風そよぐ | kaze soyogu |
楢の小川の | Nara no ogawa no |
夕暮れは | yūgure wa |
御禊ぞ夏の | misogi zo natsu no |
しるしなりける | shirushi narikeru |
Ietaka of Junior Second Rank
Fujiwara no Ietaka 藤原家隆 (1158−1237), sometimes called by the Chinese reading of his name − Karyū, was early Kamakura period (鎌倉時代 Kamakura jidai; 1192−1333) courtier and one of the most outstanding poets of his time. Son of Middle Counselor (中納言 Chūnagon) Fujiwara no Mitsutaka 藤原光隆 (1127−1201) and Fujiwara no Sanekane’s Daughter (藤原実兼女 Fujiwara no Sakenake no Musume; dates uncertain), Ietaka belonged to Yoshikado lineage (良門流 Yoshikado-ryū) of Fujiwara 藤原 clan and was a distant relative of Murasaki Shikibu1 紫式部 (around 973 – 1014 or 1025; Hyakunin Isshu 57).
In 1175 he was first bestowed an official rank, in 1177 he was appointed gentleman-in-waiting (侍従 Jijū), and in early 1180s he began attracting attention as a promising poet. In 1187, when head of Mikohidari 御子左 poetic house, Fujiwara no Shunzei 藤原俊成 (also read as Fujiwara no Toshinari; 1114–1204; Hyakunin Isshu 83) was compiling seventh imperial collection Senzaishū 千載集 (Collection of a Thousand Years), four of Ietaka’s poems were selected.
Recognition in Senzaishū was just the beginning of Ietaka’s poetic fame and not long after he firmly established himself as one of the leading poets of the day. In 1193 he was among talented participants of Fujiwara no Yoshitsune’s 藤原良経 (also called Kujō Yoshitsune 九条良経; 1169–1206; Hyakunin Isshu 91) Roppyakuban Utaawase 六百番歌合 (Poetry Contest in Six Hundred Rounds), and leading into 1200s Ietaka participated in numerous poetic activities.
When in early 1200s Retired Emperor Gotoba (後鳥羽院 Gotoba-in; 1180−1239) began work on Shinkokinshū 新古今集(New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern; presented in 1205), Ietaka was initially selected among the eleven members of Gotoba’s newly established Wakadokoro 和歌所 (Bureau of Poetry), and later − among the six compilers of Shinkokinshū2.
He composed on many occasions that served as sources of new poems from Shinkokinshū, and while among those most often noted are the Shōji shodo hyakushu 正治初度百首 (First Hundred-Poem Sequences of Shōji Era; 1200)3 and Sengohyakuban utaawase 千五百番歌合 (Poetry Contest in One Thousand Five Hundred Rounds; 1202−1203), Ietaka was present for many more events. Even mentioning Santai waka 三体和歌 (Waka in Three Styles; 1202); Minase(dono) koi jūgoshu utaawase 水無瀬（殿）恋十五首歌合 (Poetry Contest of Fifteen Love Verses at Minase [Villa]; 1202), Kasuga no yashiro no utaawase 春日社歌合 (Poetry Contest for Kasuga Shrine; 1204) − all events where Ietaka participated, − still barely scratches the surface when talking about the activities he took part in during the years of somewhat extravagant and very lively Gotoba’s poetic salon.
As one of the compilers of Shinkokinshū, Ietaka was also present in the official presentation of the anthology, and even acted as a reader (講師 kōji) during the presentation banquet (Huey 2002, 316). But the event, which took place on the 26th of the Third Lunar Month of 1205, was nothing more than a presentation and work on Shinkokinshū continued all the way to 1216, with poems being added as late as 1207, when Gotoba sponsored screen paintings and poems for Saishōshitennō-in 最勝四天王院 monastery, and Ietaka, by then Minister of Emperor’s Household (宮内卿 Kunaikyō), was again among the poets composing.
Even after Shinkokinshū was finished, Ietaka remained an active poet and composed for numerous occasions all the way into 1230s. He also maintained close relations and continued poetic exchanges with Retired Emperor Gotoba, even following the events of the Jōkyū Disturbance (承久の乱 Jōkyū no ran; 1221), Gotoba’s exile to Oki 隠岐, and the shift in political powers in the capital.
