Written on Water Page 7
The following series of poems expressing her intense grief over their separation and her pure love for him ranks her among the foremost women poets in the Man'yōshū.
171
I anguish that
You must Labor over
The rugged mountain pass
To the place of your banishment.
My mind knows no rest or peace.
(3723)
172
How I wish I had
Heaven's fire
To destroy
The Long mountain road
Along which you must travel.
(3724)
173
Never yield to death.
Worry not about me,
Nor pine away.
So Long as we are alive,
We may meet again.
(3745)
174
Gazing at the pine of my abode
Every day I wait for you.
Hasten back home
That I may not die
Of my consuming love for you.
(3747)
175
Search everywhere—
The corners of the earth,
The starry skies.
There is no more ardent passion
Than my love for you.
(3750)
176
Always wear this close to you,
This white silken underrobe,
Till the day arrives
When you are back safe
And we can Live together.
(3751)
177
Here's a silken robe
Which a tender maid has sewn
in distress and grief,
For her husband dear to wear
On the day he returns home.
(3753)
178
Morning and evening
My soul holds communion
With yours,
Yet my heart aches with
My passionate Love for you.
(3767)
179
Much to my delight
You were at my side Last night.
But on waking,
I was alone in bed,
And my heart filled with grief.
(3768)
180
Secretly,
You came only in the dark of night,
leaving before the gray of dawn.
Never could I see you well,
To my infinite regret.
(3769)
181
When I heard a voice
Saying that some had returned
From banishment,
I felt all but dead,
Hoping you might be among them.
(3772)
Nakatomi-no-Yakamori
Yakamori composed the following poems in banishment.
182
insignificant I am,
And I find no worth
In myself. Nonetheless,
She Longs for me.
She is far too sweet for words.
(3727)
183
In the brightness of day
I am sunk in melancholy,
Longing for you.
In the utter darkness of night,
I am drowned in bitter tears.
(3732)
184
Had I not the robe
Which my darling gave me,
How could I
Stay alive
In this place of banishment?
(3733)
185
So often
I weep in vain.
Helpless and fororn
Distracted with despair,
I fall into a deathlike sleep.
(3759)
186
Today, were I
In the city of Nara,
I would tarry outside the stableyard
On the west of the court
Anxious for a tryst with you.
(3776)
Lady Kasa
Lady Kasa was a highly gifted poet. There is no information about her life except for the twenty-nine short poems of ardent love that she wrote to Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi during the course of some years around 755. Her intimacy withYakamochi did not last long before they separated, so most of her love poems here express spite or grief. She wrote all her poems to him to no purpose. Finally, she sent him a desperate poem (No. 194) in which she reviled him, and she left the capital of Nara for good. The beautiful, heart-breaking pathos of the best of her love poems has touched readers for over twelve hundred years.
Yakamochi incorporated into the Man'yōshū the love poems that Lady Kasa and many other ladies had written to him.
During the thirty years of the fourth period of the Man'yōshū, refined poems expressing sentimental love increased, but Lady Kasa and Maiden Sano-no-Chigami wrote poems overflowing with real passion.
187
Overwhelmed with love
For you, I am lost.
Beneath a pine
On the side of Mt. Nara,
I stand in despair.
(593)
188
So faint with Love,
I feel I'll fade away
Like a drop of dew
On the night-blooming flowers
In my garden.
(594)
189
As long as breath is Left in me,
l am yours.
Daily grows my love for you,
Till it will be
More than I can bear.
(595)
190
From afar I had
But a glimpse of you
As if through morning mist.
Yet I'm so consumed with Love
That I will die of longing.
(599)
191
Evening never falls
But my ardor blazes—
The image of my dear one,
Who once spoke to me,
Floats before my eyes.
(602)
192
If love
Always brings a painful death,
A thousand times
I would hove died in pain
For the dear one of my heart.
(603)
193
Now the temple bell
Tolls the time
For the night's repose.
But my ardent love for you
Keeps me awake the night through.
(604)
194
I might as well
Worship a hungry demon,
Prostrating myself to his back,
As conceive love for a man
who does not return my Love.
(608)
195
Living near you,
Though I did not see you oft,
Some ease of heart I had.
Living far away from you
Will soon lead me to my grave.
(610)
Footnotes
In those days most government officials who were ordered to serve at provincial offices could not afford to take their wives and families to their posts. Thus an official in provincial service often became intimate with a country girl and married her.
A poem that Hitomaro composed on the eve of his death. The location of Mt. Kamo has not been ascertained.
Hitomaro composed this poem when Empress Jitō ascended Ikazuchi-no-Oka ("Hill ofThunder") and offered prayers.
Hitomaro composed this poem when he accompanied Empress Jito on her visit to the ruins of Ōmi Palace at Ōtsu. This palace was built by Emperor Tenji in 667 by the western shore of Lake Biwa, only to be destroyed in the Jinshin Uprising five years later.
See note to No. 110.
This is regarded as a poignant evocation of an autumn scene.
This poem was written from a woman's point of view.
The literal translation of the fifth line reads: "Has now entered into me [or my soul]."
In this poem, a woman sulks,
wishing to keep her lover with her.
A poem of a man's sorrow over a long separation from his love.
This poem was written from a woman's point of view.
This theme occurs a number of times in the Man'yōshū. See No. 164 and compare Nos. 287, 315, 331, and 345.
This poem was written from a woman's point of view.
Poems Nos. 79 to 84 portray women's longings for their lovers or husbands, who come to visit them only at intervals and leave them at daybreak. In Man'yō days, many men and women had to live apart for an indefinite time even after their marriage.
