Kokinshu #12
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 07:29![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammerA poem from the poetry contest held in the palace of the consort in the Kanpyô era.
In the valley wind
the river ice is melting,
and in every crack
little waves are spurting out --
might they be spring's first flowers?
An alternate version that follows the grammar more closely but wrecks the progression of images:
The waves that spurt out
from each of the crevices
in the ice melting
beneath the valley breezes --
might they be spring's first flowers?
Original:
tanikaze ni
tokuru kôri no
himagoto ni
uchi-izuru nami ya
haru no hatsuhana
---L.
In the valley wind
the river ice is melting,
and in every crack
little waves are spurting out --
might they be spring's first flowers?
—18 September 2010
Original by Minamoto no Masazumi, who has this single poem in the Kokinshu. The consort was either the mother or wife of Emperor Uda; she hosted the contest (second of what became a Heian court tradition) in 893. All four Kokinshu compilers participated, and they included 65 poems from it. "River" is my interpolation, but without what seems the intended setting, shortly before the ice breaks, it doesn't make sense to me. On the other hand, while "wave" is literal, I can't help but think it overstates things, unless this is a rushing river that froze. Like KKS #2, this poem alludes to a line from the Book of Rites.An alternate version that follows the grammar more closely but wrecks the progression of images:
The waves that spurt out
from each of the crevices
in the ice melting
beneath the valley breezes --
might they be spring's first flowers?
Original:
tanikaze ni
tokuru kôri no
himagoto ni
uchi-izuru nami ya
haru no hatsuhana
---L.