Saigyo Fukami

Harvard-Yenching Institute
So Deep in the Mountains: Saigy's yama ukami Poems and Reclusion in Medieval Japanese
Poetry
Author(s): Jack Stoneman
Source: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Dec., 2008), pp. 33-75
Published by: Harvard-Yenching Institute
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So Deep in theMountains:
Poemsand
Saigyo'sTamafukami
Reclusionin MedievalJapanesePoetry
JACKSTONEMAN
Brigham
Young
University
afterretreating
to Mt. Koya, SaigyoHfr (1118-1190)
senttenpoems,eachstarting
withthephrase"so deepinthemounSometime
to
tains"(yamajukami
his
friendand fellowrecluse,thepoetlll^c^),
1182).lJakuzen,whowas residing
monkJakuzenWiWs
1120-after
(ca.
in Ohara, near thecapital,repliedwithtenpoemsof his own,each
endingwith"Ohara Village"(Oharanosato).The firstand lastwords
ofthetwosetscombineto become"mountainhome"(yamazato
lllS),
and thetwenty
poemsdescribeboththepoeticidealsand therealities
of hermitlifein themountains.
SaigyoandJakuzenchosethetraditionalformof waka(Japanesepoemsof thirty-one
syllables)to communicatetheirvisionof religiousreclusion,even whiletheypushed
in orderto forge
againsttheboundariesofacceptedpoeticexpression,
oftheincreasingly
commonpracticeofBuddhistrea uniqueportrait
Buddhist
nunciation
Mtft)bypoets.
(tonsei
poetsand theworldoftonsei
in
to
become
central
the
were
worldofmedieval
literary
theyexpressed
I thankJosephT. Sorensenand Thomas H. Rohlichfortheirkindand helpfulfeedbackon
readersforHJAS.Researchforthisessay
drafts
ofthisessay.Thanksgo as wellto theanonymous
was supported
bya grantfromtheJapanFoundation.
1
untilthemodernera,whenscholarsbeganto use themore
Jakuw^w
Jakuzenwas pronounced
in hisname.Thiswas mostly
ofthesecondcharacter
in an effort
commonmodernpronunciation
whowas also calledJakunen,
himwithhisolderbrother,
to avoidconfusing
thoughusinga differI willreferto himasJakuzen,thereadingthat
entcharacter
(3S^). In orderto avoidconfusion
nowgenerally
favor.
bothJapaneseand Englishlanguagescholarship
33

34
TACK STONEMAN
to sixteenth
The end oftheHeian
Japan(fromthetwelfth
centuries).
when
period (eleventh-twelfth
centuries),
Saigyo and Jakuzenwere
saw
a
increase
of
writing,
significant
poetictopics(daiH) as wellas the
re-articulation,
expansion,and deepeningof preexisting
topicssuch
as yamazato
and relatedimagesof reclusionsuch as the "grasshut"
{soan^-M).2 Saigyo's exchangewithJakuzenis therecordofa crucial
momentin thedevelopment
recluofimagery
associatedwithreligious
sionin waka.His poemsradically
thetraditional
tropesof
reconfigured
and soanand wouldgreatly
influence
laterliterature.
yamazato
Bysituatin
these
in
the
of
eremitism
context
of
the
ing
poems
expandingtopoi
wakaofthelateHeian period,thisessaywilldemonstrate
howSaigyo's
and provideda
poetrybothpushedtheboundariesofwakaexpression
and
model
for
medieval
Buddhist
poetic
religious
poets.
and modern
Saigyo\yamajukami
poemshavefascinated
premodern
readers.ThoughmuchofthedictionSaigyousedwas unprecedented
and hencepotentially
to conservative
ofwaka,
repugnant
practitioners
Kamo
no
Chomei
&R
MOB
Jien
(1155-1225),
(ca. 1155-1216),
Kenreimon-in
no Ukyono Daibu H^LF^feiR;^^
(b. 1157),and
Matsuo Basho ^MSH
all
(1644-1694) borroweddictionfromthe
Modernscholarsare
yamajukami
poemsfortheirown compositions.3
oftenpuzzledby the Yamazato
exchange,citingthe poems' cohesion
and the highlevelof theirexecutionas well as the highlyunorthodoxnatureofSaigyo's tenpoems.RenownedSaigyoscholarWatanabe
TamotsuMSPfSwrote,"Thissetofpoemsis one ofthefinest
sequences
in the Sankashu,
and evenone of thefinestin theworldof medieval
KubotaShoichirofUEBiS^J^,also ofthetwentieth
poetry."4
century,
disagreed,statingthatthe poems "are at the levelof a sketch."He
we cannotsaytheyare ofhighqualityas litercontinued,
"Therefore,
works.
...
As
a
whole
M$ft
ary
theyare explanatory
[setsumeiteki
6*J],
and
becomingmerelydescriptive
[jojutsuteki
i?3$6*J], anyrisingpoints
seemweak,evenflat."5
exTakagiIsao itjftS?^ assessestheYamazato
it is a masterpiece,
it is unique"*
indichangeby writing,
"Although
2 For
I willreferto grasshutsas soan,thoughtheproperreadingusedinJapanese
convenience,
would be kusano io or kusano ion.

poetry(kun-yomi)
3 See Inada Toshinori

nowakanosekai(Kasama Shoin,2004),pp. 171-72.
fBEBftlfK,
Saigyo
4 Watanabe
Tamotsu,"Saigyono utani tsuite:
Jakuzenni okutta'yamafukami'
jisshukansho,"
Saga ryukoku
gakkaikiyo8 (1960): 14-15.
5 Kubota
Shoichiro, Saigyonokenkyu
(Tokyodo, 1961), p. 235.
6
sakuhin,
Takagi Isao, Saigyonokenkyu:
denpon,
kyqju(Kasama Shoin, 2001), p. 404.

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI
POEMS
35
eatingan ambivalentstancesharedby manywakascholars.Though

as a "playfulexthatthesepoemscan be understood
acknowledging
scholar
Yamada
ShozenlllEHHS
in
Buddhist
the
literati
mode,"
change
^ also pointsto theveryspiritual
aspectofall Saigyo'spoemswhich
theimportance
of
use thewords"deep" and "mountain,"7
indicating
not
as
waka?
as
theyamajukami
expressions, just
poems religious
Scholarshaveoffered
manyopinionsofthesepoems,butnonehas
ofSaigyo'saudatreatedthesetextensively,
goingbeyondobservations
illuminethe positionof the poems within
cious dictionto further
of reclusionas a major
Saigyo'soeuvreand withinthe development
associativeclusterin waka?SeveraltechniquesthatSaigyoemployed
in thissetare commonto hispoetryin general:a uniquediction,an
a creativeuse ofjuxtaposition,
emphasison auralityand audiality,10
thepoems
and a focuson thesubjective
poeticpersona.Conceptually,
in
Sankashu
to
be
found
of
betterthananyothergroup poems
articulate
themeldingof
[UMM (ca. 1170s),Saigyo'spersonalpoetrycollection,
formative
and poeticideals.Withintheimportant
hisreligious
period
ofthefirstthreeimperialpoetryanthologies
(ca. 905-1012),thehon'i
tone,and
^M, whichRoselee Bundydefinesas the "conceptions,
of major
imagesthatcomprisethepoeticessenceof a wakatopic,"11
to
hon'i
tended
of
course
were
words
though
largelysolidified,
poetic
lexical
The
time.
over
shift
and
aspectsof
primary
expand,contract,
WM) and "associatedideasor emotions"
hon\"associatedwords"(engo
to fleshoutthe
in
this
also
set
were
periodand functioned
}l!3),
(renso
certain
with
associated
and
Thoughnotthe
topics.12
meaning imagery
7
(Meiji Shoin, 1987), pp. 306; 270-71.
Saigyonowaka tobukkyo
8 Yamada's entire
purpose in treatingthese poems, in fact, is to determine the features of
Saigyo's hermitlifeat Mt. Koya and his Buddhist beliefsas expressed in his poems.
9 In his
essay "Two Monks and the Mountain Village Ideal," Thomas Rohlich carefullytreats
Xhtyamazatoexchange as a crucial articulationof a uniquelyJapanese manifestationof Buddhist
reclusion withinthe pan-Asian phenomenon of renunciation(forthcomingin a volume of essays
on Trans-Buddhismto be published by Universityof Massachusetts Press).
10
By auralityI mean devices employed by the poet to affectthe aural receptionof a poem when
recitedorally,such as assonance, alliteration,consonance, and so forth.Audiality,in contrast,includes referenceto sounds in a poem or the attemptto recreatesounds in language. This includes
referencingthe sound of water or the call of birds,forexample, and the onomatopoeic representationof such sounds.
11See
Bundy,"Solo PoetryContest as Poetic Self-Portrait:The One-Hundred-Round Contest
of Lord Teika's Own Poems," MN61.1 (2006): 134.
12For
can be summed up as sorrowfulsolitude and
example, the hon'iof "hut" afterthe Kokinshu
in a poem to bolsterthismeaning are
included
be
words
that
The
associated
might
ephemerality.

