Kokinshu #178

[lnhammer]

A poem from the poetry contest held in the palace of the consort in the same era.

    It is cold indeed,
a heart that could promise that:
    is meeting but once
a year on Tanabata
really a meeting at all?

—15 November 2011

Original by Fujiwara no Okikaze. Back to purely earthbound speculation. I cannot help thinking this isn't really a Tanabata poem but rather using the story's trappings to accuse the speaker's lover. Either way, though, it doesn't work for me because it's blaming the victim: meeting one night a year isn't the idea of either the Weaver Maid or the Oxherd, but a punishment from her grandfather, the Emperor of Heaven, for shirking her weaving for love. "But," "really," and "at all" are rhetorical rather than literal, from the question marked as expecting a negative answer.


chigirikemu
kokoro zo tsuraki
tanabata no
toshi ni hitotabi
au wa au ka wa

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

"... au wa au ka wa" is a great last line, isn't it? I was a bit surprised to see "cold" as the translation for "tsuraki". I read this poem with more of a "Those poor bastards, making a vow that only lets them see each other once a year" sort of vibe. -Matt

[lnhammer]

Is it indeed a great last line.

I waffled a lot over how to understand tsuraki. I forget exactly what led me to that chose that sense -- possibly the feeling that he was talking about his own situation, rather than just the stars.

---L.