Introduction
Haiku has its roots in renga, as described in ‘Reading haiku from the perspective of haiku history and communication’. In renga, a number of renshu (people who attend renga and renku gatherings and compose haiku together) take turns to read the first 31 characters of a waka poem (575) and the last 31 (77) characters and compose 100 haiku.
Renga is said to have started as a private entertainment by aristocrats composing waka poems in the Heian period (794-1185), but by the Muromachi period (1392-1573) it was regarded as official poetry and closely related to politics.
The imperial anthology of waka poems was compiled by order of the emperor and the emperor’s superiors, starting with the Kokin Wakashu (905) and continuing with the New Kokin Wakashu (1439), a total of 21 imperial anthologies compiled over 534 years.
Waka is a poetic form that occupies a very important position in classical Japanese literature, symbolising the beauty of the Japanese language, capturing nature and human emotions in a concise yet profound manner, and making the most of the phonology and rhythm of the Japanese language as an art form.
In this article, I would like to discuss these imperial anthologies. The following are representative imperial waka poems.
Kokin Waka Shu (set of six classical Japanese poetry anthologies compiled between the Nara and Heian periods)
The Kokin Wakashu, the first imperial collection of waka poems, was compiled around 905. This waka anthology was compiled by Kino Tsurayuki and other poets. The Kokin Waka Shu occupies a very important position in the history of waka poetry due to the following features.
1. development of the formal beauty and technique of waka poetry: the Kokin Waka Shu represents a period of great development in the formal beauty and technique of waka poetry, when rhetorical techniques such as kakegatoba, engo and jokotoba were actively used in the composition and expression of waka poems, and waka poetry became highly refined in its expression.
2. Central position of love poems: Love poems account for about one third of all love poems, and in particular, they carefully depict various emotions from the beginning to the fulfilment of love, as well as the loss of love and separation from it. The delicate emotional movements related to love are expressed through waka poetry, and it can be said that the form of love poems was established.
3. emphasis on seasonal poems: the collection contains many waka poems on the theme of the four seasons, with spring and autumn in particular being central themes. The waka are characterised by a high sensitivity to the changing of the seasons and many of them are rich and beautiful in their depiction of nature, and there are also many waka that describe the changes in people’s feelings during the seasons.
4. diversity of emotional expression: a wide range of emotions are expressed through waka, including joy, sadness and loneliness, with particular emphasis on the sensitive expression of people’s emotions through nature and love. Many of the waka poems in the Kokin Waka Shu are highly emotive, capturing subtle changes and depths of emotion.
5. sophistication of language: great attention is paid to the choice of words and how they sound, and the language of the waka poems is refined. Many of the works are characterised by classical elegance and an emphasis on the beauty and resonance of the words used in the waka.
6. existence of the kana-jyo: The kana-jyo, written by Kino Kannuji, is also known as the first literary preface written in Japanese, and as the introduction to the Kokin Waka Shu, it discusses the significance and beauty of waka poetry. This kana-jyo is considered to be a very important document in the history of Japanese literature.
7. selection criteria for waka: In the Kokin Waka Shu, waka poems were selected not only for their technical excellence, but also for their richness in emotional expression and their sense of elegance. This selection criterion also influenced the later imperial collection of waka poems.
The Kokin Wakashu laid the foundations of Japanese waka poetry and had a major influence on subsequent waka culture. These works are characterised by their elegant and emotional expression and contain many works that have become models for later waka poetry.
The following is a description of some of the representative waka included in the Kokin Wakashu.
1. the Tatsuta River, which the gods did not hear of, and the waters of the Tatsuta River, which the gods did not hear of.
– Reading: ‘Chihayaburu kamiyo mo kikazu Tatsuta kawa kara kurenai ni mizukuru wa’.
– Meaning: I have never seen such a view of the Tatsuta River being dyed crimson, which I have never heard of even in the divine ancient times.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem describes the scenery of the Tatsuta River, which is dyed crimson as autumn leaves flow into the river, and uses the pillow word ‘chihayaburu’ (a rhetorical technique applied to certain words) to cleverly express the beauty of nature and the mysterious atmosphere.
2. Kino Tsurayuki – ‘Hito wa isa, mindless, hoso wa hana o moto ni hohiiru ko ni hikoeru.’
– Reading: Hito wa isa, mind unaware, hoso wa hana zo mukashi no kani ni oikeru.
– Meaning: People’s hearts are unknown, but only the cherry blossoms in my hometown have the same fragrance as in the past.