36
JACK STONEMAN
mostpopulartopoiofthewakatradition
in theHeian period,Saigyo
used
the
of grasshutsand mounstandard
associations
effectively
tainhomesto createpoemsof ingenuity
and influence.
Focusingon
I shalldemonstrate
howhe creSaigyo's halfoftheYamazato
exchange,
ateda newpoeticspace markedbya deepeningand expansionofthe
realm
unarticulated
tropesof soanandyamazato,
yieldinga previously
ofexpression
forhisrigorousideal ofmountainseclusionand helping
to transform
soanandyamazato
intothemajortopoitheybecamein the
medievalera.13
IfclliiTjf, theeldestsonofa wealthy
SaigyowasbornSatoNorikiyo
of
samurai.
At
fifteen
he
enteredtheserviceofthepolitically
family
age
and he laterservedRetiredEmperor
powerful
Tokudaijitl&^Tffamily,
Toba J?BI$t(1103-1156)as one of theNorthernGuard (hokumen
no
bushi
a
and
cultural
select
of
JtSOjKi),
compangroup bodyguards
ions.Then, at theage of twentyforreasonsthatare stillunthree,14
clear,Saigyosuddenlyabandonedhis postand his familyto become
a Buddhistmonk.Forthenextfifty
livednearthe
years,he alternately
in
and
seclusion
and
the
traveled
about
capital
countrywhilecarryout
various
Buddhistactivities.
ing
Throughouthis tonsuredlife,he
continuedto composepoetry,
forwhichhe gainedincreasing
fame.
is
best
known
as
a
his
ThoughSaigyo
today
traveling
poet, poetryof
full
of
of
isolated
mountain
themoon,
reclusion,
retreats,
images huts,
and cherryblossoms,has influenced
countless
poetsand reclusesover
thecenturies,
amongthem,Kamo no Chomei,YoshidaKenko pfEBJ81
? (ca. 1283-after1352),Sogi *frM(1431-1502),MatsuoBasho,and
Ryokan&H (1758-1831).
Previousto Saigyo's time,grasshutsand mountainhomesdid not
connotereligious
necessarily
practice,thoughtheymayhavebeen the
of
monks
or
In theHeian period,yamazato
nuns.
most
dwellingplaces
oftenreferred
to ruralareas in theimmediatevicinity
of thecapital,
suchas Higashiyama,
Saga, Uji, or Ohara. As ThomasRohlichpoints
wereoftennearthecapitalin realmilesbutconceptually
out,yamazato
distantfromcivilization.15
Similarly,
grasshutsin Heian periodliteraor "cold rain"(shigure).
Associatedideas or emotionsthatare then
"grass"(kusa),"dew" (tsuyu),
extracted
fromthesewordsare ephemerality
and tears(perhapsfromlonging).
13The entire
Yamazato
exchangeis includedinAppendix1.
14
Twenty-two
byWestern
reckoning.
15
Rohlich, "Mountain Villages in the Tale of Genii,"in Gerwoto kyoiku:

Mhongoo taishoto shite.

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI POEMS
37
tiedto imagesoffar-flung
turewerenotnecessarily
places.Theywere
thecapital.
mostoftenassociatedwithvillagessurrounding
ofthetropesofthegrasshut
articulation
BySaigyo's time,a gendered
and women
and mountainhomehad been createdbywomenwriters
and
their
cloistered
ladies-in-waiting
(nyobo
empresses
poets,especially
^pRP^ (1101-1145)and hercircle,all
ttW), suchas Taikenmon-in
In theChineseliterary
ofwhomwereassociatesofSaigyo.16
tradition,
thethemeof the recluseusuallybelongedto membersof thegentry,
in eleventh-century
in retirement;
officials
or government
Japan the
In
female
was
literatus
eremitic
of
the
by
poets.17
appropriated
image
evengloomy
werelonesomeand sometimes
yamazato
Genjimonogatari,
to
be found.18
were
or
"hidden
reclusive
where
flowers,"
women,
places
at courtor in
In theHeian period,femalepoetsofthecourt(whether
thepersonaofthe
tookuponthemselves
seclusionfollowing
tonsuring),
in grasshutsand rural
hiddenflower
placingthemselves
byfiguratively
mountainhomes.NakamuraShuko^fcfM-p,in herstudyofcourtly
was
femalepoetic"salons"of the Heian period,statesthat"yamazato
Daisaiin
of
the
the
members
in
which
conceivedofas a naturalspace
as a poetic
She pointsoutthatyamazato
houseenvelopedthemselves."19
editedby KoyamaSatoru,OtomoKanoko,and NoharaMiwako(KuroshioShuppan,2003),p.
125.
16
and her circle,an associaclose to Taikenmon-in
Saigyoseemsto have been particularly
tionthatperhapsextendedfromhis timeas a retainerto theTokudaijifamily(Taikenmon-in
was a Tokudaijidaughter).
fflf^),Saigyocom(shukke
Justtwoyearsafterhis own "tonsuring"
he was ina sutracopyingproject.Similarly,
shukke
memoratedTaikenmon-in's
by soliciting
death.See Ito Takashi&M$k, "Saigyoto
Taikenmon-in's
volvedin Buddhistservicesfollowing
65.3 (2000): 76-82; KubotaJun^{$fflr$, Saigyo:
tokansho
kaishaku
Taikenmon-in,"
Kokubungaku:
to havebeenthesonofone
niutau(Shintensha,
soontotabiji
1996),pp. 133-52.Jakuzenis thought
kaishaku
to
See TakagiIsao, "SaigyotoJakuzen,"Kokubungaku:
ofTaikenmon-in's
ladies-in-waiting.
65.3 (2000):66-67.
kansho
17See Mezaki Tokue liiif,
"Aesthete-recluses
Duringthe TransitionfromAncientto
Princeton
ed. Earl Miner(Princeton:
MedievalJapan,"in Principles
Literature,
Japanese
ofClassical
no
shisoshiteki
Mezaki's
also
See
151-53.
(Yoshikawa
kenkyu
Saigyo
Press,
1985),
pp.
University
ChineseandJapaneseNaturePoetry
Kobunkan, 1978), pp. 100-132; Ivo Smits, The PursuitofLoneliness:
FranzSteiner,1995),pp. 1-34.
inMedieval
Japan,ca. 1050-1150(Stuttgart:
18
to
kaishaku.
yamazato no fukei, Kokubungaku:
Sasagawa Hiroji m/HlWoJ,"Genjimonogatan
38-45.
46.14
no
kyozai kenkyu (2001):
19NakamuraShuko,
saronni okerushizento waka: Daisaiin sarono chushinni, in
"Joryu
ed. KatagiriYoichi(SekaiShisosha,1984),pp. 60-75. On
to
Ochowakanosekai:shizen
kanjo biishiki,
Daisaiin Senshi
Daisaiin Senshi, see Edward Kamens, The BuddhistPoetryoftheGreatKamoPriestess:
of Michigan,
andHosshinWakashQ(AnnArbor:CenterforJapaneseStudies,The University
1990).

