Written on Water Page 2
In this book, the Japanese practice of giving a person's surname first, followed by his or her given name, has been followed, except in the Acknowledgments.
The number in parentheses following a poem is the poem s number in the original text.
Poetry of Known Authorship
Members of the Imperial Family
China was to Japan what Greece and Rome were to Europe. Under the edifying influence and impact of continental literature and poetry, the Japanese aristocrats, bureaucrats, and members of the imperial family learned to write refined poetry, and their learning and culture spread from the capital to the provinces. During the first period of the Man'yōshū, most of the poets whose poems appear in the anthology were members of the imperial family.
Empress Iwa-no-Hime
1
I would rather go
To a lofty mountain top
On a rock to die
Than remain at home and suffer
On the painful rack of love.
(86)
2
As the morning mist
Hangs o'er autumn paddy fields,
So my yearning
Hangs o'er my heavy heart.
When will it dissipate?
(88)
Princess Yata
3
For but a day
I await his return.
How can I bear
This weary, endless wait
Which will bring me to my grove?
(484)
Crown Prince Naka-no-Ōe (later Emperor Tenji)
Crown Prince Naka-no-Ōe was the thirty-sixth sovereign of Japan. In 646 he overthrew the Soga family, which had threatened to usurp imperial sovereignty. Becoming crown prince in 646, he promulgated a reform edict known as theTaika (Great Reform) and assiduously strove to lay the foundation for a centralized bureaucratic monarchy on the model of China's Tang dynasty. After the expedition that he sent to Korea in aid of the Kingdom of Paekche was defeated by the combined forces of Tang and Silla in 663, he moved the palace to Ōtsu and ascended the throne in 667. Recruiting frontier guards (sakimori) from across the country, he consolidated Japan's defenses against possible continental invasions.
He was an enthusiastic student of Chinese literature and culture and invited continental scholars as instructors. He was the patron of the imperial poetry salon.
4
All the sky is aflame
With resplendent evening clouds
Glotuing above the sea.
Bright and clear the moon will shine
O'er the glassy sea this night.
(15)
Crown Prince Ōama (later Emperor Temmu) and Princess Nukata
In 668 Emperor Tenji hosted a hunting party on the royal hunting preserve. Among those present were Crown Prince Ōama, who was Emperor Tenji's younger brother and who later became Emperor Temmu, and Princess Nukata, who was an eminent poet highly endowed with beauty and talent. Princess Nukata was formerly a favorite of Crown Prince Ōama and bore him Princess Tōchi. But Emperor Tenji took her from his younger brother and made her one of his consorts. This affair embittered their relationship but was not the primary cause of the later Jinshin Uprising of 672 between Crown Prince Ōama and Emperor Kōbun, Emperor Tenji's son.
Crown Prince Ōama had poetic talent and fostered learning and poetry. His reign as Emperor Temmu (673-686) and the subsequent reign of his consort, Empress Jitō (687-702), saw the greatest number of preeminent poets and was the golden period of Man'yō poetry.
Princess Nukata
5
Riding hither and yon
In the royal hunting fields
Spread with red and violet tints,
Wide you wove your arms at me.
Will not the watchman notice?
(20)
Crown Prince Ōama
6
You're as sweet and fair
As a lovely rose in June.
Wedded as you are,
Were you not next to my heart,
Why would l long for you?
(21)
Princess Nukata
Princess Nukata's fine aesthetic sentiment and sophisticated phraseology rank her among the leading Man'yō poets. She was a favorite figure in the imperial poetry salon.
7
At Nigitatsu
We've waited to board ship.
The moon has risen now,
And the tide is on the ebb-
Let us be away!
(8)
When Emperor Tenji gave a poetry party on the subject of judging between the brilliance of myriads of cherry blossoms on the spring mountains and the glory of tinted leaves on the autumn mountains, Princess Nukata submitted the following poem and won a prize. This poem, which shows the sophisticated technique of antithetical phrases in the Chinese poetic style, is not exactly lyric, but is given here to illustrate how Emperor Tenji and later sovereigns were patrons of the imperial poetry salon.
