SHINKOKINSHU

(NEW COLLECTION OF ANCIENT AND MODERN)

新古今（和歌）集

The discussion below draws largely on translated materials from texts mentioned earlier on this site.

Bownas, Geoffrey et. al. The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse,

and

Keene, Donald tr. Anthology of Japanese Literature from the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth

Century.

The most eloquent and elegant translations of poems from the Imperial Anthologies are by

Miner, Earl. Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry. (Stanford, 1968）

SHINKOKINSHU - 1223 A.D. 新古今（和歌）集

(NEW COLLECTION OF ANCIENT AND MODERN)

8TH OF THE IMPERIALLY COMMISSIONED ANTHOLOGIES OF POETRY　

1981 POEMS ON ORDER OF THE RETIRED EMPEROR GOTOBA

AND THE COMPILERS　MINAMOTO MICHITOMO源通具、

FUJIWARA ARIIE藤原有家、FUJIWARA TEIKA藤原定家、

FUJIWARA IETAKA藤原家隆、FUJIWARA MASATSUNE藤原雅経、

PRIEST JAKUREN寂蓮法師（REAL NAME FUJIWARA SADANAGA）

MAIN POINTS:

OLD WORDS WITH NEW HEART

(KOTOBA FURUKI, KOKORO ATARASHI言葉古き、心新し)

SAMPLE SELECTIONS:

NEW RHETORICAL TECHNIQUES:

HONKA DORI本歌取りーALLUSION TO AN EARLIER POEM

SKKS II: 149 SPRING BY SHIKISHI NAISHINNO 式子内親王( ? --1201) (KEENE 193)

Hana wa chiri The blossoms have fallen.

Sono iro to naku I stare blankly at a world

Nagamureba Bereft of color:

Munashiki sora ni In the wide vacant sky

Harusame zo furu The spring rains are falling.

花は散り、

その色となく

ながむれば、

むなしき空に

春雨ぞ降る

Based on the following poem from the Tales of Ise,

Section 45 by Ariwara no Narihira:

Kuregataki Long are the days without darkness

Natsu no higurashi In a summer when throughout them

Nagamureba I stare blankly at the world;

Sono koto to naku For some unknown reason

Mono zo kanashiki I am saddened by it all.

暮れがたき

夏のひぐらし

ながむれば、

そのこととなく

ものぞ悲しき

SKKS XI:1034 LOVE BY SHIKISHI NAISHINNO 式子内親王くれがたき(BOWNAS 101)

Tama no wo yo O my soul, my string of gems,

Taenaba taene If the string must snap, let it be now:

Nagaraeba For, if it endures longer,

Shinoburu koto no My hiding of my love

Yowari mo zo suru Must surely grow weaker.

玉の緒よ

絶えなば絶えね

ながらへば、

忍ぶることの

弱りもぞする

Based on the following poem from The Tales of Ise

Section 65, and SKKS:1151, by Ariwara no Narihira:

Omofu ni wa In thinking of you as I do,

Shinoburu koto zo To go on hiding my feelings

Make ni keru Has defeated me.

Au ni shi kaeba If I could exchange it for a meeting

Sa mo araba are I would let the consequences be what they may.

思ふには

忍ぶることぞ

負けにける、

逢ふにしかへば

さもあらばあれ

TAIGEN DOME体言止めーNOUN PHRASE ENDINGS

SKKS V: 491 AUTUMN BY THE PRIEST JAKUREN 寂蓮法師( -1202) (KEENE 192)

Murasame no The hanging raindrops

Tsuyu mo mada hinu Have not dried from the needles

Maki no ha ni Of the fir forest

Kiri tachinoboru Before the evening mist

Aki no yugure Of autumn rises

村雨の

露もまだ干ぬ

槙の葉に

霧立ちのぼる

秋の夕暮

SHOKUGIRE初句切れーFIRST LINE STOP

SANGUGIRE三句切れーTHIRD LINE STOP

SKKS VI:648 WINTER BY SHOSAMMI SUEYOSHI 正三位季能(KEENE 193)

Sayo chidori The cries of the night

Koe koso chikaku Sanderlings draw closer

Narumigata To Narumi Beach;

Katabuku tsuki ni As the moon sinks in the sky

Shio ya mitsuran The tide rises to the full.