38
JACK STONEMAN
topicappearedin poemsfromthespring,autumn,and winterbooks

of two of PrincessSenshi'sM^faMJL (964-1035) personalpoetry
collections.20
As moreand moreactualhermits(mostlymales)began
composingpoemsin whichthe poeticpersonaresidedin grasshuts
and mountainhomes,theypartookof therhetoric
createdby female
of
the
Heian
transformed
thearticulation
and
poets
period
gradually
ofthesetropesfromthatofthehiddenflowerand languishing
woman
to one ofmarkedreligiosity
and isolation.
interaction
withseveralnyobo,
some ofwhomwere
Saigyo'spoetic
in reclusionas tonsurednuns,is indicativeof thistransformation.21
Many of the male reclusesof the late Heian and Kamakura(1185as the
1333) periodswereof the same social statusand background
courtwomenwhowerealso composing
mountain-home
and
grass-hut
ofthese
theshift
fromfemaleto malearticulation
poetry.22
Facilitating
were
the
real
of
with
male
interactions
court
women
recluses,
tropes
in whichtheyexchangedpoems thatfocusedon Buddhisticaspects
ofgrasshutsand mountainhomes.This sortofexpression,
Orikuchi
Shinobuhas observed,
differed
fromwhatone mightexpectfromcourt
womencorresponding
in theirromantic
withsecularmale courtiers,
forexample.23
male hermitstookcenter
communications,
Eventually,
in
the
articulation
and
dissemination
of
stage
poetryaboutreclusion,
female
in
continued
to
arena
though
poets
participate thisimportant
ofwakaexpression
themedievalperiod.
throughout
The grasshutand mountainhomeformedthecoreofa clusterof
topoiassociatedwithBuddhistreclusionin medievalwaka.Theywere
also important
to Saigyo'sown lifeas a monkand to the worldof
reclusionhe createdin hispoetry.
KubotaJungoes so faras to claim
thatSaigyo's"adorationand longing"forthegrass-hut
lifeprompted
him finallyto take the tonsureand becomea monk.24
And Mezaki
20
Nakamura,p. 63.
21KuwabaraHiroshi
kJW,"Nyobobungakukarainjabungakue: Saigyono ichi,"inRonshu:
ed. Waka Bungakukai(Kasama Shoin,1990),pp. 137-59;WatanabeYumikoSjUSH
Saigyo,
kaishaku
tokansho
65.3 (2000): 83-89; NakamuraFumi
?, "Saigyoto nyobotachi,"
Kokubungaku:
$*W;, "Saigyoto nyobotachi,"
kaishaku
tokansho
39.8 (1994):53-59.
Kokubungaku:
22OrikuchiShinobu
Shinobu
JffPfe^, "Nyobo bungakukara inja bungakue," in Orikuchi
vol. 1 (Chuo Koronsha,1972),pp. 265-320,esp.273-83.
zenshu,
23Ibid.
24Kubota
kaishaku
tokansho
41.8 (1976):30.
Jun,"Saigyoto soan to uta to,"Kokubungaku:

SAIGYO'S TAMAFUKAMI POEMS
39
Tokuewrote:"The twowordsthatmostsimplyexpresstheaspectsof
lifeareyamazato
and shugyo
f^fl)."25These
Saigyo'sfifty
yearsoftonsei
and
others
have
looked
at
twoscholars many
Saigyo'ssoanandyamahislifeas a Buddhistrecluse.I will
zatopoemsin orderto understand
focuson the worldof reclusionSaigyo created
insteadspecifically
A closelook at how thetopoiofgrasshutsand
hispoems.26
through
is necessary
forevaluhomesdevelopedin thewakatradition
mountain
as
of
how
altered
and
the
examples
Saigyo
Jiikami
poems
yama
ating
enrichedthewakatradition.
GRASS HUTS
solitudeand mounIn Chinesepoetrygrasshutsusuallysuggested

The mostfamousinstirredreligiousthoughts.
tainsbut sometimes
stanceofthecompoundsoanin Chinesepoetryis thefollowing
poem
in
a
number
of
sources
which
S^^
appears
(772-846),
by Bojuyi
thatwere read by aristocratic
poets of the Heian period,such as
$l&& (fourteenth
Godansho
KWifP(ca. 1111);Gukensho
and,
century);
roeishu
Wakan
^\M^%M (eleventh
mostimportantly,
century):
Ranseino hana no
toki kinchono
moto
Rosanno ame no yo
soan no uchi
You in the"OrchidBureau"at this

beneaththe
timeofflowers
embroidered
curtains;
and me,hereat Mt. Lu on a rainy
night,insidemygrasshut. . .27
The character
compoundsoanservedas a "topic,"or"heading"(dai)
a themethatJapanesepoemsoftenborrowedfromlinesof Chinese
intoa Japanesepoem, the two Chinese
poetry.When incorporated
25
butMezaki
to anyBuddhistpractice,
refers
noshisoshiteki
Mezaki,Saigyo
kenkyu,
p. 133. Shugyo
between
to indicateSaigyo'stravels,therebycreatinga distinction
uses the termspecifically
Buddhist
and
practices.
ambulatory
Saigyo'ssedentary
26
reflect
his
anyofSaigyo'spoemsaccurately
Hence,itdoes notmatterto myanalysiswhether
to thewakatradiis in hispoeticsand hisrelationship
actuallifeas a hermitor not.My interest
oftopoiassociatedwith
influenced
Saigyo'sre-articulation
certainly
tion,thoughlivedexperience
in
reclusion,
poems.
thtyamajukami
especially
27 Wakan
and
no. 555. Translation
fromj.ThomasRimerandJonathanChaves,Japanese
roeishu,
toSing(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversity
Poems
Chinese
Press,1997),pp. 167-68.

