Ōgimishi tsukimokakururu akinareba kotowarishireto kumorusorakana

English Translation

The moon we looked up to
has gone into hiding now,
and this being autumn,
the sky clouds over as if
to say: know the reason why

Meaning

The moon we looked up to has hidden itself this autumn, and the sky clouds over as if to bid us know the reason.

Commentary

Book Seventeen: Haru no Wakare

From the end of the fourth month the cloistered emperor grew gravely ill, and the alarm of the whole realm may be imagined. The emperor grieved deeply and had rite upon rite begun, but nothing availed and he worsened daily, so that messengers went day and night to ask after him. Young nobles rode the post horses across the far reaches of Sagano at midnight and at dawn in informal dress. When word came that there was no hope at all, the emperor went to the Daikakuji, and, recalling the past, they spoke together of many things. The cloistered emperor was much attached to the second-rank cloistered prince Shoen, the emperor's full brother, and assigned estates and pastures to this Daikakuji, intending that he should be its master in religion. Afterwards his grandson the crown prince came. He gave him more detailed instruction on how to bear himself when he should govern the realm. The prince had meant to serve him with all his heart in the late emperor's place, and wept bitterly at the disappointment. The cloistered emperor found it painful that relations between the prince and the emperor, outwardly good, were not sincere; but as he could not say so, he spoke only in general terms of how things should be in the world, and of the many men who had some grievance now and whom he pitied, saying that when the prince had the realm at his disposal he should be sure to remember them. Not knowing that the prince had stayed the night, he woke a little after midnight and asked when the crown prince had gone home; and when the prince cleared his throat and came near, he said, so you are still here, with a look of such tenderness that it was moving. Thinking over the whole scene and the hush over the residence, the prince found so much to grieve for that he wept. In this forlorn and bitter state, on the twenty-fifth of the sixth month of Shochu 1, the cloistered emperor died at fifty-eight. He is called Go-Uda In. The emperor again put on mourning and served his father's memory devotedly, which was much to his credit. His daughter, who had been senior empress and was now called Dachimon'in, had depended on him alone and grieved without limit. The former Principal Handmaid, who had lately received the title Manshumon'in, had also lived only in the late emperor's shadow, and was left without support. The forty-ninth day fell past the tenth of the eighth month, when the world itself is full of feeling, and the hearts of the retired empresses and princes were less clear than the morning mist. On the night of the full moon, when even the moon was overcast, Manshumon'in, thinking that the Consultant's daughter, the assistant handmaid who had served in the late emperor's reign and was an old friend of those days, must feel as she did, sent her a poem, and received a reply. Eikamon'in, Seikamon'in and many others also grieved. The crown prince, thinking of him with longing, performed the memorial services devotedly. The year turned. Since about the year before last another anthology had been ordered; the Major Counselor Tameyo, this being his second, passed it to the Middle Counselor Tamefuji, but before long Tamefuji fell ill and died, which was very sad. The death of Tamemichi long ago was a grief that years had not ended, and with this heaped upon it the Major Counselor's feelings were past telling. In the course of the messages the crown prince sent to ask after him, a poem was sent, and the Major Counselor Tameyo replied. Everyone who counted as a poet grieved. It was hard, they said, that he could not at least have finished the selection, and the family's grief was pitiable. The late Middle Counselor had adopted Tamesada, second son of the late Middle Captain Tamemichi, and entrusted everything to him, so that he was to take over the selection. But the Major Counselor doted on his youngest son, Tamefuyu, and seemed inclined to advance him in the confusion, so that Tamesada resented it, dressed as a mountain ascetic and disappeared on pilgrimage. People were sorry and troubled over it, but he was found and things settled quietly as before. About the ninth month of that year, at first light, there was a great commotion. Warriors of Mino—Toki no Juro and Tajimi no Kurodo among them—had come up secretly and lodged near Fourth Avenue; someone informed on them, Rokuhara descended on the place and seized them, and, thinking themselves exposed, they cut their bellies. The Chief Officer Suketomo and the Chamberlain-Recorder