In the Ninth Lunar Month of 1235 Ietaka was granted Junior Second Rank (従二位 ju’nii), with which he is listed in Shinchokusenshū 新勅撰集 (New Imperial Waka Collection; 1235) as well as the Hyakunin Isshu. But due to an illness in 1236 Ietaka took Buddhist vows and moved to Settsu Shitennōji 摂津四天王寺 temple, in the branch temple of which he passed away in 1237.
Nevertheless, his poetic legacy continued for many years. Before, throughout, and beyond the years of Gotoba salon, Ietaka was alongside Mikohidari poets. Fujiwara no Shunzei was his teacher, daughter of Shunzei’s adopted son Jakuren 寂蓮 (Fujiwara no Sadanaga 藤原定長; 1139?–1202; Hyakunin Isshu 87) was his wife, and Shunzei’s son Fujiwara no Teika 藤原定家 (also read as Fujiwara no Sadaie; 1162–1241; Hyakunin Isshu 97) remained his close friend. Together, Teika and Ietaka became synonymous with the new poetic style that emerged during the Kenkyū 建久 (1190–1199) era and defined the age of Shinkokinshū. And while Teika is considered a genius of his time, Ietaka is often considered Teika’s poetic equal − a higher praise perhaps impossible to find.
Ietaka’s children, Fujiwara no Takasuke 藤原隆祐 (before 1190 − after 1251), and daughter known as Tsuchimikado-in no Kosaishō 土御門院小宰相 (dates uncertain), were also poets, and while their compositions were not among those Teika praised, some were nevertheless selected by Teika’s descendants for later imperial collections.
Ietaka himself has 284 poems in imperial anthologies, and his compositions are compiled in a couple of dedicated collections. He himself put his most notable compositions in the form of a personal poetry contest Ietaka kyō hyakuban jikaawase 家隆卿百番自歌合 (The One Hundred Round Contest of Lord Ietaka’s Own Poems), but someone else has also compiled his personal collection known as Gyokuginshū 玉吟集 (Collection of Jewelled Songs) or simply Minishū 壬二集. The latter title combines the opening syllables of Mibu no Nihon 壬生二品, a name by which Ietaka was sometimes referred to, and there Mibu 壬生 refers to a place where he owned a house, Nihon 二品 − to his second rank. Ietaka is also is listed among The New Thirty Six Poetic Immortals (新三十六歌仙 Shinsajūrokkasen), and a poem of his can of course be found in Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Oak leaves rustling in the wind...
Rustling in the wind
Oak trees over Nara stream
at nightfall
ritual purifications are indeed
the signs of summer lingering.
According to headnote in Shinchokusenshū, the poem was composed in the first year of Kangi 寛喜 (1229), for a folding screen marking the official entry into the Palace of the Empress-to-be. The Empress-to-be was Kujō Sonshi 九条竴子 (or Shunshi, 1209−1233), Chancellor (関白 kanpaku) Kujō Michiie’s 九条道家 (1193−1252) daughter, who in 1230 became Empress Consort (中宮 chūgū) of Emperor Gohorikawa (後堀河天皇 Gohorikawa tennō; 1212−1234). A number of poems was composed for folding screens commemorating her entrance into the Imperial Palace, but Teika severely criticised almost all poems Ietaka submitted for the occasion, − except this one, which he praised as a fine composition (Kubota 2009, 124).
Ietaka’s poem was written on a topic “Sixth Lunar Month Ablutions” (六月祓 Minazuki barae). The said ablutions were carried out on the last day of Sixth Lunar Month, which marked both the end of the first half of the Lunar year, and the end of summer. Therefore the poem is a “last day of summer” composition, which appropriately closes not only the book of summer poems in Shinchokusenshū but the Hyakunin Isshu as well, where it corresponds to the “first day of summer” verse of Empress Jitō (持統天皇 Jitō tennō; 645–702; Hyakunin Isshu 2) at the very beginning of the anthology.
