おほかりし豊の宮人さしわきて
しるき日蔭をあはれとぞ見し
しるき日蔭をあはれとぞ見し
- Roma-ji
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Ōkarishi toyo no miyabito sashiwakite shiruki hikage o aware to zo mishi
- English Translation
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Among the many
courtiers of the Harvest Feast,
set apart from all,
the sun-shade vine so plain to see—
I gazed on it with deep feeling
- Meaning
- Among all the many courtiers of the Harvest Feast, it was you, unmistakable in your sun-shade vine, whom I watched with especially deep feeling.
- Commentary
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28 The Sun-Shade Vine Poem for Lady Sakyō
In the eleventh month of Kankō 5 (1008), after Empress Shōshi returned to the palace, the Gosechi dances were held at court. From before the Empress one could look straight across to the Gosechi chamber of the Chamberlain-Consultant. The Middle Captain-Consultant remarked that a lady named Sakyō, whom he had known in the past, was serving in that Consort's quarters as an attendant to the dancer, and the Minamoto Junior Captain recognized her too. Thinking that a woman who had once carried herself with such reserve at court would surely wish to hide her appearance in this role, the Empress's ladies decided to tease her by revealing that they knew. From among the fans before the Empress they chose one painted with the Isle of Hōrai, spread it on a box lid, coiled sun-shade vine upon it, added curved combs and white abstinence tokens, and had Lady Taifu write a poem on it.
The Chamberlain-Consultant was Fujiwara no Sanenari, son of the Palace Minister Fujiwara no Kinsue. "That Consort" was Sanenari's elder sister Fujiwara no Yoshiko, the Kokiden Consort of Emperor Ichijō, and Sakyō was a lady in her service.
Having learned that Sakyō, whom they had known at court, was appearing at the Gosechi as a dancer's attendant, the Empress's ladies sent this poem with the sun-shade vine as a teasing jest. The Empress suggested making it more elaborate, with many more fans, but Murasaki replied that anything showy would not suit the occasion, since this was a private jest.
The gifts were carried by a lady from the chambers whose face would not be recognized, who set them down announcing loudly, "A letter from Lady Chūnagon, presented by Her Highness the Consort to Lady Sakyō." Later, the Palace Minister Kinsue, believing the gift had come from the Empress, sent an elaborate return on the day of the special festival, a silver book box with a mirror, combs and more, along with a reply in reed-script. Murasaki felt sorry that a trifling jest had been taken so seriously.
The opening lines speak of the many courtiers of the Harvest Feast, the people serving at the Gosechi, and the third line means "set apart from all."
In the lower verses, "plain to see" means conspicuous. "Sun-shade" names the vine draped from the headdress at the Gosechi and also suggests a life lived in the shadows, hinting that Sakyō, once so retiring, now stood out conspicuously before everyone. "I gazed on it with deep feeling" is sealed by an emphatic construction ending in the past tense. Though shaped as praise, it is a playful poem laced with irony.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Murasaki Shikibu Nikki
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