Toshimoto were likewise taken by the warriors and closely questioned. It was said that the emperor had summoned those warriors meaning to overturn the world. Wishing above all to have the matter quietly stopped, the emperor sent an oath by letter, as had been done in the Shoo era, with the Middle Counselor Nobufusa as messenger. Having served since the old reigns and being advanced in years, and regarded at that time as an upright and substantial man, he stated plainly that the emperor knew nothing of it; the rough easterners were softened and reported that the matter should be let go. Perhaps as a reward, Nobufusa was made Major Counselor. Since, even granting the emperor's ignorance, those men could not escape, the Chief Officer was banished to Sado. Toshimoto somehow got free and returned to the capital, but did not appear at court as before and shut himself away. The months passed and it became Karyaku 1. From the beginning of the third month the crown prince was unwell and grew worse daily. Rites of every kind were begun and envoys sent even to Ise, but to no avail, and on the twentieth of the third month he died. The household felt like a fire put out. His nurse, the lady of the wing, who had attended him day and night, was beside herself past all comfort. Leaning over his face as the end came, she cried aloud that he could not leave her behind so utterly, and begged him to let her hear his voice once more and take her with him wherever he went; it was very moving. The lamentation through the household was past describing. Eikamon'in had no children, and the late cloistered emperor had long entrusted this prince to her, so that he was still in the same residence. His consort too, a daughter of the late cloistered emperor whom the retired empress had brought up at her side, had been married to him and they had lived devoted to one another; she was utterly sunk in grief. As things could not remain so, he was carried, in the manner of an ordinary progress, to the Kitashirakawa residence where the late emperor had lived. There was talk of a title, but since he had said in his lifetime that it would be unnecessary, the court let it pass. The Middle Counselor Aritada had gone east as the late crown prince's envoy and had been waiting for things to turn out as he hoped; he was about to come up together with the messenger who would bring news of the accession, when this senseless thing occurred. On the thirtieth of the third month he took the tonsure there, and one may guess what he felt; he composed a poem. In the capital the former Major Counselor Tsunetsugu, Takahisa of the third rank of Shijo, the Lesser Captain Atsusue of Yamanoi, the Lesser Captain Nagatoshi of Itsutsuji, the Lesser Captain Kimikaze and the Assistant Commander Toshiaki all took the tonsure, and among the women the consort, the lady of the wing, the lady Sochi, Hyoe no Kami and Naishi no Kimi—more than thirty men and women in all—changed their habit. There were three young princes and princesses too. Though not the consort's own children, she looked on them all as keepsakes of the past. Toward the end of the fourth month she gazed enviously at the summer trees in their easy growth, and at dawn, when the cuckoo passed calling, she wondered how it could know, and her tears came, and she composed a poem. The Commander of the Guards Tamesada, taking over from the late Middle Counselor, had completed the selection: about the twelfth month of Shochu 2 the four seasons were presented, and the rest had now come into the world, which was delightful. The emperor was greatly pleased with it, and it is called the Shokugoshuishu. The Steward of the Empress's Household, Morokata, was charged to convey the emperor's high opinion of the collection in various ways, and Tamesada answered with a poem, to which the emperor replied. This steward had long been on good terms with him and often sent him messages; pleased that he was so praised in the world, he wrote to the Commander of the Guards, and received an answer. A sister of this Tamesada served the empress as a secretary, and being favoured by the emperor as usual bore a prince; his nurse was appointed by the Major Counselor Morokata and he was brought up with great care. The emperor had many other children. The eldest, borne by the daughter of the Fujiwara Major Counselor, was living in the house of the Major Counselor Sadafusa of Yoshida; the second, a brilliant child, was in the charge of the Major Counselor Chikafusa of the Minamoto. The emperor wished one of them to be made crown prince, but since the matter had long been settled in advance, an envoy came from the east and named the senior retired emperor's eldest son. The emperor took it hard, but there was nothing to be done, and on the twenty-fourth of the seventh month the investiture was held. In