夏の夜は | natsu no yo wa |
まだ宵ながら | mada yoi nagara |
明けぬるを | akenuru wo |
雲のいづこに | kumo no izuko ni |
月宿るらむ | tsuki yadoru ran |
Kiyohara no Fukayabu
Kiyohara no Fukayabu 清原深養父 (active from the second half of 9th century to the first half of 10th century) was a low-ranking official and poet of mid-Heian period (平安時代 Heian jidai; 794−1192). A son of Assistant Governor of Buzen1 (豊前介 Buzen no suke) Kiyohara no Fusanori 清原房則 (dates uncertain), Fukayabu never rose above the Lower Grade of Junior Fifth Rank (従五位下 jugoi no ge) and his highest office was that of Senior Secretary of the Bureau of Palace Storehouses (内蔵大允 Kura no daijō), which he reached in the year 930.
Other than his few ranks and offices, very little is known about Fukayabu’s life, and even matters surrounding his final years are much rather stories − ones of his life in seclusion north of the capital (now Kyōto 京都), where he is said to have constructed Fudaraku temple (補陀落寺 Fudarakuji), − than recorded history.
But Fukayabu’s poetic talent was well-known and sources suggest he maintained friendly relations with other notable poetic figures of his day, among whom was Middle Counselor (中納言 chūnagon) Fujiwara no Kanesuke 藤原兼輔 (877−933; Hyakunin Isshu 27) and one of Kokinshū 古今集 (Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern; 905) compilers Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (866 or 872–945?; Hyakunin Isshu 35).
Fukayabu’s poetry was well-liked during his time and his personal collection Fukayabu shū 深養父集 (Collected Poems of Fukayabu) may well have been used when compiling the Kokinshū, where seventeen of his poems are included. But while another twenty four can be found later in imperial collections, generations immediately following Fukayabu did not hold his poetry in high esteem and it was not until 12th century that his poems once again came into attention.
Soon after the time of Fukayabu, Fujiwara no Kintō 藤原公任 (966−1041; Hyakunin Isshu 55), who selected the list of Thirty Six Poetic Immortals (三十六歌仙 Sanjūrokkasen) and chose Fukayabu’s grandson Kiyohara no Motosuke 清原元輔 (908−990; Hyakunin Isshu 42), forwent Fukayabu’s name and poems, and for this was criticised by later generations. Fujiwara no Kiyosuke 藤原清輔 (1104−1177; Hyakunin Isshu 84) in his Fukuro Zōshi 袋草紙 (Book of Folded Pages; 1156−1159) doubted Kintō’s judgement. Kiyosuke’s contemporary Fujiwara no Norikane 藤原範兼 (1107−1165) somewhat corrected the earlier non-inclusion by selecting Fukayabu among his Late Classical Thirty−Six Poetic Immortals (中古三十六歌仙 Chūko sanjūrokkasen), − a list where Fukayabu’s great-granddaughter Sei Shōnagon 清少納言 (b. 965? − ?; Hyakunin Isshu 62) is also included, − but perhaps most important and influential were the judgements of Mikohidari 御子左 poets. First, of Fujiwara no Shunzei 藤原俊成 (Fujiwara no Toshinari; 1114−1204; Hyakunin Isshu 83), when he selected Fukayabu’s poem for his Korai fūteishō 古来風体抄 (Poetic Styles from the Past; 1197), and later, the decision of his son Fujiwara no Teika (Fujiwara no Sadaie; 1162−1241; Hyakunin Isshu 97) to include the very same poem among those that became known as the Hyakunin Isshu.
Night, still early, has dawned...
Composed before dawn, on a night when the moon was particularity charming
Summer night
still early
has dawned, but
has the moon come to reside
somewhere in the clouds?
Neither is the wording of this poem from the book of summer poems in Kokinshū awfully puzzling, nor does it use any complex poetic devices − only personification of the moon stands out. The poem itself is rather simple, but the atmosphere it conveys has undeniable charm about it. Whether grasping this atmosphere requires knowledge of poetic conventions of the time, or simple awareness of the seasons and place of poem’s composition, is perhaps not for me to answer, but I would lean towards the second option.
To understand this poem, one must firstly be aware (or become aware in the process of reading) that summer nights − as opposed to nights in other seasons − are short. This shortness of summer nights is not stated, but the poem builds on the idea from the very first line, when the emphasis − marked by marked by contrastive wa at the end of the first line − is put not merely on “night” (yoru), but on “summer night” (natsu no yo wa).
These summer nights are so short that “while still early” (mada yoi nagara), they dawn, and thus the night in the poem too “has dawned” (akenuru): here ake is ren’yōkei 連用形 (continuative form) of aku (“to dawn”), and nuru is rentaikei 連体形 (attributive form) of perfective auxiliary verb nu.
“But” (wo) on short summer nights that dawn so early, where would the late-setting moon of the second half of the lunar month be?
The poem was most probably composed in the capital that is now Kyōto or at least with the landscape of the capital in mind. There, the moon would set over the western hills, and the personified moon of the poem would “reside” (yadoru) in there. But as the night was probably partly cloudy and the moon was nowhere to be seen, the author made a guess that perhaps the moon took residence in the clouds. Thus, in the last two lines (here inverted), he asked: “is the moon is residing” (tsuki yadoruran) “somewhere in the clouds” (kumo no izuko ni)?
The second half of the poem is of speculative nature. The moon is nowhere to be seen, and so the author has to guess where it is. His speculation is marked by izuko (“somewhere”, “where”) and the speculative auxiliary verb ran (in rentaikei), attached to yadoru (“to reside”). At the same time, because the author uses ran, which usually marks speculation about the present, the poem seems not a conjured illusion but an embodiment of a summer night that the author saw himself, − a poem composed on that night.
No two nights, no two summers are ever the same. The night that Fukayabu once saw came and went hundreds of years ago. And yet, we still recognise summer as summer, and summer nights are still short; some nights are cloudy, for some the moon does indeed set over hills in the west, − and so Fukayabu’s poem still speaks to a reader hundreds of years, thousands of miles away.
Notes
* As far as I am aware, only a partial translation of the poem is to be found among the Crunchyroll subtitles of Chihayafuru animated series. Therefore the underlined part was added by myself:
May I find the moon somewhere in the clouds, before this short summer night fully breaks.
As for this translation, it is not accurate but charming in its own way, so I have made no other changes.
1 Buzen 豊前 province in Kyūshū 九州, eastern part of modern Fukuoka 福岡 prefecture and northern part of modern Ōita 大分prefecture.
Illustrations
Square illustration: Nobunaga kontseruto 信長協奏曲〈コンツェルト〉, dir. Fujikawa Yuusuke 冨士川祐輔, Fuji TV, 2014. / Edited by author of the blog.
Poet card: Kiyohara no Fukayabu by Katsukawa Shunshō 勝川春章 1775, carved and pained by David Bull in 1992.
Poem sheet: edited by author of the blog with stills from
Owarimonogatari 終物語, dir. Itamura Tomoyuki 板村智幸, Shaft, 2015;
Nobunaga kontseruto.