Fujiwara Teika 藤原 定家 first translation attempts

Ten initial explorations

I am planning to translate at least one, possibly two or three of Fujiwara Teika’s 100 waka sequences. As preparation I am translating small clusters of poems by Teika (or if you prefer Sadaie), his father Shunzei 藤原 俊成, Shunzei’s Daughter (actually his granddaughter) 藤原俊成女 and the monk Jien 慈円.

Here is the first cluster of ten Teika translations, all from the Shin Kokin Wakashū 新古今和歌集 SKKS. Will do another ten in August and hope to work on Shunzei as well. Note that there are additional translations of the honkadori 本歌取り (base poem) and related poems or lines in the footnotes.

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春の夜の夢の浮橋とだえして峰にわかるる横雲の空

Haru no yo no yume no ukihashi todaeshite mine ni wakaruru yokogumo no sora

SKKS I:38

The spring evening’s
Floating bridge of dreams¹
Has broken off

Clouds stream into sky
From the mountain ridge

—

The spring evening’s floating bridge of dreams has broken off

Clouds stream into the sky from the mountain ridge

---

大空は梅の匂ひに霞みつつ曇りも果てぬ春の夜の月

Ōzora wa ume no nioi ni kasumitsutsu kumori mo hatenu haru no yo no tsuki

SKKS I:40

The great sky is²
The scent of plums
Becoming hazy

Not fully clouded over
The moon on a spring night

—

The great sky is the scent of plums growing hazy

Not fully clouded over the moon on a spring night

---

梅の花匂ひを移す袖の上に軒もる月の影ぞ争ふ

Ume no hana nioi o utsusu sode no ue ni noki moru tsuki no kage zo arasō

SKKS I:44³

Plum blossom
Scent clings to
My sleeves

Competing with the moonlight
Leaking through the eaves

—

Plum blossom scent clings to my sleeves

Competing with the moonlight leaking through the eves

---

霜まよふ空にしをれし雁が音の帰る翼に春雨ぞ降る

Shimo mayou sora ni shioreshi kari ga ne no kaeru tsubasa ni harusame zo furu

SKKS I:63

Confused by frost
In the leaden sky
The geese call

Returning north
Through spring rain

—

Confused by frost in the leaden sky he geese call

Returning north through spring rain

---

見わたせば花も紅葉もなかりけり浦の苫屋の秋の夕暮

Miwataseba hana mo momiji mo nakarikeri ura no tomoya no aki no yūgure

SKKS IV:363

Looking around
Cherry blossoms or maple leaves
Are not to be seen

Thatched huts on the inlet
In the autumn dusk

—

Looking around cherry blossoms or maple leaves are not to be seem

Thatched huts on the inlet in the autumn dusk

---

駒とめて袖うちはらふ影もなし佐野のわたりの雪の夕暮

Koma tometesode uchiharaukage mo nashiSano no watari noyuki no yūgure

SKKS VI:671⁴

Stopping my horse
Brush snow from my sleeves
No shelter anywhere

At Sano Ford⁵
In the snowy dusk

—

Stopping my horse brush snow from my sleeves no shelter anywhere

At Sano Ford in the snowy dusk

---

待つ人の麓の道は絶えぬらん軒端の杉に雪をもるなり

Matsu hito no fumoto no michi wa taenuran nokiba no sugi ni yuki o moru nari

SKKS VI:672.

Waiting for someone
Has the path at the foot of the mountains
Been cut off

The cedars by the eaves
Heavy with snow

—

Waiting for someone has the mountain path been cut off⁶

The cedars by the eaves heavy with snow

---

寒代や待つ夜の秋の風ふけて月をかたしく宇治の橋姫

Samushiro ya matsu yo no aki no kaze fukete tsuki o katashiku Uji no Hashihime

SKKS IV:420

On a cold straw mat
Waiting in the autumn
Wind blowing

Alone in the moonlight
The lady of Uji Bridge

—

On a cold straw mat waiting in the autumn wind blowing

Alone in the moonlight the lady of Uji Bridge

---

時わかぬ波さへ色に和泉川ははその森に嵐吹くらし

Toki wakanu nami sae iro ni Izumi-gawa hahaso no mori ni arashi fukurashi

SKKS V:532⁷

Time stands still⁸
As even the waves change colour
On the Izumi River

In the konara oak forest⁹
A storm blowing

—

Time stands still as even the waves change colour on the Izumi River

In the konara oak forest a storm blowing

---

旅人の袖吹きかへす秋風に夕日さびしき山のかけはし

Tabibito no sode fukikaesu aki kaze ni yūhi sabishiki yama no kakehashi

SKKS X:953¹⁰

The traveller’s
Sleeves blown back
By the autumn wind

In the evening light
The mountain plank bridge

—

The traveller’s sleeves blown back by the autumn wind

In the evening light the mountain plank bridge

---

References

Atkins, Paul S. Teika: The Life and Works of a Medieval Japanese Poet. University of Hawaii Press. 2017.