さ夜千鳥

声こそ近く

なるみ潟

かたぶく月に

潮や満つらん

LITERARINESS:

SOLITUDEさびしさ寂しさ

SKKS IV: 361 AUTUMN BY THE PRIEST JAKUREN 寂蓮法師( ? -1202)

(KEENE 195, BOWNAS 102, MINER INTRO TO JAPANESE COURT POETRY 117)

Sabishisa wa Solitude

Sono iro to shimo Is not something which has

Nakarikeri A definable state;

Maki tatsu yama no Evergreens on a hill,

Aki no yugure Autumn dusk.

寂しさは

その色としも

なかりけり、

槙立つ山の

秋の夕暮

(Jakuren's real name was Fujiwara Sadanaga and he

was a nephew of Shunzei who took the tonsure when

Shunzei's son and heir Teika was born.)

MEDITATIVENESSしづけさ静けさ

SKKS IV: 362 AUTUMN BY THE PRIEST SAIGYO西行法師 (1118-90)

(KEENE195, BOWNAS100, MINER 103)

Kokoro naki While denying his heart

Mi nimo aware wa Even a priest cannot but know

Shirare keri The depths of a sad beauty:

Shigi tatsu sawa no Longbills starting flight,

Aki no yugure Autumn dusk.

心なき

身みのあはれは

知られけり、

鴫立つ沢の

秋の夕暮

(Saigyo's lay name was Sato Norikiyo and he served on

Emperor Gotoba. He became a priest, however,

at the young age of 23.)

MONOCHROMICITYしろくろさ白黒さ

SKKS IV: 363 AUTUMN BY FUJIWARA TEIKA藤原定家(1162-1241)

（KEENE196, BOWNAS106, MINER104）

Miwataseba As I look about,

Hana mo momiji mo What need is there for cherry blossoms

Nakari keri Or crimson leaves?

Ura no tomaya no Grass-thatched hut,

Aki no yugure Autumn dusk.

見わたせば

花も紅葉も

なかりけり、

浦のとまやの

秋の夕暮

(Fujiwara Teika was the son of Shunzei, the most　revered poet of the Heian era.　The above three poems together are known as the 'Sanseki no uta,' (三夕の歌)

YUGEN幽玄―MYSTERIOUS DARKNESS

SKKS VIII: 796 LAMENTS BY FUJIWARA SHUNZEI藤原俊成（1114-1204）

(BOWNAS 103)

Mare ni kuru Even at midnight

Yowa mo kanashiki When I come so rarely,

Matsukaze wo The sad wind through the pines:

Taezu ya koke no Must she hear it always

Shita ni kikuran Beneath the moss?

まれに来る

夜半も悲しき

松風を

絶えずや苔の

下に聞くらん

(Shunzei's lament is for his dead wife, Teika's

mother)

YOEN妖艶―ETHEREAL BEAUTY

SKKS I: 38 SPRING BY FUJIWARA TEIKA 藤原定家(1162-1241) (BOWNAS 106, MINER 114)

Haru no yo no This spring night

Yume no ukihashi The floating bridge of my dream

Todae shite Fell apart:

Mine ni wakaruru Swirling away from the peak,

Yokogumo no sora Dawn clouds in the eastern sky.

春の夜の

夢の浮橋

とだえして、

峰に別るる

横雲の空

(The second line is the title of the last chapter of

The Tale of Genji.)

FINALLY, HERE IS A POEM BY THE RETIRED EMPEROR GOTOBA 後鳥羽院(1180-1239)

SKKS I: 36 SPRING

Miwataseba As I gaze all around me

Yamamoto kasumu Foothills wreathed in mist

Minasegawa The River Minase:

Yube wa aki to What could they have been thinking

when they said

Nani omoiken Dusk is best in Autumn?

見わたせば

山もとかすむ

水無瀬川、

夕べは秋と

なに思ひけん

SHINKOKINSHU

(NEW COLLECTION OF ANCIENT AND MODERN)

新古今（和歌）集

The discussion below draws largely on translated materials from texts mentioned earlier on this site.

Bownas, Geoffrey et. al. The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse,

and

Keene, Donald tr. Anthology of Japanese Literature from the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth

Century.

