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Kokinshu #144
Friday, 7 October 2011 07:03 Written on the cuckoos singing in Isonokami Temple in Nara.
Isonokami --
in the capital of old,
here it is only
the voices of the cuckoos
that are as in days gone by.
isonokami
furuki miyako no
hototogisu
koe bakari koso
mukashi narikere
---L.
Isonokami --
in the capital of old,
here it is only
the voices of the cuckoos
that are as in days gone by.
—25 September-6 October 2011
(Original by Sosei.) Isonokami was for a long time Sosei's main residence as a monk (the same temple speculated upon for Komachi's GSS 1195-6 -- remember that Henjô was Sosei's father). Further in the past, its location was the capital for two 5th-century Kofun-period (i.e., semi-legendary) emperors, and so its name is also a stock epithet for things described as "old." Thus, the first two lines could be read as either "in the capital that's as old as Isonokami" or "in Isonokami, the old capital" -- if the headnote didn't make it clear it's the latter. Constraints of form and English syntax forced me to be a little more creative in my interpretation than usual, which is another way of saying I feel like I'm not really on my game with this version, allowing the form to control me ("please try harder"). Compare with #90 as another contrast between human change and eternal nature.isonokami
furuki miyako no
hototogisu
koe bakari koso
mukashi narikere
---L.