Six Best Waka Poets

In Ki no Tsurayuki's preface to the Kokinshuu he listed six waka poets that he considered to be the best in history. They are Kisen, Ono no Komachi, Archbishop Henjo, Ariwara no Narihira, Fun'ya no Yasuhide, and Otomo no Kuronashi. 

The old geezer himself

Ki no Tsurayuki had a unique critique for each of these poets: 

Kisen: "The priest of Mt. Uji, Kisen, is obscure, and his beginnings and endings do not chime; he is like an autumnal moon, bright in the evening, dim at dawn."

Ono no Komachi: "As to Ono no Komachi, she has pathos but lacks power, like a fair but feeble woman."

Archbishop Henjo: "Sojo Henjo, whose manner is successful, but his work is deficient in truth, like the picture of a beautiful woman that excites emotion, but to no avail."

Ariwara no Narihira: "Arihara Narihira, very full of feeling but poor in diction; his poetry reminds one of a faded flower that yet preserves some of its perfume."

Fun'ya no Yasuhide: "Funya no Yasuhide, on the other hand, is an artist in words; with him form is better than substance. He is like a peddler dressed up in fine silks."

Otomo no Kuronashi: "Otomo no Kuronushi, lastly, has a pretty turn for verse, but his form is poor; he is like a faggot-bearing boor resting under a blossom-filled cherry-tree."

Source: http://www.humanistictexts.org/tsurayuki.htm

I don't entirely agree with all of what Ki no Tsurayuki says but you have to listen to him since he is the authority on this stuff. I think it's funny that Ki no Tsurayuki lists these guys as the Six Best Waka Poets and then ridicules them in preface and gives only lack-luster compliments. Maybe it's an extension of Japanese modesty. 

I translated one poem from each of the six poets. I'm not sure they all represent what Ki no Tsurayuki described but who really cares about that old geezer. 

Can be found here

わが庵は都のたつみしかぞすむ世をうぢ山と人はいふなり

喜撰法師

My hermitage lies

Southeast of the capital,

I dwell with the deer

On this mountain and yet

I still feel sadness for the lives of men.

Kisen

Kisen is a poet I know very little about but I have always enjoyed poetry from Buddhist monks. This poem is not bad and some interesting wordplay around the Japanese word for deer: "shika". 

花の色はうつりにけりないたづらにわが身世にふるながめせしまに

小野小町

Can be found here

The flower’s beauty

Has passed already,

Vacantly I gaze

At the unending spring rain

As my life vainly drips by.

Ono no Komachi

I really like this poem because Ono no Komachi really hits that note of transience the Japanese are so big on. Withering flowers or falling cherry blossoms are the images used so much by Japanese poets to express their sadness with the ephemeral world while simultaneously basking in its beauty.

Can be found here

あまつかぜ雲のかよひぢ吹きとぢよ乙女のすがたしばしとどめむ

遍照

The heavenly winds

Push drifting clouds across the sky,

Let the gale cease

So I might get a few more moments

With that celestial maiden.

Archbishop Henjo

Henjo is being his majestic self again. I do disagree with Ki no Tsurayuki in saying that Henjo's poetry is "deficient in truth". I would say Henjo's poetry has the depth and truth of other great poems. 

Can be fouund here

ちはやぶる神代もきかず龍田川からくれなゐに水くくるとは

在原 業平

From the age of Gods

When the Earth was torn asunder

I never heard of

Tatsuta River gleaming

With this deep, crimson hue.

Ariwara no Narihira

The first line of this poem is a reference to the Manyoushuu which is the first and quite ancient, famous Japanese poetry anthology. The Tatsuta River is depicted to the right and Tatsuta (the place) is famous for its autumn landscapes. During autumn this tree usually was red with the falling leaves but this poem uses a bizarre word for red or crimson. The term "karakurenawi" which is the fourth line in the Japanese, refers to a hue of crimson that had to be imported from continental Asia. So perhaps he is lamenting the influx of foreign influences in Japan.

Can be found here

草も木も色かはれどもわたつうみの波の花にぞ秋なかりける

文屋康秀

The trees and grasses

Have changed color and yet,

The bright, white blossoms

Of the ocean’s waves remain

Unchanged, as if autumn’ll never come.

 Fun'ya no Yasuhide

I like this poem because it is kind of cute. In this case I think Ki no Tsurayuki might be right when he says Fun'ya no Yasuhide "is an artist in words; with him form is better than substance. He is like a peddler dressed up in fine silks."

何せむにへたのみるめを思ひけむ沖つ玉藻をかづく身にして

大友黒主

Can be found here

She combs the beach

Looking for precious seaweed,

Waist deep in the sea,

She humbly scavenges,

Why do I love her so?

