Reading classical Japanese is hard enough as it is, but what makes the Hyakunin Isshu interesting, among other things, is the colorful, archaic phrases sometimes used. These phrases are strictly literary, and tend to have a dramatic sound to them, but when translating to English, they may be left untranslated. These words are called makura kotoba (枕詞) or “pillow words”. The term “pillow” here has no romantic connotations whatsoever, but is simply a reference to poetry. Presumably, people in the old days sat in their rooms, leaning on a pillow, composing poetry in their idle time, I guess.

Anyway, pillow words can be thought of as “filler” phrases, because they don’t have much meaning themselves, but they dress up the poems a lot more. For example in this poem, number 17:

千早ぶる Chihayaburu
神代もきかず kamiyo mo kikazu
龍田川 Tatsutagawa
からくれないに karakurenai ni
水くくるとは mizu kukuru to wa

The pillow words “Chihayaburu” (千早ぶる) can mean something like “1,000 swift [swords]” or something, but really just dresses up the proceeding word, 神 (kami, “a god”). So in modern English, it’s not just a god, but an awesome, awe-inspiring god. Likewise, in poem 2 we see another shining example.

春過ぎて Haru sugite
夏来にけらし natsu ki ni kerashi
白妙の shirotae no
衣ほすてふ koromo hosu chō
天の香具山 Ama no Kaguyama

Here again the pillow word shirotae no (白妙の) means something like gleaming white. The sheets being dried on Kaguyama mountain are not just white, but gleaming white, and a lovely contrast to the sunny, summer day in which they are being dried.

Such pillow-words don’t really exist in English, but they are very easy to find in classical Greek literature, especially the writings of Homer. Consider these epithets frequently used in the Iliad:

• Agamemnon, son of Atreus: Ἀτρείδης (Atreídēs)
• Swift-footed Achilleus: πόδας ὠκύς (podas ōkús)
• Rosy-fingered Dawn: ῥοδο-δάκτυλος Ἠώς (rhodo-dáktylos Ēṓs)
• Goddess of the white arms, Hera: θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη (thea leukōlenos Hērē)

Whenever I read the Iliad, I always find that these epithets really bring out the drama in the text.

In the same way, the pillow-words in the Hyakunin Isshu function like the epithets in the Iliad. And like the Iliad they are frequently used in certain common combinations:

• As stated above, 千早ぶる (chihayaburu) was used to describe the Shinto divinities or Kami (神).
• As stated above, 白妙の (shirotae no) was used to describe something white, in particular snow, clouds or cloth.
• Mountains (山, “yama”) are sometimes prepended with あしびきの (ashibiki no) meaning something like “foot-drawn”, and was often paired with mountains or peaks.
• Things like the sky (空, “sora”), moon (月, “tsuki”), rain (雨, “amé”), clouds (雲, “kumo”), light (光, “hikari”), night (夜, “yoru”), and the capitol (都, “miyako”) were often paired with ひさかたの (hisakata no) meaning something like peaceful, shining, and especially everlasting.
• For darkness, the phrase ubatama no meaning “jet-black” was often used. This is found in the Kokinshu anthology, poem 647, but not in the Hyakunin Isshu.
• Finally, even places can be described with pillow words. The old capitol of Nara was often described with the praising epithet あをによし (aoniyoshi).

Many of these phrases are 5-syllable phrases (sometimes 4) meant to fill a “slot” in a typical waka poem (5-7-5-7-7 syllables). In later ages, the number of pillow words increased to about 1,200 phrases, though many of them remain pretty obscure. Even in modern poetry, these stock phrases are still very much in use.

Good poetry, and good technique, can withstand the ages.