KKS 8

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二条后にでうのきさきの春宮の御息所みやすんどころと聞こえける時、正月三日むつきのみか、御前おまえに召して、仰せごとある間あひだに、日は照りながら雪の頭かしらに降りかかりけるをよませ給ひける　　　　　　　　　　　

When the Nijō Empress was known as the Mother of the Heir Apparent, on the third day of the first month [Yasuhide] was summoned before her, and while she was speaking to him, she had him compose a poem about the sun shining while snow was falling on his head.

文屋康秀

Fun'ya no Yasuhide

春の日の光にあたる我なれどかしらの雪となるぞわびしき

haru no hi no hikari ni ataru ware nare-do kashira no yuki to naru zo wabishiki

The spring sun Its light shines forth Striking me, and yet It is my snow-covered head That makes me downcast.

Notes

Mother of the Heir Apparent

She held this title from 869-876.

The spring sun

Spring is a common metaphor for the beneficence of a ruler, but commentators differ on whether this refers to the Empress or to the Heir Apparent -- one thing that might tip the scales in favor of the Heir Apparent is that the word tōgu was sometimes written as 春宮 (with the character for "spring").

Striking me

The majority of KKS manuscripts read "striking the/a flower." Teika seems to have favored the "me" reading. Takeoka and Katagiri both say the "me" reading makes more sense in the poem -- if it's "flower" it's hard to say what that refers to since no flower is mentioned in the prose preface. Takeoka agrees with Matsuda(1968) that "flower" works better with the sequence of poetry, and that it's most natural to read the flowers as an expression for the snow as in the previous poem. The overall meaning then becomes "When the snow falls in the garden it makes pretty flowers hit by the light, but on my head it's just white hair."

Snow-covered head

Either Yasuhide was older when he wrote this and he was actually referring to his grey hair, or he just means that the snow makes his hair look white.

Other sources:

• Go rokuroku shū

Analysis

This poem continues the theme of early spring snow. The prose preface indicates the poem was composed on the spur of the moment, suggesting Yasuhide's poetic skill and reputation.

The basic meaning of the poem is generally agreed upon: Yasuhide is speaking with the Haven on the steps, and snow falls on his head. She asks for a poem and he composes it on the spot (at least according to the preface). Kaneko(1927) has a long appraisal and analysis of this poem. He sees the poem as falling basically into two parts with the third line ("Me, and yet") as a pivot. The first two lines celebrate the Heir Apparent's beneficence, but with the "but", the poem leads into the second half of anger or complaint -- if you want to favor me, you have to do it now since I won't live very long. Kaneko praises the poem's skilled construction, and also Yasuhide's ability to combine two images (spring = ruler's beneficence, and snow = white hair) on the fly. The only drawback is the lack of "elegance".

Most other commentators do not go this far. Kubota(1937) agrees with the skillful combination of two images, but doesn't see any complaint in the poem. This was simply a poem of thankfulness. Katagiri's reading is a bit different in that he interprets the situation not as a personal visit but as a public party for the new year. Celebrating the new year by referring to one's age is common, thus making this poem an expression of the time and occasion, not something specifically directed at the Empress.

Regarding the placement of the poem in the sequence, Chokudenkai sees links to the previous poems with the patchy snow, but also the way that the previous poems involved people waiting for flowers, and now being bathed in the warm spring light. Matsuda notes a weak link to poem 4, by the Nijō Empress. The surrounding poems are about flowers and snow, but this poem may be here to break up the sequence a bit so that every poem is not on the same topic.

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