Sone no Yoshitada: Badass

Sone no Yoshitada was a Japanese poet who lived from 930~1000 A.D. There isn't a lot known about this guy. He was considered an inferior poet during his lifetime because his poetry didn't fit well with the conventions at the time. His poetry was published in the relatively unknown imperial anthology Shikawakashuu compiled by Fujiwara no Akisuke. 

Can be found here

From what we know about Sone no Yoshitada, he didn't get along with most people. He seemed to be kind of a recluse. Although his poetry wasn't respected in his lifetime, his style of poetry fit well with the later Fujiwara no Shunzei's notion of yuugen, so poets of Shunzei's time reexamined Yoshitada's poetry and gave his work more acclaim. I consider him a badass because he disregarded the stifling conventions of his contemporaries. In my opinion, the problem with a lot of Japanese poetry is that too many poets lacked courage to try new things. There are countless poems in which the poets merely repeat old images and metaphors. Yoshitada broke boundaries and demonstrated creativity which made his life difficult but put him on the right side of history.

The next three poems are all from the Shikawakashuu and these are my translations.

蟲の音もまだうちとけぬ草むらに秋を予ても結ぶ露かな

曾禰好忠

The insects with their song

Are still not being honest,

In those tufts of grass

Autumn has long ago arrived,

Bound and tied, with drops of dew.

Sone no Yoshitada

This poem is interesting and I had a hard time translating the last line. It could go a couple different ways but from my knowledge of classical Japanese, the "bound and tied" and "dew" are separate but I could be wrong. 

Can be found here

秋の野の草叢ごとにをく露は夜鳴く蟲の涙なるべし

曾禰好忠

The drops of dew

In those tufts of grass

In the autumn field,

Perhaps they are tears

From insects, crying in the night.

Sone no Yoshitada

I like the imagery here, that dew drops are the tears of insects. This is a completely different take on dew drops compared to the poetic conventions of the time.

杣川の筏の床のうきまくら夏は涼しきふしどなりけり

曾禰好忠

A logging river,

The padding on the raft

Makes a fine pillow,

In the summer it’s become

A cool place to rest my head.

Sone no Yoshitada

I like this poem because all although Yoshitada was clearly an affluent man, his poem praises the life of someone much poorer than him. This is isn't completely new. There were a lot of poets in his time idealizing the life of farmers, making romantic associations with rather mundane things. This poem is nice because of its apparent simplicity but it could have different layers of meaning

Ono no Komachi: Fiery Lady

For this post I thought I would write about the most famous poetess, aside from Murasaki Shikibu, in Japanese history. Ono no Komachi is featured extensively in the Kokinshuu. Her background has fallen into legend and so it is difficult to know the facts. She lived from 833-857 A.D. so she was one the real classical poets in the Japanese tradition. Her personage has been used several times in later Noh dramas and she is usually depicted as a bitter, spiteful lady. We don't know truth of all of this but we do know about her poetry.

Can be found here

If we judge by her poetry, she was a passionate lady. The Kokinshuu has mainly love poems from her so we can assume that was her forte. Her poems are fiery and intense but her diction is quite sophisticated. She used a lot of kakekotoba (pivot word) which make her poetry difficult to translate. I get the feeling that she was a lady endowed with a great deal of intelligence balanced with extreme emotions. Her poetry reflects that.

Can be found here

I chose three poems to translate; all love poems and all from the Kokinshuu. 

思ひつつ寝ればや人の見えつらむ夢と知りせばさめざらましを

小野小町

As I yearned for him

I closed my eyes and there he was!

Standing before me,

If I’d known it was a dream

 I wouldn't have awoken...

Ono no Komachi

Can be found here

夢路には足もやすめずかよくどもうつつに一目見しごとはあらず

小野小町

I never cease

To follow you in my dreams,

In my fantasies...

Yet, we haven’t met

Not even acquainted.

Ono No Komachi

I like the two preceding poems because of their use of dreams and juxtaposition of dreams and reality. 