In his poem Ietaka follows the poetic conventions of his day and employs a technique of poetic allusions or poetic borrowing, called honkadori 本歌取り. When honkadori is used, older poem is taken as honka 本歌 or foundation poem, and a new verse is composed on borrowed syllables from an older verse. Ietaka’s poem can be seen as alluding not to one but two older verses. One is a love verse perhaps mistakenly attributed to Man’yōshū 万葉集 (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves; around 759) period poetess Yashiro no Ōkimi 八代女王 (8th century), another − Minamoto no Yoritsuna’s 源頼綱 (1024−1097) late summer verse from Goshūishū 後拾遺集 (Later Collection of Gleanings; 1086):
Yashiro no Ōkimi: Shinkokinshū 1376/1375
| ||
みそぎする | Misogi suru | In the river wind |
ならの小川の | Nara no ogawa no | of Nara stream |
河風に | kawa kaze ni | of ritual purifications |
祈りぞわたる | inori zo wataru | I continue praying |
下に絶えじと | shita ni taeji to | for my secret to endure. |
Minamoto no Yoritsuna: Goshūishū 231
| ||
夏山の | Natsu yama no | Nightfall |
楢の葉そよぐ | nara no ha soyogu | rustling oak leaves |
夕暮は | yūgure wa | of summer mountains, |
ことしも秋の | kotoshi mo aki no | this year too |
心ちこそすれ | kokochi koso sure | hints of autumn. |
One can clearly see how Ietaka borrows the second line from Yashiro no Ōkimi’s verse, but also takes from the second and third lines of Minamoto no Yoritsuna’s poem. In doing so, he also creates a kakekotoba 掛詞 or a pivot word, so beloved since the age of Kokinshū 古今集(Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern; 905). The pivot word is Nara, which in Ietaka’s poem first means an “oak” tree, but then becomes part of Nara no ogawa or “Nara stream” , which refers to Mitarashi 御手洗 river, flowing near Kamigamo Shrine (上賀茂神社 Kamigamo jinja) in northern Kyōto 京都, and a site of ritual purifications.
Ietaka borrows from his foundation poems, but he undoubtedly composes a new verse which is neither of love, nor of the the last days of summer carrying a feeling of autumn; which answers his set topic and highlights the ritual purifications, but it also suggests the “last day of summer”, where the nearing autumn is hinted at but never explicitly mentioned.
The beauty of Ietaka’s poem is its effortless use of poetic techniques, which is effective and layered, but never overwhelming; his imagery and language clear but not immediately obvious.
Nightfall, − | yūgure | 風そよぐ 楢の小川の 夕暮れは 御禊ぞ夏の しるしなりける
kaze soyogu Nara no ogawa no yūgure wa misogi zo natsu no shirushi narikeru |
wind | kaze | |
rustling | soyogu; in rentaikei 連体形 or attributive form | |
in the oaks | nara | |
over Nara stream | Nara no ogawa | |
ablutions | misogi | |
are indeed | declarative particle zo, which binds the final keru to be in rentaikei | |
a sign | shirushi | |
of summer. | natsu no | |
Nari of narikeru is a copular auxiliary verb in ren’yōkei 連用形 or continuative form, whereas keru carries an exclamatory connotation and marks noticing something, in this case, ablutions as the sign of summer. | ||
Notes
1 Ietaka’s lineage through male relatives can be traced to Murasaki Shikibu’s uncle Fujiwara no Tameyori 藤原為頼 (939−998), although Tameyori’s grandson Fujiwara no Yorinari 藤原頼成 (dates uncertain) may well have been adopted. But Yorinari’s great-grandson Fujiwara no Kiyotaka’s 藤原清隆 (1091−1161) mother was Daughter of Fujiwara no Sadatomo (藤原貞職女 Fujiwara no Sadatomo no musume), whose great-grandfather was Murasaki Shikibu’s father Fujiwara no Tametoki 藤原為時 (around 949–around 1029), giving Ietaka a connection to Murasaki Shikibu regardless.
2 Shinkinshū was compiled by
・ Fujiwara no Teika (Hyakunin Isshu 97);
・ Fujiwara no Ariie 藤原有家 (1155–1216)
・ Fujiwara no Ietaka (Hyakunin Isshu 98);
・ Jakuren (passed away before the project was completed; Hyakunin Isshu 87);
・ Minamoto no Michitomo 源通具 (1171–1237)
・ Asukai Masatsune 飛鳥井雅経 (1170–1221; Hyakunin Isshu 94).
3 Also called Gotoba-in shodo hyakushu 後鳥羽院初度百首 (Retired Emperor Gotoba’s First Hundred-Poem Sequences).
Illustrations
Square illustration: Owarimonogatari 終物語, dir. Itamura Tomoyuki 板村智幸, Shaft, 2015 / Edited by author of the blog.
Poet card: Fujiwara no Ietaka by Katsukawa Shunshō 勝川春章 1775, carved and pained by David Bull in 1998.
Poem sheet: image from Kamisama hajimemashita 神様はじめました, dir. Daichi Akitarō 大地丙太郎, TMS Entertainment, 2012; edited by the blog author.