– BACKGROUND: This waka laments the changeability of human minds, but expresses the sentiment of finding comfort in the unchanging beauty of nature. Kan’yuki was one of the compilers of the Kokin Waka Shu and this waka poem is a good example of his sensitivity and skill.
3 Ono no Komachi – ‘Hana no Iro wa Utsukeri keri ni Itazura wa Myself to the world, while I am still alive’.
– Reading: ‘The colours of the flowers are depressing, but they are not the same as the colours of the cherry blossoms.
– Meaning: Just as the colours of cherry blossoms have faded, so too has my beauty faded in vain. I have been lost in thought for a long time.
– BACKGROUND: Ono no Komachi is known as one of the most beautiful poets of the Heian period. This waka poem describes the fragility of beauty she felt as she grew older and her sadness at the passage of time; ‘nagame’ is a cross between ‘view’ and ‘long rain’, and expresses her pensive mood more deeply.
4 Sosei Hōshi – ‘Ima komu to ihishakari ni chōtsuki no ariake no tsuki wo araide tsutsurukanana’ (Waiting for the moon of the long moon in the long rain).
– Reading: Ima komu to ihi shizakari ni nagatsuzuki no ariake no tsuki wo machiide tsurukanana.
– Meaning: ‘I’m on my way’, and so I waited for a long time, until dawn, for the moon to rise.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem describes the emotions of a lover waiting for his promised one, and cleverly expresses wistful anticipation and impatience against the background of the quiet pre-dawn hours of the ‘long month of the Ariake no Tsuki’.
5. the Emperor Koko – ‘For you, I go out to the fields in spring to pick young greens while the snow falls on my robe’.
– Reading: ‘For you, go out to the fields in spring and pick up young cabbages, while the snow falls on my robe’.
– Meaning: ‘For you, I go out into the spring fields to pick young greens, and the snow falls on my sleeves.
– BACKGROUND: This beautiful piece of waka poetry evokes the coming of spring and the remnants of winter, and depicts a woman working in nature for the sake of her loved one.
6. fujiwara no toshiyuki – ‘autumn has come and though it does not appear to my eyes to be so bright, I am frightened by the sound of the wind’
– Reading: ‘I was frightened by the sound of the wind, even though it did not appear to my eyes that autumn had come.
– Meaning: Although we cannot see clearly with our eyes that autumn has arrived, we are startled by the sound of the wind and feel the arrival of autumn.
– BACKGROUND: This waka expresses a delicate sensitivity to the changing seasons through the sound of the wind, and is an emotionally rich piece of poetry in which the arrival of autumn is perceived through the sense of hearing, though not visually perceived.
Although these waka poems use unfamiliar language, they reveal the delicate emotions and aesthetic sensibilities of the people of the Heian period.
Gleanings and Songbook and Post-Gleanings and Songbook
The Shuaiwaka Shu is the third imperial anthology of waka poetry, after the Kokin Waka Shu and the Go-Sen Waka Shu, and was compiled around 1005. The Go-Pick-up Waka Shu was compiled as the successor to the Pick-up Shu and is said to have been completed in 1086.
The following are some of the characteristics of the Go-Pick-up Waka Shu and the Go-Sen Waka Shu.
1. poetic diversity and richness: poetic diversity and richness were emphasised in the selection of waka poems, and waka poems on religious themes and social events, as well as nature and love, were included, broadening the range of waka expression.
2. deepening of technical expressions: technical rhetoric such as kakegatoba, engo and jyokotoba has been further deepened and technically perfected, and new innovations and techniques have been introduced in the expression of waka poetry.
3. reflection of personal feelings and daily life: the waka poems reflect the personal feelings and events of the poet’s daily life in a strong way, making them accessible to the reader.
4. connection with the classics: the waka poems are influenced by classical waka anthologies (especially the Kokin Wakashu and the Go-Sen Wakashu), but with new additions. These anthologies look back to the glamorous old days when the glamorous dynastic culture began to decline.
5. abundance of love poems: many waka poems on the theme of love are included, depicting the joys and pains of love from a variety of perspectives, and the delicate emotions and complex feelings of love are deeply expressed in the waka poems.
6. depiction of the seasons: many waka poems focus on the four seasons, and the beauty of nature and the changing seasons are depicted in great detail. The seasonal changes in scenery and emotions are described in the poems, emphasising the connection with nature.