Bynner, Witter. The Chinese Translations: The Works of Witter Bynner: (The Jade Mountain and The Way of Life According to Laotzu). FSG. 1982.

Cranston, Edwin A. A Waka Anthology, Volume One: The Gem-Glistening Cup. Stanford University. 1993.

Cranston, Edwin A. A Waka Anthology, Volume Two: Grasses of Remembrance. Stanford University. 2006.

Ise Monogatari 伊勢物語 Tales of Ise: Lyrical Episodes from Tenth-Century Japan probably by Ki no Tsurayuki. Translated by Helen Craig McCullough. Stanford University Press. 1968.

Man'yōshū 万葉集 The Ten Thousand Leaves: Poems from the Man’yoshu. Translated by Ian Hideo Levy. Princeton University Press. 1971.

Owen, Stephen. The Great Age of Chinese Poetry: The High Tang. Quirin Press. 2013.

Owen, Stephen. The Late Tang: Chinese Poetry of the Mid Tenth Century. Harvard University Asia Centre. 2006

Po Chü-I (Bai Juyi) 白居易. Po Chü-I Selected Poems translated by Burton Watson. Columbia University Press. 2000.

1. The Floating Bridge of Dreams 夢の浮橋 is a key chapter in Genji Monogatari 源氏物語.

Waley - The Bridge of Dreams

Seidensticker and Tyler - The Floating Bridge of Dreams

Washburn - A Floating Bridge in a Dream

2. I believe there is a Buddhist intention in 大空 that I have not captured.

3. Refers to Ise Monogatari 第四段, Narihira is in an abandoned house, his lover having been taken to the capitol.

うち泣きて、あばらなる板敷に、月のかたぶくまでふせりて、去年を思ひ出でて詠める

uchi nakite abaranaru itajiki ni tsuki no katabuku made fuserite kozo wo omoiidete yomeru

“Bursting into tears, he lay down on the stripped wooden floor until the moon declined, and recalling last year, he composed:”

月やあらぬ春や昔の春ならぬわが身ひとつはもとの身にして

Tsuki ya aranu haru ya mukashi no haru naranu waga mi hitotsu wa moto no mi ni shite

The moon is it not
Spring is it not
The spring of the past

My body the same
Body as it was

Helen McCullough translation

Is not the moon the same?
The spring
The spring of old?

Only this body of mine
Is the same body. . . .

4. Channels Man’yōshū Book 3, Poem 265 by Nago no Okimaro 長忌寸意吉麿

苦しくも 降り来る雨か 三輪の崎 狭野の渡りに 家もあらなくに

Kurushiku mo / furikuru ame ka / Miwa no saki / Sano no watari ni / ie mo aranaku

Miserable in
The falling rain
Cape Miwa

At the Sano Crossing
Not even a house

Miserable in the falling rain Cape Miwa

At the Sano Crossing not even a house

Note: Given the two below translations I wonder if I should use Sano Ford rather than Sano Crossing.

Ian Hideo Levy translation

How troublesome the falling rain:
here at the Sano Ford on Cape Miwa
there is no house for shelter.

Edward Cranston translation

Ah, how hard it is
To be caught in this driving rain!—
For at Miwa Point,

In the fields around Sano Ford
There’s no house to be found.

5. I initially had ‘crossing’ for 渡り. My son’s name is Kaito 海渡 which we usually ranslate ‘Ocean Crossing’ and fords are often referred to as crossings in the interior 奥 of BC. But to make the link with earlier translaitons I switched Sano Crossing to Sano Ford.

References 古今和歌集, Vol. 14, #689

さむしろに 衣かたしき 今宵もや 我を待つらむ 宇治の橋姫

Samushiro ni / koromo katashiki / koyoi mo ya / ware o matsuramu / Uji no Hashihime [1, 2, 3]

On a cold straw mat
Sleeping alone
Again tonight

Is she waiting for me
The lady of Uji Bridge

On a cold straw mat sleeping alone again tonight

Is she waiting for me the lady of Uji Bridge

Note: This does not do justice to 衣かたしき which is likely to come up many times.

