The hazy early morning light comes not from the moon but from the crystal white snow of Yoshino.
朝ぼらけ | asaborake |
有明の月と | ariake no tsuki to |
見るまでに | miru made ni |
吉野の里に | Yoshino no sato ni |
降れる白雪 | fureru shirayuki |
Sakanoue no Korenori
Sakanoue no Korenori 坂上是則 (?−930?) was an nobleman and a poet of the first half of the Heian period (平安時代 Heian jidai; 794−1192). He was a fourth-generation descendant of a famous general,the first seii taishōgun 征夷大将軍 (Barbarian Subduing Generalissimo) Sakanoue no Tamumaro 坂上田村麻呂 (758−811), and father of one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber (梨壺の五人 Nashitsubo no gonin), Sakanoue no Mochiki 坂上望城 (?−980).
Korenori’s career was modest. From 908 he was Acting Junior Secretary (権少掾 gon shōjō) and Acting Secretary (権掾 gon jō) of Yamato 大和 province (present-day Nara 奈良 prefecture), then for a little over a decade from 912 he held different posts in the Ministry of Central Affairs (中務省 Nakatsukasashō), and finally, in 924, he was promoted to Lower Grade of Junior Fifth Rank (従五位下 jugoi ge) and the position of Assistant Governor of Kaga province (加賀介 Kaga no suke), the southern part of present-day Ishikawa 石川 prefecture.
While serving in different posts, Korenori was also an active poet and as such made a name for himself. Contemporary to many poets of the Kokinshū 古今集 (Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern; 905) age, records of poetry contests show that Korenori was present at the same events as Kokinshū compilers Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (866/872−954; Hyakunin Isshu 35), Ki no Tomonori 紀友則 (845−905; Hyakunin Isshu 33), Mibu no Tadamine 壬生忠岑 (after 850−?; Hyakunin Isshu 30), and Ōshikōchi no Mitsune 凡河内躬恒 (859−925; Hyakunin Isshu 29), as well as Minamoto no Muneyuki 源宗于 (?−939; Hyakunin Isshu 28), poetess Ise 伊勢 (around 875−938; Hyakunin Isshu 19) and Emperor Uda (宇多天皇 Uda tennō; 867−931; reigned 887−897), who himself sponsored many poetic gatherings.
Korenori was part of an exceptionally acclaimed poetic circle but his poetry was not out of place. He was recognised by compilers of imperial collections, where he has a little over forty poems, while Fujiwara no Kintō 藤原公任 (966–1041; Hyakunin Isshu 55) selected him as one of Thirty Six Poetic Immortals (三十六歌仙 Sanjūrokkasen). His personal collection Korenori Shū 是則集 (Collected Poems of Korenori) also survives, with one of the best copies having been made under the supervision of Fujiwara no Teika 藤原定家 (1162−1241; Hyakunin Isshu 97).
Daybreak, as if the moon
Korenori’s poem in the Hyakunin Isshu is originally found in Kokinshū, where it is included in the sole book of winter poems, with a headnote: when he had gone to Yamato province, he composed upon seeing the fallen snow. Although it is unknown whether the poem was composed when Korenori was serving as the Secretary of Yamato province, the influence of his experiences in Yamato is doubtless there, as Korenori is able to depict a mysterious and scenic winter dawn in the snowy mountains.
The opening line of the poem − asaborake, − immediately leaves an impression of a cold dawn. Asaborake means “dawn” or “daybreak”, but the word is only used in winter and autumn, therefore immediately suggesting a wintry scenery.
If the opening line suggests the season, the following line ariake no tsuki to implies the second half of the lunar month, after the sixteenth (十六夜 izayoi) night and especially after the twentieth (更待月 fukemachizuki), when the moon becomes visible at dawn. But this suggestion is only to cast doubts as in the third line, miru made ni, miru, rather than “to see” means “to think”, “to see and suppose [that]”, and the following made ni means “so much so that”, therefore implying a winter daybreak, such that one could suppose the moon has lingered to the dawn.
As the closing two lines − Yoshino no sato ni / fureru shirayuki − reveal, such is the white snow has fallen at the dwelling in Yoshino. Yoshino 吉野, inseparable from the picturesque Mount Yoshino (吉野山 Yoshino yama), famous for snowy landscapes in winter and cherry blossoms (桜sakura) in spring, is a poetic place name (歌枕 utamakura) of Yamato province. And there in Yoshino, at the place where the poet may have stopped on his journey (sato means “dwelling” or “village”), having “fallen” (fureru, combining fure, the izenkei 已然形 or perfective form of furu, with resultative auxiliary ri in rentaikei 連体形 or attributive form, ru) is the “white snow” (shirayuki). Uncharacteristically in Japanese and especially for Korenori’s time, not lending itself to translation either, but therefore showing charm of the original, the the poem employs a technique called taigendome 体言止め (nominal ending) and ends with a noun shirayuki, thus allowing the mind to continue wandering in the snowy white landscape.
Dayspring,
appearing as if
the moon had lingered at dawn,
white snow has fallen
at a dwelling in Yoshino.
And so Korenori paints and elegant yet slightly confusing landscape. That is because he plays with the idea of “elegant confusion”, coming from Chinese poetry. To him, the white snow at Yoshino is so bright in the first light of dawn, it is as if the moon had lingered in the sky, while most likely it has not...