Otomo no Kuronashi

This poem was particularly difficult for me to translate and is more of a work in progress.

Fun'ya no Yasuhide: Tricky Dick

Can be found here

Fun’ya no Yasuhide is a less well-known waka poet but he is listed as one of Ki no Tsurayuki's Six Best Waka Poets. There are only a couple of details from Yasuhide's life that we know. First, he died in 885 A.D. which makes him one of the founding fathers of waka. He also apparently had an affair with Ono no Komachi. That's about all we know. He has only 5 poems featured in the Kokinshuu so even if he was so respected he may have only contributed a small amount of work. Ki no Tsurayuki described his poems as having style but lacking in content. I have neutral opinion on this. His poetry does have some nice wordplay but can also be quite deep. As always these are all my translations. Enjoy!

春の日の光にあたる我なれどかしらの雪となるぞわびしき

文屋康秀

The warming light

Of spring sunshine

Is not enough

To melt the frosty snow

Upon my head.

Fun’ya no Yasuhide

This poem contains the metaphor "かしらの雪" which literally means "head snow". Snow on one's head refers to gray hair which of course represent old age. The poem was apparently written as a reaction to a very young crown prince taking the reign as the emperor of Japan and even the blessing from a such a youthful emperor ("warming light of spring sunshine") was not enough to "melt" the gray hair from his head. 

吹くからに秋の草木のしをるればむべ山風をあらしといふらむ

文屋康秀

Suddenly the wind blows,

The trees and grasses wither

On this autumn day,

Indeed those mountain winds

Wreak havoc like a storm.

Fun’ya no Yasuhide

 This poem is interesting because of its intriguing wordplay and it is featured in Fujiwara no Teika's Hyakuninisshu or"Hundred Poems from a Hundred Poets.In the poem, "山風", yamakaze, literally means "mountain wind" but then look at the character for storm: "嵐" arashi. It is really a combination of the two characters. The last line of the poem reads: "arashi to ifuramu" which means something like "It is indeed called a storm." So the mountain wind alludes to a storm but then there is further wordplay because arashi also means "havoc" or "disaster". 

Otomo no Kuronushi: That Sad, Old Man

Can be found here.

There is little known about Otomo no Kuronushi but he is one of Ki no Tsurayuki's Six Best Waka Poets listed in the preface to the Kokinshuu. He apparently was from Omi in Shiga Prefecture. Since there isn't much information about him out there, there isn't a lot to say. He's a good poet but not as good as Archbishop Henjo. I looked through some of his poetry (it's not so easy to find) and I liked these three the best. I hope you enjoy my translations. 

春雨の降る涙か桜花散るを惜しまぬ人しなければ

大友黒主

Breezy spring showers

Feel like falling tears drops,

Sakura blossoms

Fall and scatter and yet

No one seems to care.

Otomo no Kuronushi

I like this poem because the "spring showers" can be read as rain drops or tear drops. The poem could be a lament for the end of spring and the falling cherry blossoms or could be a metaphor for something more interesting. The last line is ambiguous but I hope my translation is alright. 

鏡山いざ立ちよりて見てゆかむ年経ぬる身は老いやしぬると

大友黒主

This photo can be found here along with more pictures of Mt. Mikami

Kagami Mountain,

Well I believe it’s time for me

To pay a visit, but

Has this aged body of mine

Become too old and weak?

Otomo no Kuronushi

"Kagami Mountain" is present day Mikami Mountain in Shiga Prefecture. It was and remains a sacred place nowadays it's more of a tourist attraction. This poem is a lament for his old age.

思ひ出でて恋しき時は初雁のなきてわたると人知るらめや

大友黒主

When I dwell on

Our times of love and passion

The wild goose takes off

Crying, and I cry with it,

Do they know the way home?

Otomo no Kuronushi

This is apparently a sad lament for an old lover.

Archbishop Henjo: The Majestic

Archbishop Henjo (name at birth: Yoshimine no Munesada: 良岑宗貞) lived during the ninth century and is mentioned in the preface of the Kokinshuu (written by Ki no Tsurayuki) as one of the Six Best Waka Poets and one of the Thirty Six Poetry Immortals. 

Can be found here

The details of his life are pretty much unknown aside from the historical annals listing his positions at court. Since he was an "Archbishop", he did move up in the religious clergy. He was a priest at the Tendai school and lived just outside Kyoto. One interesting thing about him is that he apparently had a love affair with Ono no Komachi. They supposedly had lively exchange of of love poems which I will translate in the coming days.

As little as we know about Henjo, I think his poetry speaks for itself and he is one of my favorite waka poets. Here are only a few examples and as always these are all my translations. Enjoy!