Can be found here

人にあはむつきのなきには思ひおきて胸走り火に心焼けをり

小野小町

I’d meet him tonight

But there’s no moon, no path.

My yearning for him,

Smoldering ember in my breast,

Burns my heart to ash!

Ono no Komachi

This is one of her more passionate poems and it shows just how emotional she was. I do like Ono no Komachi even her poems are kind of girly. I give her a lot of respect for writing emotionally charged poems while also using complex poetic language.

Ariwara no Narihira: The Flirtatious Philosopher

For this post I decided to write about the legendary Ariwara no Narihira. He predates all of the poets I've already mentioned in this blog, he lived 825-880 A.D. Most of what we know about Narihira comes from the Tales of Ise which are supposedly based off his exploits. The Tales of Ise are about a young man (Narihira) who has various romantic excursions with aristocratic women. Like most sources from this time period, the distinction between fact and fiction is hazy. He was also supposedly an inspiration for Murasaki Shikibu's Genji in the Tale of Genji who was also a ladies man in that traditional, aristocratic Japanese way. Perhaps it's better if we let Narihira exist partially in fact and partially in our imagination. His poetry can speak for itself.

Can be found here

Narihira wrote a lot of poetry and Ki no Tsurayuki chose over thirty of his poems for the Kokinshuu. He deals with the old themes such as the transience of cherry blossoms or the pain and pleasure of love and passion. His poetry is interesting because it's quite introspective and intellectual and he reworked some old poetic imagery. He is one of the "founding fathers" of classical Japanese poetry and set the bar for poets following him.

Can be found here

In this selection the first three poems consist of two from anonymous poets with a Narihira poem in between. I thought they flowed nicely together. The last two poems are by Ariwara no Narihira. The first one was written shortly before his death and the last one is his most famous poem. All of these are my translations.

Enjoy!

のこりなく散るぞめでたき桜花ありて世の中はての憂ければ

よみ人知らず

Nothing will be left

All scattered...gone, how nice for

Those cherry blossoms.

For in this world of ours

The end is bitter and hateful.

Anonymous

I like this poem because the transient image of the cherry blossom has been turned on its head. The usual poetic convention is to lament the scattering of cherry blossoms but this poet, apparently bitter about old age, envies the ephemeral existence of the lovely flowers.

世の中にたえて桜のなかりせば春の心はのどけからまし

在原業平

If cherry blossoms

One day ceased to exist

In this world of ours,

Perhaps our hearts in spring

May know some tranquility.

Ariwara no Narihira

This poem also took the cherry blossom image and reworked it. This is one of the introspective poems of Narihira. He's using the cherry blossoms as a metaphor for his amorous affairs. Although they are pleasurable and beautiful, the ephemeral nature of them probably causes more harm than good.  

春霞たなびく山の桜花うつろはむとや色かはりゆく

よみ人知らず

The mists of spring

Linger over the mountain,

Those cherry blossoms,

When the spring haze has lifted,

Their color will also change.

Anonymous

I like this poem purely for the complementary imagery of the spring haze and cherry blossoms. Both are transient but both alter each other's existence.

つひにゆく道とはかねて聞きしかど昨日今日とは思はざりしを

在原業平

I’ve heard countless times

About the last path we walk

Our conclusion.

When will it come? I wait anxiously,

I didn't believe I’d come to this...

Ariwara no Narihira

This poem is pretty straight forward. It was written when Narihira was about to die and it expresses his sadness with being so caught up in earthly pleasures, he never prepared himself mentally for his own death.

月やあらぬ春や昔の春ならぬわが身一つはもとの身にして

在原業平

It is not the moon,

This spring is not the same spring

As the one’s before,

Only this body of mine

Is the body it’s always been.

