1000 Poems from the Manyoshu

The Complete Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai Translation

Anonymous

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780486123479
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Asian Poetry
• Index: Literature

Dating from the 8th century and earlier, the Manyoshu is the oldest Japanese poetry anthology; it is also widely considered to be the best. The 1,000 poems (out of a total of more than 4,500) in this famous selection were chosen by a distinguished scholarly committee based on their poetic excellence, their role in revealing the Japanese national spirit and character, and their cultural and historical significance. The acclaimed translations artfully preserve the simplicity and direct quality of the originals, and encompass an enormous range of human emotions and experiences. Text is in English only.

NARA PERIOD

Empress Gemmyō and Princess Minabé

231

Composed by the Empress in the first
year of Wadō (708).

[I : 76]

LISTEN to the sounds of the warriors’ elbow-guards;¹⁸⁶
Our captain must be ranging the shields
To drill the troops.¹⁸⁷

232

Reply by the Princess.

[I : 77]

BE not concerned, O my Sovereign;
Am I not here,
I, whom the ancestral gods endowed with life,
Next of kin to yourself ?

Empress Genshō

253

On the occasion of her visit to Yamamura.

[XX : 4293]

The Empress said to those attending upon her, ‘Princes and noblemen, make poems to match this one of mine!’ She then recited the following:

THIS is the mountain souvenir
That a wizard of the mountain
Gave me as I went
To Yama, the mountain village.

Emperor Shōmu

234–5

On giving saké to the Inspectors-General.¹⁸⁸

[VI : 973–4]

WHEN you are thus gone
To the far courts of my realm,
I shall rest tranquil,
And wait with folded arms.
To requite your loyal service,
I, your emperor,
With my sovereign hand
Stroke you tenderly and caress you.
This wine we will drink again together
On the day of your return—this bounteous wine.

Envoy

You go the way of men of valour;
Go not with light minds,
You valiant men!

236

On granting to Prince Kaʐuraki the surname
of Tachibana, in winter, in the eleventh
month of the eighth year of
Tempyō (736).

[VI : 1009]

THINE is a happy name:
‘Tachibana ’¹⁸⁹—abundant in fruit,
In bloom and in foliage;
A tree of evergreen leaves that thrives
Though the hoar-frost falls on its branches.

Prince Kaʐuraki petitioned the Throne to be allowed to renounce his status as a member of the imperial family and to take the rank of subject by assuming the surname of Tachibana. The Emperor, consenting, gave in his honour a banquet, on which occasion the above poem was composed by His Majesty.

Empress Kōken

237–8

A poem and envoy granted to Fujiwara
Kiyokawa,¹⁹⁰ ambassador to China, to-
gether with food and drink, by her mes-
senger, Koma Fukushin, of the
Lower Fourth Rank Senior, whom
she sent down to Naniwa.

[XIX: 4264–5]

THE spacious Land of Yamato
Is a land guarded by the gods;
You go upon the waters
As upon the land ;
You sit in the ship
As on the floor at home.

In your four ships,¹⁹¹ prow by prow,
You travel in safety,
Return in haste,
Then make your reports ;
On that day we will take this wine—
This bounteous wine.

Envoy

That your four ships may soon come back
I pray to the gods,
Tying white hemp
To my skirt.¹⁹²

Emperor Junnin

239

At the palace banquet¹⁹³ on the eighteenth day
of the eleventh month of the first year of
Tempyō-Hōji¹⁹⁴ (757).

[XX : 4486]

SINCE thy reign is to endure
With the sun and the moon
That illumine heaven and earth,
What could ever trouble our hearts ?

Empress Kōmyō

240

To the Emperor Shōmu.

[VIII : 1658]

HOW gladdening would be this falling snow,
Could I but watch with you, my husband !

241

A poem which the Empress Dowager of
Fujiwara¹⁹⁵ composed at the supplication
ceremony¹⁹⁶ at the Kasuga Shrine,¹⁹⁷ and
gave to Fujiwara Kiyokawa,
ambassador to China.

[XIX : 4240]

IN the great ship, full-oared,
I speed this child of mine¹⁹⁸ to the Land of Kara ;
Bless him, O gods!

Prince Toneri and...