KKS 4
Text
二条の后の春の始めの御歌
An honorable poem about the start of spring by the Nijō Empress
雪のうちに春はきにけり 鶯の凍れる涙今や溶くらん
|
yuki no uchi ni |
In the midst of snow |
Notes
- The Nijō Empress
- There have been questions raised about the appropriateness of this appellation. Due to political events she was stripped of her position in 896 and only restored posthumously in 943, so would it have been appropriate to call her the "Nijō Empress" when the KKS was compiled? Keichū and most later commentators have suggested that this prose preface was modified after 943, a theory that is made more attractive by the fact that Tsurayuki's Shinsen waka lists this poem as "author unknown." However, all the existing manuscripts of the KKS read "Nijō Empress". Because of this, Katagiri suggests that since she was the Nijō Empress at the time this poem was written, it was appropriate to refer to her in that way in the preface despite her loss of rank. Perhaps Emperor Daigo allowed it at some point after her death in 910.
- The midst of snow
- "The midst the snow" can be either "while snow is falling" or "when snow is on the ground." The first two lines are identical with poem 1 except with "snow" instead of "year."
- tears
- As in English, naku can refer both to the sound of bird and the crying of a human, so the "tears" as used in association with that.
Other sources:
Analysis
The warbler is a symbol of the beginning of spring, and its cry heralds the coming of the season. It's still too early for the warblers to appear from the valley and cry out, but the poet wonders if at least their tears have melted. The image of the tears is an unusual one, but seems to evoke the warblers' (and thus the poet's) sorrow that snow is still on the ground despite the new year. As in poem 3, this is another example of the KKS first introducing a significant image in the context of its absence.
Fujiwara no Toshiyori(1115) noted that some people felt the snow placed this as a "spring in the old year" poem like KKS 1 because snow is primarily a winter image. Although snow appears in many early spring poems, perhaps the phrasing "in the midst of snow" in particular suggested winter. The idea pops up in a few other older commentaries but soon disappears.
Kaneko(1927) calls this poem short on feeling and heavy on technique, which he feels associates it more with the Shin kokinshū style. Kubota(1937) explains the personification of the warbler as an attempt to fuse the human and natural world. He has high praise for the poem, noting its surplus-feeling and rational sorrow.
Takeoka feels that the poem contrasts the cold of Kyoto with a slight hint of warmth from the idea of spring -- perhaps this slight warmth is enough to melt the tiny tears of the warbler. He calls the poem feminine and delicate.
The warbler's tears
There is a surprising amount of comment on this image. Apparently some people took issue with this image because birds do not actually cry tears. Personification of animals is common in waka poetry, but these people may have felt that you could use actually occurring things metaphorically, but could not invent things that didn't exist. All of the existing poetic treatises, though, defend the use of the symbol. Toshiyori cites this as one of a number of objections to the poem, but seems to feel himself that the image is appropriate, noting that other poems in the KKS mention the tears of geese. Keichū later adds that insects crying tears can be found in Chinese poetry as well. Toshiyori does question the appropriateness of including such "fiction" (soragoto) in an imperial anthology, and feels that there still remains much to discuss about the poem, including its placement (see the above comment).
Kenshō (Kenchū mikkan) addresses other objections: that tears would not actually freeze, and that the warblers shouldn't have tears before their crying has been introduced (which isn't for another few poems). He brushes these objections aside, ascribing them to people in the "later world" that focus on fine points without understanding the poetry. Teika explains that the warblers are shedding tears waiting for their time to come (in early spring); the snow is still around so they can't herald spring yet. These tears are then frozen in the snow.
Later commentators, no longer concerned with the propriety of the image itself, disagree over the exact meaning of the image. Kagawa (Seigi) felt that the warblers had been crying through the entire winter, although this seems to be a minority position. Takanao sees the "deep feelings" of the animals as the heart of this poem's affect, and says that the melting tears also indicate the melting of the warbler's thoughts (and thus the coming of spring).
Finally, Katagiri feels that this is too early in the collection to introduce warblers, so perhaps they are playing with figures of warblers, or at best imagining the warblers in the valley. The latter interpretation seems to be the dominant one.
The author's life and the poem
Kaneko floated the idea that this poem might be a reflection of Nijō's political situation, with the tears representing her own sorrow. This view is roundly condemned by later scholars. Although "spring" is used in a number of poems as a symbol for political success or favor of a superior, it would be inappropriate for such a sorrowful poem to be included here in the collection. As Katagiri points out, this is likely a poem recited on some public occasion, which would also be an inappropriate venue for lamenting one's position. Finally, if she were still Empress when this was written, why would she be bemoaning her fate?