Ariwara no Narihira

This is Narihira's most famous poem. The context of it is that a woman he was sleeping with the year before was forced to cut off their relationship and he is lamenting this romantic impasse. There are myriad translations of this poem. If you look at the Japanese, it could be translated as "Is this not the moon?" and "Is this not the spring of the past?". The Japanese remains ambiguous whether or not the first three lines are negative questions or negative statements. Most translations I've read convey them as questions but I decided to translate them as statements because the last two lines are pretty unambiguous in meaning: "Only this body of mine is the same body it's always been." In that context, I think it makes sense to contrast the moon and spring which are never quite the same with his static existence. This goes well with the overall theme that he is the same man he was, but she won't see him anymore.

Fujiawara no Shunzei: Subtle but still Profound

For this next post I want to talk about Fujiwara no Shunzei (sometimes Fujiwara no Toshinari as well as occasionally he is known as Shakua). He was active during the late Heian period and he lived from 1114-1204 A.D. Shunzei is known for being the compiler of the Senzaishuu which came after the Kokinshuu and was followed by the Shinkokinshuu. He was a contemporary of Saigyo but I'm not sure if they were friends.  There is a story that one of Saigyo's most famous poems was going to be added in to the Senzaishuu, but Shunzei rejected it. Upon hearing that one of his poems was a candidate, Saigyo came out of his hermitage to witness the event, but when he found out that it was rejected, he promptly left. I really have no idea how friendly any of these guys were with each other since we only have anecdotal evidence passed down over the centuries.

Can be found here

Shunzei drew most of his inspiration fro the Kokinshuu. He was a man of convention. He enjoyed nice and sophisticated diction but was not as adventurous as his son (Fujiwara no Teika). If you skim through Japanese history books Shunzei will probably only get a passing mention. His son took most of the spotlight and we know relatively little about him. Shunzei was a very emotional man, and according to the diary of one of his aides, he used to spend his nights weeping and writing poetry. His poetic technique of choice is known as yuugen. The Japanese word is 幽玄 and it is one of those hard-to-define words. I would define it as "subtle grace" or "hidden beauty". The way this plays out in the poetry is that Shunzei used imagery that is very suggestive but simultaneously not saying anything at all. The lack of explicit emotion adds a level sophistication to his verse. It's like those Japanese paintings where most of the canvass is white. There is a small beautiful painting but the vagueness of the blank space allows your mind to paint its own picture. You see everything in nothing or something like that.

Can be found here.

Here are my translations of three of his poems from the Senzaishuu. 

過ぎぬるか夜半のねざめの郭公こゑは枕にある心ちして

皇太后宮大夫俊成

Something flutter by?

The cuckoo awakens me,

Middle of the night.

Soft voice feels like a pillow

Under my weary head.

Fujiwara no Shunzei

I like this poem because although he doesn't use any adjectives denoting emotion, you can still get a feel for the loneliness of the scene. The call of cuckoo sounds like this.

み吉野の花のさかりをけふ見れば越の白根に春風ぞ吹く

皇太后宮大夫俊成

Lovely Yoshino,

Today, if I happen to see

The flowers in bloom...

Spring breezes blowing over

Shirane Peak in Koshi.

Fujiwara no Shunzei

Yoshino has been mentioned probably thousands of times by Japanese poets. I really should go there sometime because I have no idea why it's so great. Anyway, this poem exemplifies that "subtle profundity" Shunzei sought for. The profoundness might be so subtle that you might miss it...

夕されば野辺の秋風身にしみて鶉鳴くなり深草の里

皇太后宮大夫俊成

When evening comes,

Autumn wind across the field

Pierces my body,

The quails will be calling me,

My home in Fukakusa.

Fujiwara no Shunzei

I like this poem because of the image of an autumn wind piercing his body. I can relate to a chill wind feeling like it's piercing right through you. I couldn't find an audio clip of a quail's call but I found a YouTube video. He always used "Fukakusa" which is a common place used in Japanese poetry. His use of "Fukakusa", "Yoshino" and even "Shirane Peak" show that he is a man of old convention and only innovated half-way with his poetry. He's still great though. 