40
JACK STONEMAN
charactersforsoonwere pronounced in a Japanese manner as kusano

io (<t^)
or kusano iori(<<Dl/^SD),28 and a varietyof combinations of graphs and hiragana(^/S, ^1^(5, ^l^(5D,
<
$1) were used.29The firstinstance of the term kusano io(ri)in Japanese poetrywas most likelyin a poem by the earlyHeian poet Prince
Motoyoshi 7t:îl3E (890-943).30 The firstappearance in an imperial poetryanthologywas in an anonymouspoem in ShuishuJniSJH
(ca. 1006).31Both poems postdate Bo Juyi'spoem, which most likely
introducedthe phrase kusano io(ri)to the readers and writersofJapanese poetryin theHeian period.A searchofKokkataikanrevealsroughly
fourthousanduses of the singleword "hut" in wakapoetry,employing
the characteran #in its commonJapanese readings(kunyomi)
io and
iori(M, 1/^(5,{/^(SD).32For the purposes of thispaper, a briefsynopsis
of the developmentof thisconcept up to Saigyo's timeshould suffice.
The singlecharacter"hut" (JS)33appeared in the readingsio or iori,
and sometimesin verbal form"to dwell in a hut" (iorisu)in the eighthJjMM, the earliestanthologyofJapanese poetry.In
centuryMan'yoshu
the
Man'yoshu, conceptof "hut" seems to have developed independently
of the Chinese poetic tradition.34
The earliestexamples in Man'yoshu
28Thereis no
and wouldhence
changein meaningbetweenioand iori.Kusanoiois fivesyllables
constitute
itsownlinein a waka.Kusanoioriis sixsyllables
and wouldbecomepartofa sevensyllableline.
29Thereare
440 poemsusingkusanoio(ri).I gathereddata on wordusagefromShinroughly
kokka
taikan
pen kokkataikanhenshuiinkai,eds.,Shinpen
CD-ROM, Ver.2 (KadokawaShoten,
2003).
30
no. 139.
shinnoshu,
Motoyoshi
31
no. 110.
Shuishu,
32Poetsoften
thefollowing
combinations:
"brushcoupled"hut"withvariousmodifiers,
yielding
woodhut"(shiba
noiofrij
$g(Dm,5H<OW5,3SE>^&9, U(DM, UfEH/^5, U$<D^
(50), used261 times;"grasshut"{kusanoiofrij
$(DS, $>l/S$, ^W*&9,
<<DJt,
hut"(kari
or karinoiofrij
<Ol/^5, <>l/^D), used434 times;
MM,
iofrij
"temporary
used302times;
and
frDJt,A^l/^5, fr?)^&9, frtXDJi,
frD<DlW5,
fr*XDMZ*)),
t>WM,t>WWZ,tlffWZO,Stf/*,StfWS, 8*V&?>), used
"myhut"(waga
iofrij
148 times.Data gatheredfromShinpen

kokka
taikan
does
CD-ROM, Ver.2. The presentdiscussion
not includesuch relatedtermsfor"hut"as shibanoto^6OP, tomaya
&l
~&M, and abaraya
<bm.
33The characters
fl[ and M seemto havebeen interchangeable
in earlyJapanesepoetryand
werebothpronouncedio or iori.On occasionthecharacters
JAMcouldbe read^yâ, a synoSee Man'yoshu
to Shinpen
nymforiofrij.
3:434;9:1813.NumbersforMan'yoshu
poemsareaccording
kokkataikan.
34
in hispoetryas the
Ienaga Saburo^^Cz=.^[5 citesBo Juyiand thesoonidealsBo articulated
sourceof thegrass-hut
ni okeru
no
shizenkan
toposinJapanesepoetry.See Kihonshisoshi
shukyoteh

SAIGYO'S YAMAFUKAMI POEMS
41
shelterbuiltwhiletraveling
or a temporary
implyeithera temporary
hutbuiltforritualseclusion,
sometimes
thatoffamily
membersaftera
ofitsusageinJapanesepoetry,
Thus,fromthebeginning
royaldeath.35
thehutintimated
The mostbasic
solitude,and transience.
mourning,
as
was
in
it
often
modified
of
"hut,"
or,
Manyoshu,
meaning
"temposhelterapartfromordinary
{5JS),was a temporary
raryhut"(kari-io
inManyoshu:
occurrence
living.Typicalofthisusageis itsfirst
Nukatanookimi
ga uta
Princess
Nukata'spoem
akino no no
mikusakarifuki
yadorerishi
Uji no miyakono
kariio shiomoyu
hut
Memoriesofthetemporary
oftheUji Palace in whichI oncestayed,
withgrasses36
thatched
cutfromtheautumnfields,
nowcomebackto me.37
Hutsreappearas a commontropein fasciclessix,seven,and eight,

dwellwheretwomeaningsstandout as mostcommon:a temporary
intense
by
longingfora
ing associatedwithtraveland characterized
and a temporary
and exposureto theelements;38
lovedone,loneliness,
which
a
fall
to
the
linked
harvest,39
pun or resonance
through
dwelling
- as in the
is achieved
on karu(to reap or cut) and kari(temporary)
hutin
the
Whetherfortravelor fieldwork, temporary
poem above.40
and longing.However,
was alwaysassociatedwithloneliness
Manyoshu
a distinctly
Buddhist
inone ofthefinalappearancesofhutinManyoshu,
another
with
first
time.
the
for
the
fore
to
Coupled
meaningcomes
is evidentonlyaftertheperiodof
tenkai
(Sogensha,1944),pp. 31-37. However,Bojuyi'sinfluence
the Manyoshu.
35See AokiTakakoetal.,eds.,ShinchoXihon
1976),pp.47-48.
koten
shusei:
(Shinchosha,
Man'ydshu
36The reference
to theUji Palace as a temporary
grasshutis an exampleof the "grasshut"
to emphasizetheephemeralnatureofthe
as a rhetorical
device,a metaphor,
imagefunctioning
in
a
truehut.
not
was
Nukata
in
fact
when
dwelling
Uji dwelling,
37
1:7. See also 1:11,60; 2:220; 6:933, 1022.
Manyoshu
38SeeMzn>^tZ6:1029.
39See
10:2248,2252.
Manyoshu
40See
10:2104,2178,2239.
Manyoshu

42
JACK STONEMAN
of thingsin
poem and prefacedwith"despisingthe impermanence
thisworld,"thisanonymous
a
the
world
to
poemcompares
temporary
hut.It foreshadows
theeventualabsorption
ofthegrass-hut
toposinto
Buddhistrhetoric,
a processto whichSaigyowas a contributor.
yo no nakano
shigekikariio ni
sumisumite
itaramukunino
tazukishirazumo
Livingin thewildand unkempt

hut
temporary
ofthisworld,
I knownotevenhowto reach
thatKingdom.41
In theeightimperialanthologies
oftheHeian period(hachidaishu
A
^M
fr^Kl (1205),huts
1XM),fromKokinshu
(905)to Shinkokinshu
continuedto be associatedwithtraveland thefallharvest,
thoughritual connotations
after
The
disappeared
Marfyoshu. following
poem by
Mibu Tadamine3rj&* (ca. 860-920) fromtheAutumnsectionof
Kokinshu
is typical:
yamadamoru
akino kariio ni
okutsuyuwa
inaosedorino
namidanarikeri
The dewdropsthatfall
on thefleeting
hut
the
harvest
fields
watching
are thetears
oftheautumnbirds.42
Hutshastilyconstructed
forshelterbytravelers
continuedto evoke
As earlyas Kokinshu
hutsalso suggested
imagesofcoldrainsand dew.43
retreat
from
the
world
and
rereclusion,
especially
specifically
religious
treatcarriedout by monksand nunswho had renouncedtheworld
41
16:3850.
Man'yoshu
42
no. 306. "Autumn
birds"{inaosedori)
are one ofthreespeciesofbirdtheidentities
of
Kokinshu,
whichhavebeenkeptsecretin thewakatradition,
unlessone is privyto theKokin
or "secret
denju,
transmission
oftheKokinshu"
In thispoem,thesetting
ofan autumnfieldwitha watchman's
hut
acts almostlikea "prefacephrase"(jo-kotoba)
forthedew thatis comparedto thebird'stears.
UnliketheMan'yoshu
poems,itseemsas ifthepoetis onlyusingtheautumnfieldand itshutas
relatedimageryto fleshout theimageofautumndew,ratherthanas an actuallocalewherethe
residence.
Thereis a punon kari,whichcan mean"temporary"
or "to
poetmaybe in temporary
the"fleeting
hut"to autumn.
cut,"as in harvesting
grain,thuslinking
43See
no. 539.
Senzaishu,

