Month: November 2013

The Final Ten Poems

Hello Dear Readers,

I am down to the last 10 poems of the Hyakunin Isshu! I started this blog in January of 2011, but I didn’t expect it to last almost 3 years or gain this many readers. It’s been a real treat.

However, with only 10 poems left in the Hyakunin Isshu, I’m trying to decide what to do next:

  • I could try and feature Waka poetry from the official anthologies of that era. The trouble is that they are hard to obtain in English and I can’t translate Japanese that easily. Certainly not at Professor Mostow’s level.
  • I might also try and feature Waka poetry from the Tales of Ise which is a famous book/poetry anthology from that era. Professor Mostow has a translation of that which I’ve been slowly reading through.
  • I could feature more cultural/historical posts about the people and places featured in the Hyakunin Isshu.
  • Perhaps some combination of the above.
  • Or finally, I could just stop the blog after the 100th poem and let it stand on its own merits. Sometimes, less is more.

Feedback and ideas are welcome. Thanks for reading and journeying with me thus far.

–Doug

P.S. I’m excited to post these last poems too. I think there are some good ones in here.

The Plovers’ Cry: Poem Number 78

As the weather gets colder, I’ve been saving this one for a time like this:

JapaneseRomanizationTranslation
淡路あわじ島Awaji shimaThe crying voices
かよふう千鳥のKayou chidori noof the plovers who visit
鳴く声こえにNaku koe nifrom Awaji Island—
いく夜ねざめぬIkuyo nezamenuhow many nights have
they awakened him,
須磨の関守Suma no sekimorithe barrier-keepers of Suma?
Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow

The author of the poem, Minamoto no Kanemasa (源兼昌, dates unknown) was a frequent participant in poetry contests of the day, but overall very little is known about him, and it doesn’t appear he had any poetry collections of his own.

The first time I read this poem, in Japanese, I misunderstood the phrase chidori (千鳥) to literally mean 1,000 birds (in other words, a lot of birds). But in fact, chidori refers specifically to plover birds. The featured photo above shows a Western Snowy Plover bird on Morro Strand State Beach, Morro Bay, CA, “Mike” Michael L. Baird, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In Japanese poetry plover represented winter, and for other seasons, other birds typically were frequently used:

The location, Awaji Island, is a well known part of Japan’s inland sea, and is culturally significant since antiquity. Though at this time in history, it felt a bit remote from the capitol.

Professor Mostow notes that this poem uses some strange grammar though. For example nezamenu would normally mean to not wake up, but in this context means “have they awakened” instead. Also, he notes that this poem apparently alludes to the Tales of Genji, specifically the “Suma” chapter, when the prince Genji was in exile.

All told, this poem paints a sad, somber picture that fits well with wintry days.