Saigyo: Looking to the West

I decided to take a break from the Kokinshuu and display some poems from one of my favorite Japanese poets: Saigyo. Saigyo was a very famous and influential poet of the late Heian period in Japan. He lived from 1118-1190 A.D. At this time in history Japan was in a period of transition. The aristocratic order in Kyoto was crumbling and samurai factions were fighting for control of the nation. The airiness and grace of the old aristocracy was becoming increasingly irrelevant. Heian Japan was a period of extraordinary progress in Japanese literature and poetry. The Tale of Genji and Kokinshuu come from this period, as well the less well known Pillow Book from Sei Shonagon. The story of the rise of the samurai is described in the Tale of the Heike. The Tale of the Heike is less sophisticated as the Genji but is still interesting and it captures the complexities of the time.

Can be found at:
http://www.ogatagekko.net/otherprints.html

Saigyo himself was born among the landed elite in Kyoto, and had the opportunity to be a high ranking member in the coming military order. However, at the old age of 23 he decided to renounce the world and join the Buddhist order as a monk. He spent decades wandering across Japan by himself. During this time he developed a passion for poetry and he composed a great number of poems that can be found in the Senzaishuu and the Shinkokinshuu.
I really like Saigyo because of his intelligence, both emotional and intellectual. He definitely appreciated the natural world and sought to be alone during his wanderings around Japan. Even with his desire to renounce the world, he was consistently in a state of melancholy. It could have been because Japan was falling into the Age of Mappo, which is a spiritual concept denoting the decline of Buddhism. Mappo is supposed to come around every so many generations, but as society decays it should be rejuvenated by a new Buddha. There were a lot of theories why Japanese society was collapsing and I have mixed feelings about it. I'm sorry to the orthodox Buddhists, but I don't take seriously that a decline in the religious order causes a decline in all of society. I do however see their point that the world history does seem to follow a cyclical pattern.
Saigyo was product of these tumultuous times and his poetry reflects the melancholy of the crumbling aristocratic world, with their cultural and poetic indulgent lifestyles. I also sense that he was a pragmatic man, who was quick to judge himself and analyze his own emotions. He was a true intellectual and fascinating person.

Can be found at:
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~lafleur/

I should also explain that Saigyo's name written in Japanese is 西行  which means "Western Journey". He was however not referring to what we think of as the "West" (Europe, USA, etc.) I believe he is referring to the Amida Buddha who dwelt in the Western Paradise. Amida Buddha was pretty popular in Japan, China, and Korea back in those days.
The three poems I've chosen are just a sample. I will find more that I like soon and make a new post. The translations are mine and I kept (pretty much) the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable rule that he followed.

心なき身にも哀れは知られけり鴫立つ沢の秋の夕暮れ

西行

Even a person

Of crass taste, upon seeing

Snipes rise over a marsh

In the autumnal twilight

Would be moved to tears.

Saigyo

I like this poem because it shows Saigyo's emotional side but it also displays the trouble he had "renouncing" the world. Although he was a monk and supposedly spending all his time reading Buddhist texts, he was still moved by natural phenomena.

しほりせで猶山深く分け入らむ憂きこと聞かぬ所ありやと

西行

Leaving everything,

I go deep in the mountains.

Blazing my own trail,

Is there a place in the world

Where I can’t hear suffering?

Saigyo

This again has to do with his struggle with becoming a Buddhist monk. This poem says to me that although he  has begun his journey away from society towards truth, he is still constantly reminded of the suffering of himself and the people around him. He let his humanity shape his spiritual journey. I respect this poem because I don't have much respect for the transcendent.

風になびく富士けぶりの空に消えてゆくゑもしらねわが思哉

西行

The smoke of Mt. Fuji

Bends to the will of the wind,

Vanishes in the sky.

Alas, these thoughts of mine too,

I don’t know where they will go.

Saigyo

I think this poem speaks for itself. I can relate to the arbitrariness of his thoughts guiding him.

