An Imperial Court Poetess

Ono no Komachi by Kano Tan'yu, 1648

Ono no Komachi by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, 1886

Masterpieces of Japanese Art opened at the Cincinnati Art Museum this month.  It’s a fabulous exhibit with over 100 artworks from the tenth to the twentieth centuries, including hanging scrolls, folding screens, ceramics, metal works, armor and a spectacular Friendship Doll.

On March 18 Dr. Gergana Ivanova and I will present a program at the museum, Art and Japanese Court Life.  We’ll illustrate our talk with the fifteen artworks from the exhibit that are based on the imperial court life of the Heian Period (794-1185).  Courtiers were expected to be excellent poets.

Translations from a foreign language are always a challenge.  One poem of Ono no Komachi (843-880) is a perfect example.  She was renowned for her beauty and is counted as one of the “Six Great Poets,” the only woman among them.  Below I quote from Hokusai One Hundred Poets (Hokusai created prints to illustrate the great poets) by Peter Morse, George Braziller, Inc. Publishers, 1989.

Color of the flower                             Hana no iro wa

Has already passed away                Utsuri ni keri ni

While on trivial things                         Itazawa ni

Vainly I have set my gaze,                 Waga mi yo ni furu

In my journey in the world.                  Nagame seshi ma ni

Ono no Komachi                                 (translated by MacCauley 1917)

“This is among the most famous poems of all times.  A great deal of its meaning comes from wordplay, which renders it difficult to translate.  No fewer than thirty-six English translations have been found. (Below are two of those thirty-six from the book’s appendix.)  This totals perhaps more different translations of a text from another language into English than any work except the Bible.  It provides poetry lovers with an unparalleled chance to understand a poem better by seeing it through different eyes.”

“The poet sets her scene in early summer, the time of rains.  Iro means not only “color,” as in flowers, but also a woman’s facial beauty.  Furu means “passing through,” but also “to fall” or “to grow old.”  Nagame means “to gaze for a long time” but also “long rains.”  This whole poem is an intricate comparison of fading flowers’ color in the rains and the poet’s sense of her own fading beauty in old age.”  Another translator, Noguchi, suggests a lament for a lost love.  Ono no Komachi continues to be a frequent subject for Japanese artists.

The flowers and my love                         As the constant rain

Passed away under the rain,                  Fades the color of the cherry blossoms

While I idly looked upon them;                I reflect time’s beating

Where is my yester-love?                       On my beauty.

                  Noguchi (1914)                                   Myerscough (1984)

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ono_no_Komachi

Selected Japanese Poems

While compiling the research for my Tokaidō stories, I’ve developed a deep appreciation and love of Japanese poetry.  This month I finished the forty-first of the fifty-seven stories that I’ve planned.  All are historical fiction based on events and politics of 1830s Japan.  Most open with a poem that captures the spirit of the story or the main character.  A few open with lyrics from a popular song, a Shinto prayer or in one case, a speech from a Kabuki play.

For the past week we have been nursing, Yuki, our very sick older cat.  Last night I relaxed in great-grandmother Mary’s rocking chair while Mariko, our younger cat, curled up in my lap for some snuggle time.  My choice of reading?  The Poetry of Zen translated and edited by Sam Hamill and J. P. Seaton.  Let me share with you a few of the poems which brought me comfort.

            How mysterious!

            The lotus remains unstained

by its muddy roots,

delivering shimmering

bright jewels from common dew.

                        Sojo Henjo (816-890)

            I’d like to divide

myself in order to see,

            among these mountains,

            each and every flower

            of every cherry tree.

                        Saigyo (1118-1190)

            Quite the contrary

to what I’d thought, passing clouds

are sometimes simply

the moon’s entertainment,

its lovely decoration.

                        Saigyo (1118-1190)

            Culture’s beginnings:

from the heart of the country

rice-planting songs.

                        Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

            The distant mountains

are reflected in the eye

of the dragonfly

            Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827)