The most eloquent and elegant translations of poems from the Imperial Anthologies are by

Miner, Earl. Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry. (Stanford, 1968）

SHINKOKINSHU - 1223 A.D. 新古今（和歌）集

(NEW COLLECTION OF ANCIENT AND MODERN)

8TH OF THE IMPERIALLY COMMISSIONED ANTHOLOGIES OF POETRY

1981 POEMS ON ORDER OF THE RETIRED EMPEROR GOTOBA

AND THE COMPILERS MINAMOTO MICHITOMO源通具、

FUJIWARA ARIIE藤原有家、FUJIWARA TEIKA藤原定家、

FUJIWARA IETAKA藤原家隆、FUJIWARA MASATSUNE藤原雅経、

PRIEST JAKUREN寂蓮法師（REAL NAME FUJIWARA SADANAGA）

MAIN POINTS:

OLD WORDS WITH NEW HEART

(KOTOBA FURUKI, KOKORO ATARASHI言葉古き、心新し)

SAMPLE SELECTIONS:

NEW RHETORICAL TECHNIQUES:

HONKA DORI本歌取りーALLUSION TO AN EARLIER POEM

SKKS II: 149 SPRING BY SHIKISHI NAISHINNO 式子内親王( ? --1201) (KEENE 193)

Hana wa chiri The blossoms have fallen.

Sono iro to naku I stare blankly at a world

Nagamureba Bereft of color:

Munashiki sora ni In the wide vacant sky

Harusame zo furu The spring rains are falling.

Based on the following poem from the Tales of Ise,

Section 45 by Ariwara no Narihira:

Kuregataki Long are the days without darkness

Natsu no higurashi In a summer when throughout them

Nagamureba I stare blankly at the world;

Sono koto to naku For some unknown reason

Mono zo kanashiki I am saddened by it all.

SKKS XI:1034 LOVE BY SHIKISHI NAISHINNO 式子内親王くれがたき(BOWNAS 101)

Tama no wo yo O my soul, my string of gems,

Taenaba taene If the string must snap, let it be now:

Nagaraeba For, if it endures longer,

Shinoburu koto no My hiding of my love

Yowari mo zo suru Must surely grow weaker.

Based on the following poem from The Tales of Ise

Section 65, and SKKS:1151, by Ariwara no Narihira:

Omofu ni wa In thinking of you as I do,

Shinoburu koto zo To go on hiding my feelings

Make ni keru Has defeated me.

Au ni shi kaeba If I could exchange it for a meeting

Sa mo araba are I would let the consequences be what they may.

TAIGEN DOME体言止めーNOUN PHRASE ENDINGS

SKKS V: 491 AUTUMN BY THE PRIEST JAKUREN 寂蓮法師( -1202) (KEENE 192)

Murasame no The hanging raindrops

Tsuyu mo mada hinu Have not dried from the needles

Maki no ha ni Of the fir forest

Kiri tachinoboru Before the evening mist

Aki no yugure Of autumn rises

SHOKUGIRE初句切れーFIRST LINE STOP

SANGUGIRE三句切れーTHIRD LINE STOP

SKKS VI:648 WINTER BY SHOSAMMI SUEYOSHI 正三位季能(KEENE 193)

Sayo chidori The cries of the night

Koe koso chikaku Sanderlings draw closer

Narumigata To Narumi Beach;

Katabuku tsuki ni As the moon sinks in the sky

Shio ya mitsuran The tide rises to the full.

LITERARINESS:

SOLITUDEさびしさ寂しさ

SKKS IV: 361 AUTUMN BY THE PRIEST JAKUREN 寂蓮法師( ? -1202)

(KEENE 195, BOWNAS 102, MINER INTRO TO JAPANESE COURT POETRY 117)

Sabishisa wa Solitude

Sono iro to shimo Is not something which has

Nakarikeri A definable state;

Maki tatsu yama no Evergreens on a hill,

Aki no yugure Autumn dusk.

(Jakuren's real name was Fujiwara Sadanaga and he

was a nephew of Shunzei who took the tonsure when

Shunzei's son and heir Teika was born.)

MEDITATIVENESSしづけさ静けさ

SKKS IV: 362 AUTUMN BY THE PRIEST SAIGYO西行法師 (1118-90)

(KEENE195, BOWNAS100, MINER 103)

8TH OF THE IMPERIALLY COMMISSIONED ANTHOLOGIES OF POETRY　

AND THE COMPILERS　MINAMOTO MICHITOMO源通具、

(Fujiwara Teika was the son of Shunzei, the most　revered poet of the Heian era.　The above three poems together are known as the 'Sanseki no uta,' (三夕の歌)

SKKS VIII: 796 LAMENTS BY FUJIWARA SHUNZEI藤原俊成（1114-1204）

Emperor Gotoba （後鳥羽院）was the son of Emperor Takakura.　（高倉天皇）