Can be found at the Wikipedia article for Saigyo

Ki no Tsurayuki: 樺桜

かにはざくら

かづけども波の中にはさぐられで風吹くごとに浮き沈む玉

貫之

427  今古和歌集

Taken in Vancouver, B.C.

Birch cherry tree

I dive in with hope

To find the middle of the wave.

It eludes me; gusts of wind

Cause them to rise and fall

Those jewels of sakura!

Ki no Tsurayuki

427 Kokinshuu

Taken in Vancouver, B.C.

As I mentioned before Ki no Tsurayuki was the compiler of the kokinshuu and is one of the best poets in the collection. I found this poem to be especially interesting for a number of reasons. First, it is in the miscellaneous section but the topic is "Birch cherry tree" which is a kind of sakura or cherry tree but it has birch like bark. Sakura is usually used as a seasonal word referring to spring. I did some research but I couldn't find any of significance to birch sakura. 

Another interesting thing is that he does not actually directly use sakura in the poem itself. You can read the poem as just being about him diving into a pond or some body of water and not finding the center of a wave, but then why would the topic elude to sakura? If you separate the Japanese into the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern it is written in, it would look like this: 

Taken in Vancouver, B.C.

Topic: かにはざくら

かづけども

波の中に

はさぐられで

風吹くごとに

浮き沈む玉

Now this is the romanization:

Topic: kanihazakura

Kadukedomo

Nami no Naka ni

Ha Sagurarede

Kazefuku Gotoni

Ukidushimutama

If you read this literally then there is no mention of sakura but now look at it again with my emphasis:

Kadukedomo

Nami no Naka ni

Ha Sagurarede

Kazefuku Gotoni

Ukidushimutama

So compare the bold parts: "ka ni ha sa gu ra" with the topic "ka ni ha za ku ra". It's very close right? Just a couple consonant sounds are switched. This is why this poem is in the miscellaneous section and not in the spring section. Ki no Tsurayuki is playing with the meter and using some poetic tricks. He's really just showing off but it is pretty interesting. That is why I included sakura in the English translation even though it is not directly read this way. Also, the "jewels of sakura" are meant to be petals of from the cherry blossoms. Ki no Tsurayuki was one tricky bastard and I like his poetry but I think he lacked the genius that some of the poets came after him possessed such as Fujiwara no Teika and Saigyo.

Also taken in Vancouver, B.C.

Summer and that Damn Cuckoo (Kokinshuu)

I decided to translate a series of summer poems from the Kokinshuu (135-150). I said before that Ki no Tsurayuki did not only choose poems based on their individual quality but on how they would fit in a series. I was originally planning to release the whole 32 poem series but it was taking too long so this is only half of the summer poem section.
The first thing you'll probably think reading through it is "Why are there so many damn cuckoos?" Yeah I felt the same way and it is unfortunate that hototogisu only translates to cuckoo since I don't know about you but every time I hear the word cuckoo I think of those annoying clocks. The cuckoo is however an important poetic image and device in the Japanese poetic tradition and also it fits well with these kind of Japanese poems called tanka. Tanka follow a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure and hotogisu being five syllables works well. The cuckoo is a migratory bird that arrives in Japan in mid-May and so is the harbinger of summer for a lot of Japanese. Here is a picture of it courtesy of this website.

It's song is quite sad and you can hear it here on the Japanese Wikipedia site. Just scroll down and it is on the right side. The cuckoo is a nice poetic image and can be used as a metaphor for a lot of different things but mainly it is supposed to provoke sadness. The orange blossom is also a standard poetic tool for Japanese poets when referring to summer with not much significance that I'm aware of aside from the fact it blooms in summer.
Old Japanese poetry from Heian period was usually seasonal and unfortunately summer is by far not the most interesting season and I don't think that many summer poems have made it to special notoriety. You will notice that most of the poems have anonymous authors which implies that either the poets were not well known or did not want to put their name to the poem. Compare this with the autumn or spring sections which are full of famous poets of that time period. I wanted to translate these poems because, well it is summer now and I thought I could find some nice poems hidden beneath all the cuckoos. In the next few days I am going to write a new post with some analysis about some individual poems.
This section in particular does have a clear chronological pattern. The first five poems represent that time in between spring and summer when it is still ambiguous and then the last ten are clearly in summer. It is interesting that almost all of these poems are sad and depressing. This goes against my instinct being an American kid growing up and looking forward to summer all year. Why was summer so depressing for Japanese poets back then? It's a good question of which I don't have a good answer aside from that summer does lack the nice poetic images like blooming cherry blossoms or crimson leaves.
I hope you can enjoy the poems and the pictures are from the summer I spent in Japan. I should also note that to aid me with these translations I referred to this website to help me get my head around the poem as well as the book I am using has some explanations about the poems but it's all in Japanese.

