Ki no Tsurayuki
Ki no Tsurayuki Poems
The Autumn mountains
Weave Autumn leaves
For offerings, so
Even I, living here,
...
Alone for you Autumn
Has not come,
Maidenflowers,
So why do you colour
...
A mountain cherry
Through the drifting mists
Faintly
Seen thus there is a lady
...
The Autumn wind
Blew and since that day
On Otowa Mountain
The tips of the trees on the peak
...
When the spring has come,
First flowering at my house
The plum blossoms:
In your thousandth year,
...
On Mount Ogura's
Peak, he is wont to stand:
The belling stag
Has passed many an autumn;
...
Buried in Winter,
How unexpected it is
Between the trees
To imagine flowers
...
White snowflakes
Falling constantly-at such a time
In fair Yoshino
Amid the wild winds round the mountain's base
...
Chrysanthemums in Autumn:
While they shine
I'll wear them in my hair,
For sooner than the flowers'
...
With no eyes to see
At all, they've scattered
In the mountains' heart,
These Autumn leaves are night's
...
For you, my love
Brings forth tears, did it not
My Chinese robe
About the breast
...
Their first flowered
Home have they left,
These chrysanthemum blooms,
And their hues too
...
Though I dip
Within the wave
I cannot search them out:
With the gusting of the wind,
...
The woodcutters
Are felling palace logs all day, it seems,
Leg-wearying
From the mountains echoes
...
Argent pearls
Did my tears seem
Yet with the passing years
Chinese crimson
...
From cupped hands
Droplets cloud
The mountain spring-
It's not enough-as from you
...
Beneath the mighty
Gods' enclosing fence
Creeps a vine:
Unable to withstand the Autumn,
...
Did some lodge here
And leave for a keepsake
Wisteria trousers? Thoroughworts,
Impossible to forget,
...
From this year on
I'll deeply feel the spring
With these cherry blossoms.
...
Ki no Tsurayuki Biography
Tsurayuki was a son of Ki no Mochiyuki. He became a waka poet in the 890s. In 905, under the order of Emperor Daigo, he was one of four poets selected to compile the Kokin Wakashū, an anthology of poetry. After holding a few offices in Kyoto, he was appointed the provincial governor of Tosa province and stayed there from 930 until 935. Later he was presumably appointed the provincial governor of Suo province, since it was recorded that he held a waka party (Utaai) at his home in Suo. He is well-known for his waka and is counted as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals selected by Fujiwara no Kinto. He was also known as one of the editors of the Kokin Wakashū. Tsurayuki wrote one of two prefaces to Kokin Wakashū; the other is in Chinese. His preface was the first critical essay on waka. He wrote of its history from its mythological origin to his contemporary waka, which he grouped into genres, referred to some major poets and gave a bit of harsh criticism to his predecessors like Ariwara no Narihira. His waka is included in one of the important Japanese poetry anthologies, the Hyakunin Isshu, which was compiled in the 13th century by Fujiwara no Teika, long after Tsurayuki's death.)
The Best Poem Of Ki no Tsurayuki
The Autumn Mountains
The Autumn mountains
Weave Autumn leaves
For offerings, so
Even I, living here,
Feel the urge to travel.
Ki no Tsurayuki Comments
- - * Ki no Tsurayuki (872–945) , in the preface, had a unique critique for each of the 6 poets: - Kisen Hōshi (death 909?) : The priest of Mt. Uji, Kisen, is obscure, and his beginnings and endings do not chime; he is like an autumnal moon, bright in the evening, dim at dawn. - Ono no Komachi (c.825—c.900) : As to Ono no Komachi, she has pathos but lacks power, like a fair but feeble woman. - Sōjō Henjō or Archbishop Henjo (816–890; born Yoshi-mine Munesada) : Sojo Henjo, whose manner is successful, but his work is deficient in truth, like the picture of a beautiful woman that excites emotion, but to no avail. - Ariwara no Narihira (825–880) : Arihara Narihira, very full of feeling but poor in diction; his poetry reminds one of a faded flower that yet preserves some of its perfume. - Fun'ya no Yasuhide (death 885?) : Funya no Yasuhide, on the other hand, is an artist in words; with him form is better than substance. He is like a peddler dressed up in fine silks. - Ōtomo no Kuronushi (born between 824-835, died 923?) : Ōtomo no Kuronushi, lastly, has a pretty turn for verse, but his form is poor; he is like a faggot-bearing boor resting under a blossom-filled cherry-tree.
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4/24/2024 4:55:25 PM # 1.0.0.1119
In his preface to the Kokinshu [the abbreviated term for the Imperial anthology Kokin Wakashū - conceived of by Emperor Uda (r.887–897) it was published by order of his son, Emperor Daigo (r.897–930) , in about 905. Its finished form dates to c.920], Ki no Tsurayuki listed the ''Six Best Waka Poets'' in history: Kisen Hōshi, Ono no Komachi, Sōjō Henjō, Ariwara no Narihira, Fun'ya no Yasuhide and Ōtomo no Kuronushi. Strangely, he then ridicules them in the same preface* (maybe for Japanese modesty?) . -