Saturday, January 11, 2014

Monk Kusai: The (Almost) Forgotten Renga Master

Emperor Go-Daigo
After a long hiatus, I decided to rekindle this blog with a post about a little known renga (linked-verse) poet: Monk Kusai. He probably lived from about 1282-1376 A.D. during the tumultuous Southern and Northern Courts period (Nanbokuchōjidai). The Kamakura Shogunate collapsed in 1333 A.D. and during this power vacuum the Emperor Go-Daigo tried to restore the power of the Imperial court at the expense of the samurai. This ill-fated venture is known as the Kenmu Restoration and it was an utter failure. It seems like it would have been a tough time to live, but perhaps it helped inspire some of his poetry...

I could not find a lot of biographical details about Monk Kusai, but as you can tell by his name, he was a Buddhist monk. Buddhist spirituality is reflected in some of his poems. He was also apparently a teacher of Nijō Yoshimoto, and helped compile the Tsukubashū and a rule book for renga. He was an early renga master and very important for the development of renga.

The poems below are all from the Tsukubashū, and I was able to find them thanks to Steven Carter’s Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology. However, the translations are my own. In order to really appreciate renga poetry, you should look at the two verses as separate, and try to form the mental bridge that connects them. Kusai was big on subtlety. He was not fond of linked verses where the link was too obvious. So keep that in mind when you read these.

思わぬ方に宿をこそ訪え

花に行く心や我を忘るらん

救済

Can be found here

On an unfamiliar path,
I seek a nearby lodging.

Blossoms beckon me,
Maybe I have forgotten
Myself for my heart?

Monk Kusai


Can be found here

月寒し訪いきます友もがな

野寺の鐘の遠き秋の夜

救済

The coldness of the Moon...
If only a dear friend of mine
Would come and visit.

A distant temple’s bell rings
Deep in this autumn evening.

Monk Kusai




Can be found here

池に石ある滝つ白波

泣く涙硯の上に落ちそいて

救済

Beneath the waterfall’s splash
There is a stone in that pond.

Tears roll down my face,
Falling so inelegantly
Atop my ink stone.

Monk Kusai





誘いても花を思わぬ嵐かな

救済

Invite all it may,
This cruel, unforgiving gale
Doesn’t care for blossoms.


Monk Kusai

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