Alone under my robe
Alone under one sleeve
Under one sleeve of her robe

Under one sleeve (the alone is inferred and can be covered in a note)

On a cold straw mat
Under one sleeve
Again tonight

Is she waiting for me
The lady of Uji Bridge

On a cold straw mat under one sleeve again tonight

Is she waiting for me the lady of Uji Bridge

6. The difference between the five line and two line versions is intentional. ‘Has the path at the foot of the mountains’ feels too long and I wanted to try the shorter version, even though it loses part of the sense of the original.

7. Honkadori is Funya no Yasuhide 文屋康秀 KKS V: 250 (Book 5, Autumn Poems Part 2, Poem Number 250)

草も木も 色はかはれど わたつうみの 浪の花にぞ 秋なかりける

Kusa mo ki mo / iro wa kawaredo / watatsuumi no / nami no hana ni zo / aki nakarikeru

Grasses and trees
Change their colours
On the great sea

The waves blossom
Without autumn

Grasses and trees change their colours
On the great sea the waves blossom without autumn

Related waka SKKS V: 531 by Kujō Yoshitsune 藤原良経

柞原 しづくも色や かはるらん 森の下草 秋ふけにけり

Hahasohara / shizuku mo iro ya / kawaruran / mori no shitakusa / aki fukenikeri

Among the sawtooth oak
Would the colour of the droplets
Be changing

In the undergrowth
As autumn sets in

Among the sawtooth oak would the colour of the droplets be changing

In the undergrowth as autumn sets in

Notes:

Not really capturing 原

How to handle しづく here and generally. I don’t feel this as dew. It is the drops of moisture one finds in the underbrush after a rain, or just because the place is wet.

柞 I am trying to be specific to species when I can. Hnece ‘sawtooth oak.’

8. Really not sure how to do 時わかぬ … without time, beyond time, timeless …

9. Want to keep the type of oak specific, hence konara oak.

https://www.momat.go.jp/craft-museum/en/collection/rf0103-081

10. Honkadori from the Manyoshu Prince Shiki 志貴皇子 MYS I: 51

采女の 袖吹きかへす 明日香風 都を遠み いたづらに吹く

Uneme no / sode fuki-kaesu / Asukakaze / miyako o tōmi / itazurani fuku

Palace maidens
Sleeves blown back
The wind from Asuka

The capital is far away
Blows aimlessly

Palace maidens sleeves blown back

The wind from Asuka the capital is far away blows aimlessly

Notes: In English the meaning would be clearer if the last two lines were inverted. I may decide on that.

Palace maidens
Sleeves blown back
The wind of Asuka

Blows aimlessly
The capital far away

Palace maidens sleeves blown back

The wind of Asuka blows aimlessly the capital far away

At this point the capital had been moved from Asuka to Fujiwara.

Ian Hideo Levy translation of this poem

The Asuka wind
that fluttered the sleeves
of the court ladies—
now that the capital is far away,
it blows in vain.

References Bai Juyi

From 長恨歌 The Song of Everlasting Sorrow.

黄埃散漫風蕭索、雲桟縈紆登劍閣。峨嵋山下少人行、旌旗無光日色薄。

Yellow dust scatters, the wind is desolate

Winding up the cloud-high plank bridges, they ascend the Liang Mountains

Below Mount Emei, few travelers pass

The banners lose their luster, the sunlight grows thin

(My revision of Mantyk, also referencing Owen, I really wish Red Pine would translate Bai Juyi).

Winter Byner translation (1929)

“...the place of blood and tears

Was hidden in a yellow dust blown by a cold wind.

At the cleft of the Dagger-Tower Trail they crisscrossed through a cloud-line

Under Omei Mountain. The last few came.

Flags and banners lost their colour in the fading sunlight...”

Evan Mantyk

The yellow dust rose in the air
Upon a bleak and chilly breeze.
On winding wooden paths and clouds
Through Mount Jian’s pass, they felt unease.

Not many people traveled on
The road that runs by Mount Emei.
The banners lost their luster as
The sun went down to close the day.

https://www.classicalpoets.org/the-song-of-everlasting-sorrow-by-bai-juyi-translated-by-evan-mantyk/