8
When spring comes,
Freed from winter's frigid bonds,
Birds which have been mute
Return with merry songs.
Flowers which were dead
Come alive in brilliant tints,
But luxuriant growth
Puts the blossoms beyond our reach,
Rank weeds in the fields
Bar our access to the blossoms fair.
Tinted leaves on autumn's hills
We can pick and delight in.
And wish the green leaves
Were tinted as well.
'Tis our sole regret.
We prefer the autumn hills.
(16)
The following poem was composed for Emperor Tenji.
9
Longing for my lord,
I start up, anxious,
When an autumn breeze
Blows and sways the bamboo blind
Hanging at my bower door.
(488)
Princess Kagami
It is said that Princess Kagami was either the elder sister or the mother of Princess Nukata.
The following poem is her reply to a poem given her by Emperor Tenji, who loved her as well as Princess Nukata.
10
My deep love for you
is a stream pure and clear
Flowing under tinted growth
Down an autumn mountain
And is deeper than your love for me.
(92)
The following poem refers to Princess Nukata s poem No. 9 in this book.
11
How I envy you!
Even a gentle breeze
Makes your heart rejoice and leap.
Could my heart await
Even the coming of a breeze,
What on earth would I ever rue?
(489)
12
Lovely cuckoo blithe
In the woods of Iware,
Stop your silver air!
Your loud songs
Add to the ardor of my Love.
(1419)
Princess Kagami and Fujiwara-no-Kamatari
Princess Kagami composed the following poem when visited by Fujiwara-no-Kamatari, who was lord keeper of the privy seal at that time.
Princess Kagami
13
Should you leave after dawn,
Trusting we can cover up our tryst
Just as easily as we cover up my comb casket,
Our affair would come to light
And I'd fall in disgrace,
Though your name remains intact.
(93)
Fujiwara-no-Kamatari (614-669)
Fujiwara-no-Kamatari rendered such distinguished services to Emperor Tenji that he was granted the special privilege of being allowed to pay court to a princess. Later he rose to premiership and became the founder of the Fujiwara family, which controlled power at court for the subsequent four centuries.
The following is a reply to the preceding poem.
14
I'm a sleeping vine
On sacred Mt. Mimuro.
Pray, pray, sleep with me,
As the troth of your love,
Else I'll be overcome by longing.
(94)
Prince Ōtsu (663-686) and Lady Ishikawa
Prince Ōtsu was the son of Emperor Temmu. His mother, Princess Ota, the daughter of Emperor Tenji, died when he was a very young child. He had a magnanimous character and extraordinary intellectual and literary endowments. His Chinese poems included in the Kaifūsō, the first collection of Chinese poetry written by Japanese poets, are among the best in the collection. He was greatly loved by his father, Emperor Temmu, was given the highest court office next to the crown prince, and was allowed to take part in the affairs of state. When Emperor Temmu died in 686, his consort ascended the throne as Empress Jito. Her son, Prince Kusakabe, was heir apparent to the throne, but he was in delicate health, so the highly gifted and popular Prince Ōtsu was a formidable rival for the throne. The prince must have been aware that he was in a difficult situation. The Kaifūsō says: "A Korean astrologer and fortuneteller, seeing his physiognomy, told him that he had a noble, kingly countenance and that he would have to be a sovereign or he would perish." Presumably these words motivated Prince Ōtsu to plan to seize the throne. The Kaifūsō also says that he confided this scheme to a close friend, who later turned informer, and the prince was executed.
From statements made about him in the Man'yōshū, the Chronicles of Japan (Nihon-shoki) and the Kaifūsō, some commentators gather that on the advice of her close councilor, Fujiwara-no-Fuhito, Empress Jito may possibly have devised a scheme to induce the prince to revolt against the throne. On the discovery of his treason, he was executed only twenty days after the death of Emperor Temmu. His early death was greatly regretted.