The Jiken waka-shu are characterised by their diversity of poetic expression and richness of technique, while the Go Jiken waka-shu are works compiled to further the development of waka poetry. By respecting the classical tradition while incorporating new sensibilities and perspectives, these works further enriched the depth and breadth of waka poetry and occupy an important place in the history of waka poetry.
The following is a description of some of the representative waka included in them.
1. mibu tadami – ‘Koisutefu, my name is still young, my name is still standing, and I think about it without anyone knowing.
– Reading: ‘Koisutefu my name is still young, but I am in love, and I am in love, and I am in love, and I am in love, and I am in love, and I am in love, and I am in love.
– Meaning: ‘I’m in love’, and rumours of my love have already started. I should have started falling in love without anyone knowing.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem laments the fact that she should have been secretly in love, but before she knew it, rumours of her love began to spread, and expresses her confusion and surprise at the speed at which the rumours of her love spread.
2. ryosonhoshi – ‘When I leave the inn to gaze at the desertedness, the autumn dusk is always the same.’
– Reading: ‘If you leave your lodgings to be lonely and ponder, your homes will always be the same, autumn dusk’.
– Meaning: When I leave the inn and look outside, I see the same dreary autumn twilight wherever I look.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem is about the author, who has become a recluse, deeply feeling the loneliness of autumn.
3, Fujiwara no Michinobu – ‘Akenu wa kureru naru mono o kiru kara, nakawamemeshiki asaborake nakawamemeshiki.’
– Reading: ‘If dawn comes, I know that it will be cloudy, but I still resent it.
– Meaning: I know that the evening will come when night falls, but I still resent the dawn.
– BACKGROUND: This waka expresses the sadness and bitterness of having to leave one’s lover at dawn, and the pain of separation felt each time dawn breaks is recounted as a sensitive emotion by Mother Michitsuna.
4. izumishikibu – ‘Arasarasamu kono yonyo no hikidade ni mihitabito no kaihatsukono.’
– Reading: ‘Arasazan, kono yo no otoko no omoi ni hitotsuwa no omotsuwa’ – Reading: Arasazan, I will soon leave this world.
– Meaning: I will soon leave this world, so I want to see you again as a memory of the afterlife.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem describes a wistful love affair on the eve of death, and Izumishikibu’s work is characterised by its emotional richness and directness of expression.
5. fujiwara no sanekata – ‘kakutotaseni eya ha ibuki no sashimogusa sashimonashikara katayuru omo.’
– Reading: ‘Kakutoda ni ehayaibuki no sashimo gusa sashimoshirajina mo yuru omou.
– Meaning: I would like to tell you at least that I adore you so much, but I cannot. I am not the grass of Mount Ibuki, but you don’t know how much I adore you. This thought that burns.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem compares the passion of love to ‘sashimo-gusa’ (mugwort), expressing the burning love that burns in a lonely place where the wind passes by and no one knows it.
The New Kuchin Waka Collection
The Shinkokin Wakashu is the eighth imperial collection of waka poems, completed around 1210 in the early Kamakura period and compiled on the orders of Go-Toba-in. This waka anthology is regarded as a particularly important work in the history of Japanese waka poetry due to the following characteristics.
1. the beauty of yugen and uxin: The Shinkokin Wakashu emphasises the aesthetic concepts of yugen and uxin. These concepts emphasise the profundity and hidden beauty of things, and are often used suggestively and symbolically in waka poems, thereby imbuing the waka with deep emotion and thought and creating a unique aesthetic world.
2. fantastic and dreamlike expressions: the Shinkokin waka anthology is full of fantastic and dreamlike expressions, and many waka poems have an unrealistic atmosphere while dealing with themes such as nature and love, leaving a strong impression on the reader. These expressions are valued as an attempt to bring new values of beauty into waka poetry.
3. symbolic depiction of nature: great emphasis is placed on the depiction of nature, with detailed descriptions of the changing seasons, especially spring and autumn. However, nature is not only depicted as scenery, but also has symbolic meaning and is often expressed in connection with human emotions and sentiments, with the fusion of nature and the human mind being one theme.
4. the pinnacle of technical expression: the Shinkokin waka anthology uses many technical expressions such as kake-words, engo and honkadori, which show the high level of development of waka techniques. Honkadori is a technique of creating a new song by incorporating parts of classical masterpieces, and is a highly developed technique that combines tradition and novelty.
5. the depth of love poems: love poems occupy a very important position in the Shinkokin waka anthology, with many works deeply depicting the melancholy and anguish of love. The emotions of love are expressed in a more internal and complex way, highlighting the depth of the emotions contained in the waka.