たらちめはかかれとてしもむばたまの我が黒髪を撫でずや有りけん

遍昭

My dear mother,

Surely she wouldn’t have caressed

My long black hair,

If she had known

It would all be chopped off.

Henjo

I like this poem because he is recognizing the pain associated with becoming a Buddhist monk, not just for him but for his loved ones.

花の色は霞にこめて見せずとも香をだにねすめ春の山風

遍昭

The hues and shades

Of the flowers are obscured

By the heavy mist,

The spring breeze of the mountains

Allow me to steal a scent.

Henjo

  

I like the combination of imagery in this poem. He includes the colors of the flowers with the hazy mist, and the breeze from the mountains bringing the fragrance of the blossoms.

はちす葉のにごりにしまぬ心もてなにかは露を玉とあざむく

遍昭

はちす-蓮, Lotus Flower

Petals of lotus

Untainted, still pure,

Still have their hearts.

So then why do drops of dew

Pretend to be jewels?

Henjo

This poem was a bit harder to understand and it is surely metaphorical. There is a canonical understanding of what this poem means but it is important for you to come up with your own understanding for what a poem means. In my opinion, this poem could just be a nice image (it also helps that the Japanese word for "dew" : 露 can also mean "tears", it adds another layer of interpretation) or it could be a social commentary. 

散りねればのちは芥になる花を思ひ知らずまどふてふかな

遍昭

くたに=苦丹=牡丹 Peony

After the blossoms

Have fallen and scattered

They’ll become mere dust,

Yet it will never know,

That fluttering butterfly.

Henjo

This poem is interesting and was difficult to translate. I don't completely understand the subtleties of it since there seems to be a word play around "kuta ni". I think this poem is really a homage to a certain kind of peony but also comparing it to garbage. I need somebody to explain this to me.  

秋の野になまめき立てる女郎花あなかしがまし花もひと時

遍昭

おみなえし-女郎花-Golden Lace

In the autumn fields,

Golden lace, the maiden blossoms,

How lively they are!

They compete with beauty itself,

Even if for only a moment.

Henjo

This poem is nice because it seems like a spring poem but is not at all. I get the feeling that Henjo liked to write poems about particular flowers...

Akazome Emon: Daisy Among Roses

I decided to write about a less well-known female poet by the name of Akazome Emon. She was a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, Izumi Shikibu, and Sei Shonagon. Being surrounded by the previously mentioned poetic giants makes her easy to gloss over. She was a lady who served at court underneath some very influential people. Her poetry was featured in a few collections but she lacks the notoriety that her contemporaries still have. 

Can be found here

Her poetry is sound and interesting. I found a couple examples that I hope you enjoy and as always, these are my translations.

やすらはで寝なましものを小夜更けてかたぶくまでの月を見しかな

赤染衛門

I should’ve slept soundly,

Relaxed and carefree...

Late into the night,

I gazed at the moon

As it finally set.

Akazome Emon

This poem is from the Hyakuninisshu or Collection of a Hundred Poems from a Hundred Poets. The collection was compiled by Fujiwara no Teika and it is one of the most famous poetry collections in Japan. Every Japanese person is aware of it and practically every Japanese student knows the card game associated with it, karuta.

Can  be found here

This poem is about a lady who believed the promise of a man who said he would visit her in the night. She waited all night and watched the moon until finally dawn came. The poem is a bit bitter but is elegant in its own way. The normal conventions are all there: the moon as a harbinger of loneliness and the late night romantic visits depicted in the Tale of Genji and the Tale of Ise.  The poem exemplifies the boredom and restlessness of women at the time who spent countless hours waiting for visits from unreliable men. Considering that men at the time usually had several mistresses outside of their marriage and had 100% control over who they visited and communicated with, it’s an understandable sentiment.

Can be found here

秋の野の花見るほどの心をばゆくとやいはむとまるとやいはん

赤染衛門

Fields of autumn,

When I see the flowers,

My heart, it feels like

It’s completely content, or maybe

It yearns to leave me forever.

Akazome Emon

This poem was very difficult for me to translate because of the last two lines:

ゆくとやいはむ

とまるとやいはん

They both pertain to her heart which is introduced in the third line but have contrasting meanings. I had to consult this website to help with the translation. I’m still a beginner with traditional Japanese but I can notice that the two lines are practically identical except for the first word: ゆく(yuku) and とまる(tomaru). Yuku is an old fashioned way to write Iku which means “to go” and tomaru (same as modern Japanese) means “to stop”. From what I read, the first line has the meaning of complete satisfaction and contentment, and the second line has a similar meaning but means literally that her heart wants to stop or stay in this field.

So actually both lines have essentially the same meaning but she is contrasting two opposing verbs. Very tricky lady...