43
Followand itsdelusionsand came to be called "recluses"(tonseisha).

the
waka
famous
hut
of
the
most
is
one
of
tradition,
poems
bythe
ing
in
included boththe MiscelmonkKisen HJUffiCT
(ninthcentury),
and FujiwaraTeika'sMJ&TfiM
laneoussectionofKokinshu
(or Sadaie,
isshu
influential
collection
Hyakunin l=fA~^tf
1162-1241)immensely
(1235).
Si^SttScofeo*b*^^Cy1ft*aîl4i:Atti/^&t)
waga io wa
miyakono tatsumi
shikazo sumu
yoo ujiyamato
hitowa iu nari
My hutis
southeast
ofthecapital,
whereI and thedeerlive,
butpeoplesayI haveleft
worldforMt. Uji.44
thewretched
he refers
Sincethepoetis a monk,thereaderis awarethattheretreat
is
further
solidified
and
reclusion
huts
The linkagebetween
to is tonsei.
sectionofSenzaishu
^MLM (1188),
two
poemsin theMiscellaneous
by
one by FujiwaraSanekuni(1140-1183) BUCÎl and the otherby
Kakushun^ft (FujiwaraMototoshiBWMi 1060-1141).The prefretreats
ace to each of thesepoemsgivedetailsof real mountain-hut
them.
and themonkswhoinhabited
niawareni
nimakiritarikeru
haberikeru
ni,okunoinnijorenhoshiga
anjitsu
Koyanimairite
tsukawashikeru
kaerite
miekereba,
hasa grasshutneartheOkunoin,and
themonkjoren
towhere
toKoya,I went
I went
When
this
I
sent
it
poem.
returning,
moving;
upon
found very
taremo mina
tsuyuno mi zo
kashito
omouni mo
kokorotomarishi
kusano io kana
mightthink
Everyone
ourlivesto be
ephemeralas dew,
and yetmyheartlingers
inyourgrasshut!45
44
isshu8.
no. 983; Hyakunin
Kokinshu,
45
Senzaishu,no. 1135.

44
JACK STONEMAN
haberikereba
totoite
nikomori
ihaberikeru
hitono,itsuka
idenzuru
ni,bonitodomaritaru
yamadera
iitsukawashikeru
asked
I wasinseclusion
inthemainbuilding
When
ata mountain
a person
whowasstaying
temple,
mewhen
I might
I replied:
towhich
leave,
yoo somuki
kusano iorini
sumizomeno
koromono irowa
kaerumonoka wa
Havingrenouncedtheworld
and begunlife
in thisgrasshut,
howthencouldI change
robes?46
thecolorofmyink-died
In bothpoems,the hutis an explicitly

religiousspace and a symbol
ofthemonks'retreatfromtheworld.Althoughthesepoemspreserve
the hut was
traditional
associationsof lonelinessand ephemerality,
neithernecessarily
thetopicof thesepoems,norsimplyimageryemto
evoke
a
certain
The hutin these
emotion,suchas loneliness.
ployed
was
anda fitboth
a
real
the
of
poems
very
aspect
poets'surroundings
of
the
tenuous
existence
of
mountain
recluses.
Furthertingmetaphor
and Shinkokinshii
eras the status
more,in the poetryof the Senzaishu
of thehutas boththelocale of theBuddhistrecluseand thesymbol
of hislifeassumeda senseof eleganceon top of theexisting
layerof
forlornness.
theimageofthehuthad becomemore
By thetimeofShinkokinshii,
tied
to
eremitism
than
to travelor the harvest.Ratherthan
closely
a
of
solitude
fromlovedonesand danbeing place
implying
separation
thehuthad been transformed
in late
gerousexposureto theelements,
Heian poetryintoa placeofreligious
which,
lonesome,
practice
though
was certainly
desiredby a Buddhistrecluse.Furthermore,
althoughit
had been simplyan imagetiedto emotiveconnotations
suchas ritual
and separationfromlovedonesin Man'yoshii,
the
seclusion,
mourning,
hutbecamea topicin itsown rightin Shinkokinshii.
time,
By Saigyo's
mountains
had becomecommonlocationsforactualhuts(notjusthuts
in poems)and the recluseswho inhabitedthem.Saigyoaffirmed
as
46
Senzaishu,no. 1147.

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI POEMS
45
negativeaspectsof grasshutsand mountain

positivethe previously
whichwas bothan innovation
their
within
homes,primarily loneliness,
thecanonofwakadictionand partofa largertrendin histimetoward
life.
a positiveassessment
ofthegrass-hut
hut
of
the
's
and poetic
grass as a positivereligious
Saigyo promotion
for
later
of
recluses
and
the
generations
way
poetswho
space paved
in
in
life
becamedevotedto thegrass-hut
practiceand poetry.
Judgof the medievalperiod,it appears
ingfromthe imperialanthologies
overtimeand thatthe
to hutsincreasedin frequency
thatreferences
ofpeoplewhoadopteda reclusive
numbers
styleoflifegrew.Medieval
Saigyo,valuedthetropeofgrasshuts(and mountain
poets,imitating
These
homes).
poetsincludeJien;FujiwaraIetaka MJ^^P^ (1158RetiredEmperorGofivecompilersof Shinkokinshu;
the
one
of
1237),
and the
Toba tiBÎ^ (1180-1239),who commissioned
Shinkokinshu;
ShotetsulEWi(1381-1459).The grass-hut
troperemained
poet-monk
Sanetaka
with
Edo
the
into
Sanjonishi
(1600-1868),
period
prominent
and
K#/h&^&
H^S^H
MushanokojiSanekage
(1455-1537)
amongwakapoets.The imageof
(1661-1738)as majorproponents
and artistic
thegrasshutwas also popularin otherrealmsofliterary
the
influenced
were
as
such
by
grass-hut
Sogi
Rengapoets
production.
poeticsand lifeofSaigyo,as werehaikaipoetssuchas Bashoand Yosa
Buson^MMW (1716-1784).The grasshutalsobecamea centralfeatureofliterati
ÂH; nangaj^jBj) in theMuromachi
painting(bunjinga
Edo
and
periods.
(1336-1573)
MOUNTAIN HOMES
and howitshouldbe translated

The meaningofthewordyamazato,
oftheHeian
with
is
intoEnglish, fraught problems.In kanaliterature
not onlyto populatedmountainvillages,
period,theword"referred
but also to ruralareas removedfromthe capital,villasbuiltby arisSatoalone
tocratsin placeswithsuperbscenicviews,and so forth."47
outside
a
residence
a
and
couldmeanbotha village
residence,
usually
thecapital.The additionofyamaplaced thevillageor dwellingat a
Understoodin thismanner,the
conceptualdistancefromcivilization.
thatmightbe perceivedin theusage oiyamazato
contradiction
(when
47AkuzawaTadashiffl?\W&, Genji
tohydgen
(KokkenShuppan:1993),p. 233.
nogoho
monogatari