6. novel ideas and free expression: While preserving the traditional form of waka poetry, novel ideas and free expression are attempted, and many new attempts to break out of conventional boundaries in terms of waka themes and methods of expression can be seen, which form the character of the Shinkokin Wakashu.
The Shinkokin Wakashu has been praised by Kitahara Hakushu as ‘the finest symbolic art of Japanese tanka’ and ‘the main stream of Japanese poetry’. Hakushu described the Shinkokin Waka Shu as being composed in search of a ‘fragrant symbolic world that is more than a sketchy sketching’, in contrast to the sketchy works of the Araragi school, such as those of Masaoka Shiki.
The following is a description of representative waka from the Shinkokin Wakashu.
1 Fujiwara no Teika – ‘If you look around, neither flowers nor autumn leaves are among them.
– Reading: ‘If you look around, neither flowers nor autumn colours are among them.
– Meaning: When you look around, you see a lonely landscape with no flowers or autumn leaves. It is an autumn evening, with only the crude houses of the ura.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem describes a lonely autumn evening scene and is one of the most famous poems in the Shinkokin Wakashu. Fujiwara no Teika pursues the beauty of the ethereal and poetically expresses the tranquillity and melancholy inherent in the landscape.
2 Saigyo – ‘Kokoronaki mimo ni ahasare wa ahasare ga akimarekari Shigitate sawa no aki no yugurei’ (Autumn Evening Dusk in the Shigitatsu Sawa River).
– Reading: ‘Even my heartless body knows the sorrows of the autumn dusk of the Shigitsatsusawa River’.
– Meaning: Even my heartless body can feel the deepest melancholy. In the autumn dusk view of the stream where the sandpipers fly away.
– BACKGROUND: This poem is about Saigyo, who also wrote ‘Kaido yuku – Kawachi no michi’, and describes the deep emotion he felt in the midst of nature, as if the loneliness of the autumn dusk was seeping into his heart.
3. shokushinai shinnou – ‘Tama no oo yo, if it does not cease, it will cease; if it is prolonged, it will also weaken in endurance.’
– Reading: ‘Tama no oyo, taena sabaetaene, chōreru e, shinobu no shinoburu no yowari mo mo shimasu’ (The thread of life, you shall also weaken).
– Meaning: Thread of life, if it can be cut, let it be cut. For if you continue to live, you may no longer be able to suppress these painful thoughts.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem describes the agony of intense love, and is a poem by Princess Shikiko, who was renowned for the depth of her emotions and the beauty of her expression, and left behind many masterpieces, especially in waka poems about love. The ‘tama-no-o’ is a symbol of life, and the poem expresses the strong emotion of being so much in love that one’s life may end.
4. teika fujiwara – ‘Look out and you will see neither flowers nor autumn leaves in the autumn dusk of the Tomaya in Ura’.
– Reading: ‘If you look around, neither flowers nor maple leaves are among them, and the autumn dusk of the Urano-Tomaya.
– Meaning: When you look around, you see a lonely landscape with no flowers or autumn leaves. It is an autumn dusk, with only the crude Tomaya of the Ura.
– BACKGROUND: This waka is a well-known symbol of autumnal loneliness in the Shinkokin Wakashu, and is attributed to Fujiwara no Sadaie, a poet of the Kamakura period (1185-1333), whose concise yet emotionally rich expressions are much appreciated.
5. kararen – ‘Rust is its colour and its nature, the autumn evening twilight of Makitatsuyama.’
– Read: Rust is not a specific colour.
– Meaning: Rusticity is not a specific colour. It is simply the sight of the mountains with their groves of cedar trees at dusk in autumn that is lonely.
– BACKGROUND: This waka poem describes his feelings of loneliness in the quiet mountain scene at dusk, and beautifully expresses his delicate sense of desolation.
6. gidousanjimu – ‘If it is difficult to see the end of my life, my life is only for today.’
– Reading: ‘Until the end of your life, if it is difficult, today is the end of your life.
– Meaning: Since it is difficult to keep my promise to remember you until the future, I would like to end my life today.
– BACKGROUND: This waka laments the difficulty of remembering one’s lover into the future and expresses the earnest feeling of wanting to end one’s life today, expressing the fragility of the vow of love and the sadness over it.
As the weather gradually cools down after the typhoon, it may be a good time to compose a poem on the changing autumn landscape, one of the rich themes of waka poetry, and feel the beauty and fragility of nature.
reference book
Ancient and Modern Waka Collection
The New Kuchin Waka Collection
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