When he was executed, his young consort, Princess Yamanoue, the daughter of Emperor Tenji, rushed to her husband's side, barefoot and with her hair disheveled, and shared his fate. All those present were brought to tears at the tragic sight.
It is likely that Prince Ōtsu was too young to have the statesmanship to handle his precarious situation, as his father, Emperor Temmu, had.
The following is a poem that he wrote to a court lady, Ishikawa, a talented beauty who was a favorite of Prince Kusakabe. Her reply poem follows. Nos. 15 and 16 are a pair.
Prince Ōtsu
15
On the yonder hill,
Taking shelter in a cove,
I awaited you.
Meanwhile dewdrops, falling,
Made my garments wet and cold.
(107)
Lady Ishikawa
16
O that l had been
The mountain dew, which falling,
Made your garments wet and cold,
While you awaited me,
Taking shelter in a cave.
(108)
Prince Ōtsu
Prince Ōtsu composed the following poem on the eve of his execution.
17
This will be the last
I shall see of mallards
On Iware Pond,
For tomorrow I shall be
Hidden behind the clouds.
(416)
Princess Oku
Princess Oku was the daughter of Emperor Temmu and elder sister of Prince Ōtsu. On the eve of his execution, possibly to bid him farewell, Princess Oku, who was at that time Chief Priestess of the Grand Shrine of Ise, visited Prince Ōtsu. She composed the following three poems when she saw him off at daybreak.
18
My dear brother left
For Yamato when still dark,
Never to return,
Seeing him off, long I stood,
Till my feet were drenched with dew.
(105)
19
How can he alone
Cross the autumn mountains,
Which are difficult to cross
Even when
We together go?
(106)
20
Left alone in the world,
From tomorrow I shall look on Mt. Futagami,
Where my brother is interred,
As my very brother dear.
(165)
Empress Jito (d. 703)
Empress Jito was the forty-first sovereign and the second daughter of Emperor Tenji. After the death of Emperor Temmu, she succeeded to the throne. She was a woman of talent and dignity tinged with sternness. During the Jinshin War (672) and during the reign of Emperor Temmu (673-686), she constantly assisted him. During her reign (687-696) and later regency (697-702) for her very young grandson, Emperor Mommu, she assiduously administered the affairs of state.
She was a talented poet. Kakinomoto-no-Hitomaro and other eminent poets were very active during her reign. Her poem below is also included in the popular Hyakunin-isshu ("One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets") anthology and is very well known to the Japanese.
21
Spring has passed.
Summer seems to be here now.
Rows of white garments air
In the sun upon the slopes
Of graceful Mt. Kagu.
(28)
Emperor Shōmu (701-756)
Emperor Shomu was the forty-fifth sovereign. He was a fervent Buddhist and built the vastTōdaiji temple, which houses the famed bronze Great Buddha image. Its construction laid a heavy burden on the national coffers.
22
In your poem you say
That when I met you on the road with a smile,
You were so smitten
That you felt as if you'd fade away
Like a flake of falling snow.
Far beyond words you are sweet.
(624)
Empress Kōmyō (701-760)
Empress Kōmyō was the highly intelligent and benevolent consort of Emperor Shōmu. She was the daughter of Fujiwara-no-Fuhito and the granddaughter of Fujiwara-no-Kamatari. After the death of Emperor Shomu, she donated his treasures to the Tōdaiji temple, including precious works of art not only of Japan but also from China, India, and Persia. They are preserved in the Shōsōin Repository in Nara.
She presented the following poem to her consort, Emperor Shomu.
23
Snow is falling thick,
Blossoming upon the trees.
Were you here with me
To share this love Liness,
How joyful I would be!
(1658)
Prince Atsumi
The prince was a government official.
24
Yamabuki blossoms—
Their golden petals mirrored
In the crystal stream
Of the river
Where frogs in chorus sing.
(1435)
Princess Hirokawa
Princess Hirokawa was the granddaughter of Emperor Temmu.
25
Stricken heavily
With the painful burden of love,
I am just Like one
Straining to pull uphill
Seven heavy-laden carts.