46
JACK STONEMAN
translatedas "mountainvillage") as a distinctly

lonely
place can be best
understoodas a matterof "degree of separation"fromthe capital and
civilizationregardlessof the population of a given "village." Thus the
wordyamazatomay referto a village,albeit a village usually sparsely
populated. Neverthless,it is just as likelythatyamazatoindicated a
dwelling,whetherthat dwellingwas part of a group of dwellingsor
completelyisolated.Since "home" is equally ambiguousin English,reyamaferringto anythingfroma hut to a city,I have chosen to translate
zatoas "mountainhome."48
As used in both poetryand prose the termyamazatoseems to be
a constructof the Heian period. This has been suggestedby several
scholars on the grounds that no evidence can be found of its usage
beforeKokinshu.^
Thomas Rohlich tracesthe developmentof theyamazatomotifin he monogatari,
imperialpoetryanthologies,and Genjimonoout
that
gatari,pointing
"initiallyit was used to representa gloomy
place far removedfromsociety,but over time it became an attractive
space representingescape fromthe travailsof the mundarjeworld."50
are disObserving that the seven appearances ofyamazatoin Kokinshu
tributedfairlyevenly throughthe seasonal sections,he suggeststhat
the word was not tied to a particularseason and that images associated withyamazato
were a "functionofplace, not a particularseason."51
the
Exemplifying usage ofyamazatowithits attendantengoin the early
Heian period are the firsttwo poems in Kokinshu
to mentionyamazato,
48I realizethatI runtheriskofconfusion
betweentheterm"mountain
house"(sankaih^jZ)and
sankadoes notappearas a wordusedin poems,or "poeticword"{utakotoba
KK
However,
yamazato.
is usuallya topic(dai).Yamazato
and thusa disbut,rather,
JsJ)
mayappearas a daior utakotoba,
tinction
can be made.In practice,
whensankais thedaiofthepoem,yamazato
is oftenusedin the
poem,sinceit is a Japanesewordas comparedto thesinicizedsanka.Sankaandyamazato
apparwordspointingto thesameconceptor image.Forexample,of
entlywereofteninterchangeable
thesixteenpoemsunderthedai"MountainHouse" {sanka)
in theinfluential
collection
Horikawa-in
fourofthe"Mountain
iSMISHtl (ca. 1105),nineuse thewordyamazato.
hyakushu
Incidentally,
House" poemsincludevarianttermsforgrasshut.See also Shinchokusenshu,
no. 204; Senzaishu,
no.
303. Fora discussion
oftheyamazato
/sanka
issuein Saigyo'spoetry,
see Mezaki,Saigyono
shisoshiteki
kenkyu,
pp. 134-35, 157-58.
49Thereis one
toMan'yoshu
A
poem,attributed
poetKakinomotono Hitomaroin Hitomaru-shu
See Rohlich,p. 121;Akuzawa,
^tJfe,thatustsyamazato.
However,thepoemis likelyapocryphal.
pp. 233-49.
50
Rohlich,p. 121.
GoShuishu
Ibid.,p. 126.Nevertheless,
#?n)Sill
bythetimeoftheimperialpoetryanthology
had begunto appearmostoftenin autumnand winter
(1086),yamazato
poems.See Akuzawa,pp.
233-49.

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI POEMS
47
byAriwaraMuneyana&HCtt^ (d. 898) and Ise *I5 (ca. 874-after

938).
ham tatedo
hana mo niowanu
yamazatowa
ne ni
monoukaru
naku
zo
uguisu
Thoughspringhas come
thereis no scentofblossoms
in mymountainhome,
and so thewarbler
note.52
singsa melancholy
miruhitomo
nakiyamazatono
sakurabana
hokano chirinan
ato zo sakamashi
Cherryblossoms
in thismountainhome
withno one to see them
ifonlytheywouldbloom
aftertheothershaveall scattered.53
These poems introduceseveralwordscommonlyassociatedwith

and "no one." The first
suchas "blossoms,"
"warbler,"
poem
yamazato,
late.
arrives
where
a
of
a
sad, lethargicplace
spring
paints picture
in
mounthe
with
winter's
and
overlapping spring
Spring'slatearrival
era and style.Warblers,
tainswerecommonconceitsof the Kokinshu
The
werealso oftenassociatedwithyamazato.
as theheraldsofspring,
a commonphraseassociatedwithyamazato:
secondpoem introduces
to thedesolateand lonelynatureof
hitomonaki,or "no one,"pointing
homes.
mountain
in Heianlonesomeness
The imageryofyamazato
alwaysreflected
forlorn
this
of
the
of
assessments
and
quality
yetpoets'
periodwaka,
Heian
half
of
the
first
the
naturegraduallychanged.During
period,
mountainhomesin proseand poetrywereisolatedand gloomy,the
ofthebustling
antithesis
capital.Bytheend oftheHeian period,these
made yamazatodesirablefor recluses.
characteristics
"unattractive"
it
towardthe mountainhome transformed
Poets'changingattitudes
into"a place ofescape,notofexile,ofwelcomerelieffromthetroubles
ofthecapital."54
and complications
52
no. 15.
Kokinshu,
53
no. 68.
Kokinshu,
54
Rohlich,p.129.

48
JACK STONEMAN
A poemcomposedbyMinamotoToshiyori
MlQWi(orShunrai,10551129) in thelate Heian periodcallsfora reevaluation
oftheyamazato
topos:
akino ta ni
momijichirikeru
yamazatoo
kotomo orokani
omoikeru
kana
Fallleavesscatter
on theharvested
fields
ofthismountainhomeI had nottakenthisplace
before!55
seriously
In thispoem Toshiyori
intimates
thatformerly
he had nottakenthe
to
be
a
serious
He
that
is a place of
asserts
yamazato
place.
yamazato
and solemnbeautyand shouldbe consideredmore
greatprofundity
a
as
inforgwasinstrumental
seriously poeticword(utakotoba).
Toshiyori
the
for
the
in
new
Shinkokinshu
that
took
hold
the
ing
way
poeticstyle
as wellas
era, a timeof moredirectand intensepersonalexpression
ofstarker,
This poem has
quieter,and moremonochromatic
imagery.
thesecharacteristics
and was pivotalin deepeningthe serious,sad
of
the
mountain
home.
image
Toshiyori
composedthispoem aroundthesame timethathe and
themostprominent
poetsofhisdaycompiledtheHorikawa-in
hyakushu,
a collectionof one-hundred-poem
sixteen
sequencesby
poets.This
collectionwas influential
in theinterpretation
and reinterpretation
of
and Shinkokinshu
Senzaishu
manypoetictopics(dai)duringthesubsequent
eras.Furthermore,
itinfluenced
own
the
Nevertheless,
Saigyo's
poetics.
of
Horikawa-in
exhibit
little
distinctive
diction
yamazato
poems
hyakushu
or imagery;
connotations
rather,
theypersistin usingthemostfamiliar
of loneliness(sabishi),isolation(touhitomonashi),wind (kogarashi,
kaze),
and grasshuts.
werefrequently
Althoughthewordssabishiand "forlorn"
(wabishi)
usedinyamazato
themore
poems,Toshiyori's
poem,whichstrengthened
emotionalaspectsofyamazato,
introduced
a trendthatwould
starkly
cometo theforein Shinkokinshu
withtwopoems,bySone Yoshitada#
Ji#?j(tenthcentury)
and FujiwaraHideyoshi
^JgCff
t(1174-1240),
respectively.
55
Senzaishu,no. 378.


