If you like word-play, you’ll enjoy this poem quite a bit:
| Japanese | Romanization | Translation |
| 難波江の | Naniwa-e no | Due to that single night |
| 芦のかりねの | Ashi no karine no | of fitful sleep, short as a reed’s joint cut at the root |
| 一夜ゆへ | Hitoyo yue | from Naniwa Bay, |
| 身をつくしてや | Mi wo tsukushite ya | am I to exhaust myself, like the channel markers |
| 恋わたるべき | Koi wataru beki | passing my days in longing? |
This poem was composed by Lady Bettō (dates unknown), who served in the house of Empress Seishi, whose husband was Emperor Sutoku (poem 77). Lady Bettō was also the daughter of Minamoto no Yoshitaka.
Although the life of Lady Bettō is relatively unknown, and she doesn’t appear in many anthologies, Professor Mostow points out that her poem is quite a technical feat. There are a lot of “pivot words”, or words that can either refer to the previous statement, or the latter one:
- karine can mean cutting a root (刈り根) or a brief nap (仮寝) such as when travelling.
- hitoyo can mean either a single segment of a reed (一節) or a single night (一夜).
- mi wo tsukushi can mean either to exhaust one’s body (身を尽くし) or one of the famous barriers in Osaka Bay (澪標, see poem 20)
The poem itself uses many familiar themes too. We’ve seen a lot of poems that feature Osaka Bay, called Naniwa in ancient times, including poem 20, poem 19 and poem 72 among others. Similarly, we see references to reeds, just as we do in poem 39 and poem 19 (again).
What makes this poem stand out is the excellent use of word-play throughout. On the surface, it looks like just another love poem, but Lady Bettō knew what she was doing. 😉
The Hyakunin Isshu 
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