth of the eighth month of Toji 2. The empress was a daughter of the chancellor Kinnori of Tokudaiji and was later called Chorakumon'in; the commander of the Right Tomomori of Horikawa was also connected with the emperor. The crown prince is Emperor Hanazono, who acceded at twelve on the twenty-fifth of the eighth month with the personal name Tomihito. The new retired emperor is Go-Fushimi, and Kogimon'in was his consort. The prince of the Dazaifu office was the Daikakuji lord's son and became crown prince on the nineteenth of the ninth month of that year. The Major Counselor Tamekane was the son of Tamenori, younger brother of the Major Counselor Tameuji, and compiled the Gyokuyoshu; Tameko of the third rank was his sister. The former Major Counselor Tameyo held to a different style. Genkimon'in was Fushimi's mother, Eifukumon'in the daughter of Sanekane of Saionji and Fushimi's empress, and Shogimon'in and Enmeimon'in were his daughters.
A daughter of the Ichijo regent had entered service at sixteen as a senior lady while the reigning emperor was living in the house of the minister of Horikawa. At first she was on close terms with the Major Counselor Mototoshi, but after he went down east she entered the retired emperor's service, rose remarkably in favour, and was made Principal Handmaid.
The Principal Handmaid was the head of the Handmaids' Office and the highest of the women officials; the post had anciently carried a standing close to that of an imperial consort, which is why the narrator finds the appointment a delightful echo of old times. This was on the morning of her promotion.
On the morning of her promotion the retired emperor sent her this poem. At the beginning of this book the retired emperor means Go-Uda, who takes the tonsure after Yugimon'in's death.
The Principal Handmaid replied with "Chigirikoshi kokoronosuewa shiranedomo konohitokotoya kawarazaruramu".
The narrative then moves to Toji 2, when Yugimon'in fell ill and died and the retired emperor took the tonsure on that account.

The first phrase means in those days, referring to the time when a promise passed between them. The verb in the second line means to make another rely on one, that is, a promise given so that she might count on it. The conditional in the third gives the reason: since it has not changed. To this point the poem lays its ground, and the lower lines draw the consequence. The adverb in the fourth means wholly or without exception, widening from one kept promise to everything returning to the past. At the close the interrogative particle is answered by the conjectural auxiliary. Since the narrator has remarked that the office of Principal Handmaid recalls old times and is delightful, the poem recasts her promotion as a sign that the former age has come back. A private cause for congratulation, one woman's advancement, is raised into the return of a whole era, in the familiar pattern of blessing that lays public over private. The phrase for those days in the first line is the same word Fushimi used with the comb in the fourteenth book, in "Otomegoga sasuyaogushino sonokamio tomoninarenishi tokizowasurenu"; but there it works as wordplay on hair, while here it carries only the sense of the past.

Author

Go-Uda In

Source

Masukagami

Other