yamazatoni
kuzuhaikakaru
no
matsugaki
himanakumonowa
akizo kanashiki
In thismountainhome
arrowroot
vinescreep
the
thick
along
pinefence
whereautumn
is alwaysmiserable.56
yamazatono
kaze susamajiki
yugureni
konohamidarete
monozo kanashiki
Atdusk
thebone-chilling
wind
in thismountainhome
scatters
theleaves
and all is miserable.57
49
as sabishiki
thesituation
Ratherthandescribing
(lonesome)or wabishiki
- bothofthesepoems
was
for
as
usual
yamazato
poems
(forlorn)
speak
thelonelyand desolate
thusintensifying
ofkanashiki
(sad,or miserable),
rhetoric.
aspectsofyamazato
wereintensifying,
gainJustwhenthelonesomeaspectsofyamazato
some
were
to
of
the
miserable,"
poets
beginning
meaning "being
ing
or
natural
offered
more
Nature,
beauty,
preyamazato
positively.
regard
modern
Japanesea meansbywhichtheymightalleviatetheirsuffering
as themodernscholarIenaga Saburoobserved
and achievesalvation,
in hisessayonyamazato.58
However,to availoneselfofthenaturalenforreligious
vironment
practice,one had to do morethanvisitremote
thepractitioner
had to
localesto viewthemoonor blossoms;rather,
Monks
and
such
as
a
recluse
the
life
of
(tonsei).
poets
Saigyo
adopt
and thesolitudetheyoffered,
whichwas
weredrawnto themountains
the
to manyaspectsof Buddhistpractice.Subsequently
so important
56
no. 1569. I have chosen to include this poem in my discussion of the evolving
Shinkokinshu,
even though the poet is froman earlier era,
nature of mountain village imagery in Shinkokinshu
with its unusual diction,
roughlythe late tenthcentury.The inclusion of thispoem in Shinkokinshu,
era than the poet's own. Furtheris an indication more of the poetic values of the Shinkokinshu
more, Yoshitada was known as an eccentric poet who used words that were radical for his own
time,causing him to be marginalized by the poetic establishmentof the day. The second poem,
era in both chronologyand style.
by Hideyoshi, is situatedin the Shinkokinshu
57
no. 564.
Shinkokinshu,
58Mhonshisoshi
no tenkai,
ni okerushukyoteki
shizenkan
p. 18.

50
JACK STONEMAN
assessmentofyamazatoin poetryshifted.The yamazatotropewas transformedfromgloom to salvificglow.

in asstssingyamain tying
Saigyo was instrumental
yamazatoto tonsei;
zato positivelyas a place of refugeand salvation; and in advancing
yamazatoas an importanttopos in the wakacanon. He composed approximatelyseventyyamazatopoems, most of which referto his own
dwellingratherthan to mountainhomes in general. Instead of simply
commentingon the absence of people in the mountains,using traditionalphrasessuch as touhitomonaki("no one visits")or hitomonashi("no
one around"), Saigyo oftentook the lonelyand desolate atmosphereof
his mountainhome as a givenand thenexpresseda desireforcompanionship.The followingpoem, one of Saigyo's mostfamous,is typical.
sabishisani
taetaruhito no
mata mo are na
iori narabemu
fuyuno yamazato
I wish therewere
anotherhere
who could bear thislonelinesswe'd build our hutsside by side
in thiswintrymountainhome.59
In thispoem, Saigyo assumes thatthe mountainhome, forall itsloneliness, is a beneficialplace to live- a place he wishes to share with
someone. The desireto have companionshipin a mountainhome was
not unheard of in the wakatradition,but,beforeSaigyo's time,the expressionshitomoga na (wishforanother)and hitoarena (wishforsomeone) rarelyappeared in waka and almost never in conjunctionwith
yamazato.60
59
no. 609 [557]; Saigyohoshikashu,no. 2170. All Saigyo

Sankashu,no. 560 [513]. See also Sankashu,
poems are firstreferencedwith a number in parentheses from Watanabe Tamotsu's Sankashu
zenchukai
(Kazama Shobo, 1979), the textupon which I have primarilyrelied forSaigyo's poetry,
though I will at times note textual variants presentin other versions.Watanabe's annotated collection is the most comprehensive and inclusive one-volume version of not only Sankashubut
and ânshu as well as poems gleaned fromother sources. Numbers in brackets refer
KUagakishu
to the Mhon kotenbungakutaikeiversion of Sankashuedited by Kazamaki Keijiro ffl,^M<K&$
Xihonkotenshuseiversion
(Iwanami Shoten, 1965). These numbers also correspond to the Shincho
of Sankashuedited by Goto Shigeo &WMBR as well as the most recentlypublished annotated
version of Sankashu,Kikigakishu,
Zanshu(Meiji Shoin, 2003), edited by Nishizawa Yoshihito WM
Ht, Utsuki Genko ^8**11
ft, and Kubotajun.
60 One
poem predating Saigyo, Shuishu,no. 51, by Kiyohara Motosuke 7 J&TZffl(908-990),
does obliquely
expressa yearningforvisitors.

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI
POEMS
51
or a companJustwhenSaigyoexpressedhisdesireto havevisitors
its
was
the
mountain
that
isolation
home's
also
made
the
he
ion,
point
in
In
such
a
another
ofhis
reason
for
and
the
feature
best
place.
living
mostfamouspoemshe boldlystatesthat,wereitnotforhismountain
he wouldnotwantto livethere.
home'sloneliness,
touhitomo
omoitaetaru
yamazatono
sabishisanakuba
sumiukaramashi
I've givenup
on anyonevisiting
mymountainhome,
butwereitnotforthisloneliness
I wouldhateto livehere.61
has accepted
In thispoem,Saigyo,in accordwiththewakatradition,
chose the
his mountainhome as lonelyHowever,thathe explicitly
He
hisperspective
localeas hishometransforms
mountain
ofyamazato.
a newvantagepointon thetraditional
establishes
imageryofyamazato
of desirable
thetoposas an expression
thatallowsone to reinterpret
In
the
following
poem,Saigyoemploysimagerythattradiqualities.
an
austereand lonesomereadingofyamazato
to
would
point
tionally
on itshead:
butthenturnsthattradition
^*e>T^LAS*HfO*tSSKlESS5nLtCOajS
tsukinarade
sashiirukageno
nakimamani
kururuureshiki
akino yamazato
No glow
butthemoon's
everentershere,
and so I'm gladto meetdusk
in myautumnalmountainhome.62
In usingureshiki
(autumnalmountain
(glad)to describeakinoyamazato
unheardofin
thatwas previously
home),Saigyomakesa juxtaposition
thewakacanon.Beforehistime,thementionnotonlyofa mountain
homein autumnbut of duskin a mountainhomein autumnwould
And yet,here the poet gladlywelhave impliedloneliness(sabishi).
thenight.
comesdusksincethemoonwillbe hiscompanionthrough
his
is thatthepoetis lonelyduringtheday;however,
The implication
61
Sankashu,no. 1019 [937].
62