the eighth month Yotokumon'in made her first progress to the Tsuchimikado Higashinotoin residence. Since the late crown prince's household was at Takatsukasa, close by, the hearts of the cloistered prince and the retired empress, hearing the noise of the world, were sad afresh. In Karyaku 2 the eldest prince came of age and was called Prince Takayoshi, Minister of Central Affairs; he appeared unusually at the banquet of the sixteenth of the first month. The second prince, borne by a daughter of the Consultant and Middle Captain Sanetoshi of Saionji, was called Prince Yoyoshi of the Dazaifu office; Shokeimon'in brought him up with particular care, and his guardian was the Major Counselor Chikafusa. The prince of the Ministry of Ceremonial of Tokiwai, being Kameyama's son, was on close terms with the reigning emperor and often kept watch with these princes. In the second month Eikamon'in held the first-anniversary services for the late prince, which was full of sorrow. The senior lord of Takatsukasa also died; he had been a man of weight and standing in that age, and it was a great loss. His wife was a sister of the Inner Minister Michishige, and she too took the tonsure. Many good people had died of late, the narrator says, and it was much to be regretted.
The cloistered emperor is Go-Uda, who dies in this book on the twenty-fifth of the sixth month of Shochu 1 at fifty-eight. The emperor is Go-Daigo, his son. The crown prince is Go-Nijo's eldest son, the cloistered emperor's grandson, who dies on the twentieth of the third month of Karyaku 1. Dachimon'in was the cloistered emperor's daughter and had been senior empress; Manshumon'in was the former Principal Handmaid, lately given a title; and the assistant handmaid was a daughter of the Consultant Masaari who had served in the late emperor's reign. The cloistered prince Shoen was the emperor's full brother. Eikamon'in was the daughter of the prince of Central Affairs; having no children, she had been entrusted with the crown prince by the late cloistered emperor. The consort was a daughter of the late cloistered emperor, married to the crown prince. The Major Counselor Tameyo was of the house of poetry; his son the Middle Counselor Tamefuji dies in this book, and Tamesada, son of the late Tamemichi, takes over and compiles the Shokugoshuishu. The Lesser Captain Tamefuyu was Tameyo's youngest son. The Steward of the Empress's Household, Morokata, was on good terms with Tamesada. The Middle Counselor Aritada had gone east as the late crown prince's envoy. The senior retired emperor is Go-Fushimi, whose eldest son becomes crown prince in this book. Prince Takayoshi of Central Affairs and Prince Yoyoshi of the Dazaifu office were the emperor's sons.
Go-Uda died on the twenty-fifth of the sixth month of Shochu 1 at fifty-eight, and the forty-ninth day fell past the tenth of the eighth month. The world itself was full of feeling, and the hearts of the retired empresses and princes were less clear than the morning mist.
It was the night of the full moon, and even the moon was overcast. Manshumon'in was the former Principal Handmaid, lately given a title; the assistant handmaid was a daughter of the Consultant Masaari and had served in the late emperor's reign.
Thinking that the assistant handmaid, who had served in the late emperor's reign and was an old friend of those days, must feel as she did, Manshumon'in sent her this poem.
The assistant handmaid found it deeply moving and replied with "Hikarinaki yowakotowarino akinotsuki namidasoeteya naokumoruramu".
Eikamon'in, Seikamon'in and many others also grieved, and the crown prince performed the memorial services devotedly.

The first line means looked up at, the act of raising the eyes; since to look up at the moon is also to look up to a sovereign, that one phrase joins the moon and the late emperor. The added particle in the second implies not only the moon in the sky. The verb means for the moon to hide behind cloud, but since the death of an exalted person is spoken of with the same word, it states the cloistered emperor's death directly. The conditional in the third line gives the reason: this being such an autumn. In the lower lines the noun means the natural order of things, so that once the moon has hidden it is only right for the sky to cloud; the imperative that follows makes the sky itself seem to have a will, clouding in order to teach that reason. The final particle is exclamatory. The fact that the famous full moon of the eighth month was overcast is recast as the sky's answer to the death, and the coincidence of the memorial season with the most celebrated moon night of the year is made the ground of the poem. Since the reply takes back the same word for the natural order, the two poems are joined on that pivot.

Author

Manshumon'in

Source

Masukagami

Other