135

題知らず

わがやどの他の藤波咲きにけり山ほととぎすいつか来鳴かむ

よみ人知らず

Topic: Unknown

In my garden,

Another wave of wisteria

Has come to bloom.

Cuckoos of the mountain

When you will grace us with your song?

Author Unknown

Taken in Hikone

136 

卯月に咲ける桜を見てよめる

あはれてふことをあまたにやらじとや春におくれてひとり咲くらむ

紀利貞

Composed looking at a cherry blossom tree in the fourth month of the lunar year

Alas! How moving…

These words of praise

I wish to say of everything.

Spring is passing

Is this the only cherry in bloom?

Ki no Toshisada

137

題知らず

五月待つ山ほととぎすうちはぶき今も鳴かなむこぞのふる声

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

Waiting for the fifth month,

Cuckoos from the mountains

Beat your wings!

Already I want to hear your song,

The song I remember…

Author Unknown

138

題知らず

五月来ば鳴きもふりなむほととぎすまだしきほどの声を聞かばや

伊勢

Topic Unknown

When the fifth month arrives

The songs of the cuckoo

Will also have matured.

I wish I could hear the cuckoo’s song

Young and full of innocence.

Lady Ise

Taken at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo

139

題知らず

五月待つ花橘の香をかげば昔の人の袖の香ぞする

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

Awaiting the fifth month,

When the fragrance

Of the orange blossom reaches me

I can smell the perfumed sleeves of

Someone dear, someone from the past.

Author Unknown

Taken in Kyoto

140

題知らず

いつのまに五月来ぬらむあしひきの山ほととぎす今ぞ鳴くなる

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

I hobble along this mountain path,

The songs of the cuckoo

Are now reaching my ears.

Is it true? Are we in the midst

Of the fifth month already?

Author Unknown

141

題知らず

けさ来鳴きいまだ旅なるほととぎす花橘に宿はからなむ

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

This morning I could hear

The cuckoo’s song.

You seem to be travelling,

I would love to offer you lodging

In my orange blossom tree.

Author Unknown

142

音羽山を越えける時に、ほととぎすの鳴くをききてよめる

音羽山けさ越え来ればほととぎすこずるはるかに今ぞ鳴くなる

紀友則

This poem was composed when the author was traversing the Otowa mountains and heard the call of a cuckoo

This morning, as we pass through

The Otowa Mountains,

Far away, among the tree tops

There’s a cuckoo.

Its song reaches my ears.

Ki no Tomonori

143

ほととぎすのはじめて鳴きけるをききてよめる

ほととぎす初声聞けばあぢきなくぬしさだまらね恋せらるはた

素性

Composed after hearing the first cuckoo of the season,

The cuckoo,

Upon hearing its first song,

With no one around,

I feel in vain

The pangs of love.

Monk Sosei

Taken in Kyoto

144

奈良の石上寺にてほととぎすの鳴くをよめる

いそのかみふるき都のほととぎす声ばかりこそ昔なりけれ

素性

Composed at Iso no Kami temple in Nara after hearing the cuckoo’s call

Iso no Kami,

The ancient capital.