The viewpoint here could be that of a man or a woman, so "she" and "her" can be replaced by "he" and "him."
This is considered one of Kakinomoto-no-Hitomaro's most exquisite poems, expressing a young mans ardent love for a beauty he had seen momentarily, just once.
The poet implies that her sensual state is due to her lover's desire for her; she wishes to keep their love secret till she meets him and confirms his commitment to her.
A poem writen from a woman's standpoint.
A poem from a woman to a man who is wishy-washy in his courtship of her.
A poem complaining about a mother's protective care of her daughters, especially her oldest.
Maybe this was her lover s first visit, and since it was still a little dark when he left, she was too shy to gaze at his face.
The person is probably a woman. Again, the image of a loosened inner sash (which fastens the underclothes) occurs. On the most immediate level, the image is an anticipation of a love tryst and the events that will occur then.
This may possibly be a poem composed by a man sent to be a frontier guard. No 55 is almost identical.
In the following seven poems (Nos. 121 to 127), Ōtomo-no-Tabito expresses his deep yearning for his late wife and the immense solitude of a man bereft.
To sleep or rest with one s head on someone's arm was a euphemism for having sex.
The juniper (muro no kt) was looked upon as a sacred tree in ancient times. The poet and his wife might possibly have prayed to the tree for their well-being on their way to Kyushu.
This poem is proverbial in Japan and is the best known of Okuras poems.
When Yamanoue-no-Okura fell seriously ill, the chief councilor of state sent a messenger to inquire after his well-being. After expressing his thanks, he composed this poem.
Yakamochi composed this poem when he was about sixteen years old.
A poem expressing the spirit of loyalty of the Ōtomo clan, which had been the imperial guard for centuries.
Takashima is on the west shore of Lake Biwa.
In ancient days there was an observance characterized by singing, dancing, and sexual freedom. This observance remained in some parts of Japan until the recent past. The foregoing folk song is regarded as a significant source of information about ancient customs in Japan. Mt. Tsukuba is a solitary peak rising above the plain of the Kantō district of East Japan and is a well-known mountain in Japan, appearing in many poems and folk songs.
A poem describing the feelings of the mother who married off her daughter to her nephew, Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi.
In the original poem, there is play on the word matsu, which means both "pine tree" and "wait."
Since their tryst was unlawful, they took great care to keep its secrecy. Probably this poem refers to a tryst before Yakamoris banishment.
In 740 there was a general amnesty, and she hoped that Yakamori might be among the returnees. Yakamori was pardoned some time after 740.
Probably Yakamori had a tryst with Chigami, his love, at the place mentioned in this poem.
Minor Poets
The poets included in this chapter were skilled, but their poems in the Man'yōshū are few in number, and their names are not as well known as those of the major poets.
Abe-no-Asomi Mushimaro
Abe-no-Asomi Mushimaro was a court poet. The following poem was written for his cousin, Lady Ōtomo-no-Sakanoue.
196
When I sit with you
Face to face, I am spellbound
And I am unable to rise and depart.
Never do I tire,
However long I gaze at you.
(665)
Lady Abe
Although little is known about her life, she was a talented poet. The following three poems express her devoted love for her husband.
197
I can think of nothing else
But my dearest.
All my love and all my soul
I offer as your own.
My heart has turned to you.
(505)
198
Be at ease, my lover.
Should your life be ever at risk,
I will be with you,
Ready to confront
Fire and water for your sake.
(506)
199
into every seam
Of the robe which I have sewn
For my husband,
I have stitched
My love and my heart.
(514)
Ato-no-Sukune Toshitari
Nothing definite is known about his life.
200
How dear is my love.
Her voice is as sweet
As the songs of singing birds,
Which across the nearby hills
Come fly to my abode in spring!
(663)
Fujiwara-no-Kamatari
Fujiwara-no-Kamatari rendered distinguished service to Emperor Tenji. He rose to premiership and became the founder of the Fujiwara family, which held predominant power at court for the subsequent four centuries.
201
I have won Yasumiko,
The fairest of the Ladies at court,
Whom all people know
Is impossible to win.
I have won the fairest one.
(95)
In those days beautiful girls were picked to be ladies-in-waiting to the emperor and the empress. They were known as uneme, and were not permitted to be courted or to marry. The girl called Yasumiko was the fairest of them. In recognition of Kamatari's illustrious service, Emperor Tenji granted him this girl as his mistress. Out of his joy, he composed this poem. His legal wife was Princess Kagami.
On the whole, the Man'yōshū's emotional poetry reflects sorrow and disappointment rather than good fortune or the happy fulfillment of expectations. Its jubilant mood may be one of the reasons why this poem has been valued.
Fujiwara-no-Asomi Maro
Fujiwara-no-Asomi Maro wrote this poem to Lady Ōtomo-no-Sakanoue, whom he later married. He was a statesman of great influence.
202
Though l sleep
Under thick quilts
And on soft mats,
Yet I am cold
If I do not sleep with my dear love.
(524)
Priest of the Gangōji Temple
Though highly erudite and widely informed, the priest lived in obscurity and was treated with contempt. This poem expresses his response to his social status.
203
My exquisite pearl,
Even if it remains unrevealed
What should I care—
I know its worth,
And I treasure it.
(1018)
Lady Heguriuji
The following are three of the twelve poems that she wrote to Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi.
204
With my heart afire,
I am consumed with burning love,
Pungent as the salt
Made by boiling water of the sea
By the men on the shore.
(3932)
205
Gazing at my hand,
I recall how overjoyed I was