Kokinshu #68

Written during the poetry contest in the Teiji Palace.

    O cherry blossoms
of the mountain village where
    no one can see you,
would that you keep blooming
after others have scattered.

—26 November 2010

Original by Ise. Teiji belonged to retired emperor Uda, who hosted this contest in 913. Which presents us with a chronology problem, as the two Kokinshu prefaces assert that the anthology was either commissioned or completed in 905 (they disagree on which), and circumstantial evidence otherwise suggests that the work took at most a year or two. Do we conclude that "commissioned" is right and work actually took rather longer than expected, or that the transmitted Kokinshu texts represent a silently revised version that shows no seams in the finely balanced progression? (Such revisions would include three poems from the Teiji contest, plus a couple others dated somewhat after 905.) Either way, scholars continue to debate this. As for the poem itself, contrast the sentiment with several previous poems, especially #50. Again, the unmarked flowers can be address or subject/topic.

And so concludes book 1. Woofs. Before going on to book 2, containing the other half of spring and even more cherry blossoms, I've a few weeks' worth of other things, mostly scatterings from the rest of the Kokinshu that caught my eye.


miru hito mo
naki yamazato no
sakurabana
hoka no chirinamu
nochi zo sakamashi

---L.