The song of the cuckoo,

It is the only thing,

That has not changed…

Monk Sosei

145

題知らず

夏山に鳴くほととぎす心あらばもの思ふ我に声なきかせそ

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

In the summery mountains,

The sad songs of the cuckoo…

If you had a heart,

You would know that your song

Stirs painful memories in me.

Author Unknown

Taken in Tokyo

146

題知らず

ほととぎす鳴く声きけば別れにしふるさとさへぞ恋しかりける

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

The sad song of the cuckoo

When its voice reaches my ears

I think of my hometown,

The people of my past,

And I miss them deeply.

Author Unknown

147

題知らず

ほととぎす汝が鳴く里のあまたあればなほうとまれぬ思ふのから

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

Oh cuckoo,

Your moving song is heard

In village after village,

I can hardly bear it,

I miss you and think of you always.

Author Unknown

148

題知らず

思ひ出づるときはの山のほととぎす韓紅のふり出でてぞ鳴く

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

When I think of the cuckoo

Of Tokiwa mountain

How you strain your crimson tongue,

It makes me cry with you.

Author Unknown

Taken in Nagoya

149

題知らず

声はして涙は見えぬほととぎすわが衣手のひつをからなむ

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

Cuckoo, I hear your sad song,

But I cannot see your tears.

My sleeves are soaked through,

Please borrow them

And share my grief.

Author Unknown

150

題知らず

あしひきの山ほととぎすをりはへてたれかまさると昔をのみぞ鳴く

よみ人知らず

Topic Unknown

Cuckoos from the foot wearying mountains!

You never cease trying

To surpass one another

With the saddest song

Soaked with grief from the past.

Author Unknown

Floating Bridge of Dreams

春の夜の夢の浮き橋とだえして峰に別るる横雲の空

定家

A spring night
The floating bridge of dreams
Has come to an end
And broken away from the mountain peak.
Cloud bank of the sky.

It's probably kind of silly of me to present this poem so early on in this blog but I had almost forgotten about it was my favorite by far. Fujiwara no Teika was the compiler of the Shinkokinshuu which came after the Kokinshuu (it literally means the "new-Kokinshuu"). I think Teika was a genius and probably the best poet of Heian Japan. He had a refined intellect and solid creativity which separated him from the pack of classical Japanese poets who too often were too attached to tradition to try something new.
This poem has been translated probably hundreds if not thousands of times in a myriad of languages but of course I'm partial to my own. I haven't read all the translations so there is a chance that mine looks a lot like someone else's. I apologize if that is the case. The floating bridge of dreams has a special significance since it is also the last chapter of the Tale of Genji. I read and studied the Genji while I was in university and it is a very interesting work. The plot of the Genji is erratic and organic and the story kind of "drops off" as opposed to concluding. By the final chapter Genji is already dead and he has two sons who are also wrapped up in the romance and court intrigue as Genji was but they are far less good at it. Kaoru is feckless and Niou lacks sophistication. The story ends with Kaoru contemplating about visiting a woman he cares for. It's not really a good ending and I feel like it wasn't meant to be.
Anyway, the floating bridge of dreams is significant to me for a different reason. While in university I always idealized Japan and Japanese culture. I saw Japan through the eyes of Genji and Basho. I focused my energy in studying about Japan and Japanese language. It wasn't until I got to Japan that I realized that as compelling a country Japan is, it is still an ordinary country like everywhere else with similar problems. The legacy of Genji, Basho, Teika, etc. is more like a subtle perfume, easily missed, than a guiding force of Japanese society. I realized that my understanding of Japan was antiquated and over-idealized. And then volunteering in the Philippines and helping clean up the mess that Japanese men caused over there with their failed romantic excursions solidified in me that Japanese were all too human.
I like the epithet "floating bridge of dreams" because Japan was my bridge to Asia and my starting point for study and work in the entire region. It was also a dream, a pleasant dream that I was rudely awaken from, but also learned from.
As for the interpretation of the poem above, well I'm sure you have your own ideas :)
At the moment I am translating a series of summer poems from the Kokinshuu which I will post when I'm finished but it might take awhile.