Hyakunin Isshu: poem 46 (Sone no Yoshitada・yura no to wo)

Like a boatsman adrift at the mouth of Yura, I do not know where this love will take me.

由良のとを		Yura no to wo
渡る舟人		wataru funa-bito
かぢをたえ		kaji-wo tae
行くへも知らぬ		yukue mo shiranu
恋の道かな		koi no michi kana

Sone no Yoshitada

Sone no Yoshitada 曽禰好忠 was active in the second half of 11th century, which makes him a mid-Heian period (平安時代 Heian jidai; 794–1192) poet. Nevertheless, little is known about him, except for the fact that he was a secretary (掾 jō) in Tango 丹後 province (northern part of modern  Kyōto prefecture [京都府 Kyōto-fu]). Because of being stationed in Tango, he is sometimes being called Sotan 曽丹.

 

Both Yoshitada’s poetry and personality were eccentric. The first meant that his poetry remained largely unappreciated while he was alive, and the second gave rise to many anecdotes. One of such anecdotes tells of how Yoshitada, although uninvited, marched into a poetry contest (歌合 uta-awase) and insisted that there was no way a distinguished poet like him would not be invited and then pulled out his collar (Suzuki, Yamaguchi, Yoda 2014, 73), which should have seemed eccentric and really strange. 

 

Yoshitada’s eccentric poems were not valued in his time but came toe be admired in 12th and 13th centuries. Thus Yoshitada has 89 poems in imperial anthologies, with most included in the 6th imperial anthology Shikashū (詞花集 Collection of Verbal Flowers; compiled in 1151–1154) and 8th imperial anthology Shinkokinshū (新古今集 New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern; presented in 1205; finished around 1216). 

Love, like a small boat adrift

The poem by Yoshitada was originally included in Shinkokinshū, in the first book of love poems. The topic is stated as unknown – that is, the exact topic is unknown; the broad topic is “love”. 

 

The original poem starts with Yura no to 由良のと (由良の門 in other transcriptions), which is utamakura 歌枕, or a poetic place name. There were two places called Yura 由良 – one in Tango, another one in Kii 紀伊 province. Since Yoshitada served in Tango, it is safe to presume that the Yura in his poem is that in Tango or modern-day Kyoto prefecture, in Miyazu 宮津 city, where Yura 由良 river flows into Wakasa bay (若狭湾 Wakasa wan).

 

The meaning of the third line of the poem is debatable, as kaji-wo tae かぢをたえ can be transcribed as both 梶を絶え (meaning he loses his oar) and as 梶緒絶え (meaning the oar-cord snaps). While kaji 梶 in both interpretations is the same “oar”, the disputed part is を/緒 – the former being a case-making particle, the letter meaning cord. Although the first interpretation is more widely-accepted, there is evidence that the presumed compiler of Hyakunin Isshu, Fujiwara no Teika 藤原定家 (1162-1241, Hyakunin Isshu 97), supported the second interpretation (Mostow 1996, 287).

 

Yukue mo shiranu 行くへも知らぬ of the fourth line can be seen as connecting to both the third and the fifth lines.

 

かぢをたえ行くへも知らぬ Kaji-wo tae yukue mo shiranu	Adrift [either because the oar is lost or because the oar-cord snapped], I do not know what will become
行くへも知らぬ恋の道かな Yukue mo shiranu koi no michi kana	I do not know where the road of love will take me

 

Through connecting the third and fifth lines, yukue mo shiranu connects the whole poem. Everything that precedes it is considered a jokotoba 序詞 – a kind of a preface to the main idea of the poem. Hence,  like a boatman adrift at the mouth of Yura, one does not know where the path of love (恋の道 koi no michi) will take them.

 

Like a boatman crossing the mouth of Yura, adrift as the oat-cord has snapped, − I do not know, where the road of love will take me.

Chōyaku Chihayafuru or a super liberal interpretation of Chihayafuru

or karuta as Mashima Taichi's way of love (as implied by yura no to wo poem)

This poem is closely connected to Taichi and his karuta life, as if karuta is the way of love for the character. This connection is established in the second year, high school team tournament final, both in the manga and the anime (I will look at the latter for now.)

Animated series, season 2・episode 19. Yukue mo shiranu koi no michi kana ゆくへもしらぬこひのみちかな (officially: I do not know where this love will take me). This episode focuses on the last moments of the team tournament final in the second year. Chihaya has won her game, Nishida and Mashima synchronise their cards for the luck-of-the-draw and Mashima keeps yura ゆら – the poem analysed above. If yura is read, both he and Nishida win their games giving Mizusawa 3 wins, 2 losses, winning the tournament.

The episode contains plenty of Taichi’s internal monologue, containing a large amount of foreshadowing, painting his way ahead in the karuta journey. Most notably, he says:

“We’ll have plenty of chances to try to become Master and Queen. But we only get to play as team during our three years in high school. There’s no guarantee that we’ll make it back to the finals next year. We’ll probably never get another chance like this!”

Taichi’s monologue is intercepted by Kanade’s analysis of the poem. Kanade, within her internal monologue, says:

“The famous Sone no Yoshitada poem… Of all cards, this is the one President gets… <…> The mouth of Yura is where river meets the ocean. There, love lost its oars in the waters, left with no idea where it will go…”

This gives a feeling of Kanade again analysing Taichi’s love, much like in season 1・episode 23, where shinoburedo しのぶれど (poem 40) is the focus. This time karuta is at the forefront, but the poem is one of love, only highlighting the connection between the two matters and Taichi – the theme continued as the story progresses.

But before the story progresses, they have a match to finish and to do that, Taichi goes as far as to say: “God… I beg you… I don’t care if my card is never read in a luck-of-the-draw again. So please… Just today… This one time… Just this once…”

As if given the role of the lyrical speaker of this poem, not knowing where this love will take him, Taichi bets everything on this one match – the sign of its importance, the sign of this poem’s importance as well. With the card read, I believe he starts to walk this way of love – inseparable from the game itself.

Animated series, season 3・episode 23. Wataru funa-bito kaji-wo tae わたるふなびとかぢをたえ (Officially: Like a boatsman adrift; I’d say: A boatsman adrift). After his confession to Chihaya, Taichi is leaving the karuta club at the end of second year.

The title here is purely an anime addition, but in a sense, the poem fits – it still implies a story of Taichi’s karuta journey, so the choice of this poem as the title could be taken as a hint of a new beginning, a road unknown that is ahead of Taichi, a turn in the story. Taichi might be going towards realisation that he has grown to love karuta in itself, with or without Chihaya.