52
JACK STONEMAN
makesthe traditional
happyanticipation
symbolsof lonelinessin a
- desirable.
mountainhome- themoon,dusk,and autumn
innovative
thereaderto evaluate
dictionand forcing
By employing
froma freshperspective,
yamazato
poemsthat
Saigyocreatedyamazato
of
the
traditional
rhetoric
of
the
yamazato
topos
simultaneously
partook
and imparted
a highly
ofthisimportant
individual
and newperception
In one poem,he createda stanceinwhichhe compared
poeticspace.63
the traditional
in wakapoetryto the actualexperitoposofyamazato
enceoflivingin themountains.
Thispoemand otherslikeitbecomea
on theyamazato
meta-commentary
topositself.
yamazatowa
akino sue ni zo
omoishiru
kanashikarikeri
no kaze
kogarashi
I've trulycometo know

mymountainhome
at theend ofautumn
howutterly
sad,
theblustery
coldwind!64
- he statesthathe has actually
The poettakesthestanceofan insider
theendofautumnina mountain
homeand thatthisexpeexperienced
rienceenabledhimto "know"orunderstand
is all about.
whatyamazato
In additionto privileging
a personal,experiential
(in
perspective
otherwords,a subjectivepoeticpersona),Saigyoalso engagedin a
of the wakatraconversation,
throughthispoem,withtheyamazato
it wherenecessaryto fithis own experienceandhis
dition,tweaking
own poeticand religiousideals.Much likeToshiyori's
yamazato
poem
on "fallleavesscattering,"
thispoem65engagedyamazato
poemsofthe
thatalso beginwiththe
past,mostnotablyseveralpoemsfromKokinshu
ofsuch
wa,"as formountainhomes."Representative
phraseyamazato
poemsis one byMibuTadamine:
63See
Watanabe,Sankashu
zenchukai,
p. 325.
b4
no. 532 [487].
Sankashu,
65It is
possiblethatSaigyoborrowedhis dictionforthispoem froma "longpoem" (nagauta
includedin a 1235 imperialanthology
wakashu
Sift) byToshiyori
SrSfjJfiftJiKII,
(Shinchokusen
no. 1340). In hispoem,Toshiyori
usesthewords
and kogarashi,
kanashi,
yamazato,
thoughhe explicnotautumn.Formoreinformation
on Toshiyori's
winter,
itlymentions
keyrolein theexpansion
ofpoetictopics,especiallythoserelatingto reclusion,
see Ivo Smits,ThePursuit
ofLoneliness,
pp.
158-97.See also Smits,"UnusualExpressions:
Minamotono Toshiyori
and PoeticInnovation
in
Medieval Japan," Transactions
oftheAsiaticSociety
ofJapan 8 (1993), pp. 85-106.

SAIGYO'S
yamazatowa
akikosokotoni
wabishikere
shikano nakune ni
me o samashitsutsu
TAMA FUKAMI POEMS
53
My mountainhome
is especially
lonesome
in autumn,
whenI am awoken
bythecryofthedeer.66
as an estabbeforehim,Saigyoapproachedyamazato
Like Toshiyori
referwiththetopicthrough
lishedtopic,engagingin a conversation
visceral
ence to past poemsas well as his own experience.Through
experiencesthatdeepenedand expandedthe trope,Saigyo or the
personain thepoem also added hisuniqueunderstanding
subjective
oiyamazato.
oftheaspectsand enwereinformed
aristocrats
ManyHeian-period
homesnotthrough
ofgrasshutsand mountain
personalexpejoyments
on
of
these
riencebutthrough
spaces paintedscreens(bydbu
depictions
fans
poemsthroughout
(ogi-eMis). Manyyamazato
MM) and painted
theHeian periodwerecomposedwhileviewinga paintingratherthan
muchlike
came to function
an actuallocale.67Consequently
yamazato
ofgrass
to
looked
a "poempillow"{utamakura
depictions
Ifttt) poets
rather
than
their
with
hutsand mountainhomes
poeticassociations,
This changedin themedieval
therealplaces,in composingpoems.68
fromtheperceived
retreated
monks
and
as
increasingly
period poets
wherethey
mountain
to
the
of
tumult
and
settings
capital
degeneracy
and
solitude.69
in
relative
and artistic
couldpursuereligious
peace
goals
Saigyowas amongthe firstmajorpoetsof the late Heian periodto
and combinethese
thepoeticsofsoanandyamazato
absorbthoroughly
recluse
as
in
these
actual
with
spaces a religious
experience
poeticideals
and
the
tradition
and poet.Combiningthepoeticpersonaas vesselof
he was uniquelyqualifiedto deepenand exstanceofa liveobserver,
fortheimportant
of
boundaries
the
tropesofsoanand
expression
pand
yamazato.
66
no. 214.
Kokinshu,
67
Ienaga,pp. 41-43.
68Rohlich,p.146.
69
Ienaga,pp. 43-55.

54
JACK STONEMAN
SO DEEP IN THE MOUNTAINS
Saigyo'syamajukami
poemsgo farbeyondevenhisownuniquevision
of soonandyamazato.
of
Saigyoexpandedthe conventional
territory
huts
and
mountain
homes
to
in
as
he
his
exinclude,
grass
expresses
- thatis,mountains
noteasily
changewithJakuzen,"deep mountains"
accessibleto theaverageperson,unlikethenot-so-far-away
villagesof
thecapitalsuburbs.The twomountainous
areasmostoftenmentioned
in Saigyo's poetryare Yoshinoand Koya, wherehe residedin reclusionformuchof his tonsuredlife.The terrainof theseareas,as well
as thatof Kumano,Omine,and themountainsof Shikokuto which
and were tradiSaigyo traveled,were steep and oftentreacherous
associated
with
ascetic
tionally
rigorous
practices,especiallythoseof
sects(shugendo
mountain-priest
i&%*kM).
Saigyo's yamajukamipoems,
likethewilderness
theydescribe,are untamed,liminal,and astonishingin theirrawbrilliance.
The mountainitself
was a symbolofsacredspace,and Saigyo's excarriesovertones
oftheBuddhist
pressionof"deepintothemountains"
termforreligious
and a senseofdisconnectedness
from
practice(shugyo)
theworld.70
In hisyamafukami
took
tonsei
to
the
extreme,
poems,Saigyo
himself
offentirely
fromsocietyand reveling
in thenaturalascutting
and poeticspace.In depicting
thisdeep
pectsofhisnewfound
religious
mountainspace Saigyoretainedsome traditional
of
images soanand
but
leaned
a
toward
naturalistic
lived
yamazato,
experience.
Eschewing
standardassociations
ofreclusion(including
he deepened
typicalengo),
and intensified
thetoposofmountainseclusion.
Tama
as a phrasein wakapredatedSaigyo's poemsand was
Jukami
mostoftenaccompaniedby wordssuchas autumnmist(kiri),spring
mist(kasumi),
bush warbler(uguisu),
snow (yuki),charcoalkiln(sumiand fallenleaves(momiji
or ochiba).
gama),smoke(keburi),
Roughlythirty
poems(nota largenumber)in the threecenturies
precedingSaigyo
thephrase,and fourofthesepoemswereincludedin imincorporated
In mostinstances(beforeand afterSaigyo),yama
perialanthologies.71
was thefirst
lineofthepoem.The first
knownusagewas byOe
Jukami
Chisato^fll^PM (lateninthand earlytenthcentury),
a Kokinshu-erz
poet.
70See
Yamada,pp. 84-85, 270-71.
71Alldata on
Kokka
yamafukami
usagefromShinpen
taikan,
CD-ROM, Ver.2.

SAIGYO'S
yamafukami
kirini
tachikuru
musurebaya
nakuuguisuno
koeno marenaru
YAMA FUKAMI POEMS
55
So deep in themountains,
perhapstheyare choked
bytherisingmists,
warbler
forthevoiceofthesinging
is rarehere.72
Like manyotheryamajukamipoemsbeforeSaigyo's time,thispoem

was in facta "poemon a settopic"(dai-eiill*), in thiscase on a line
is notthetopic,butprovides
fromChineseverse,in whichyamaJukami
to be a subsidiary
Yama
a subsidiary
jukamicontinued
image,or setting.
after
even
a
than
rather
Saigyo.Saigyo'syamajutopic
primary
image
themountain
avoided
kamipoems,bycontrast,
typicaldai,privileging
fortheimagesthatfollowed.
as theprerequisite
setting
Yama
the
of
In thefirst
jukamiseries(no. 1286 [1198]) Saigyo
poem
thatone
setthestageforhis panoramaof mountainlifeby averring
the
to
understand
mountains
mustexperiencethedeep
pathos[aware
there.
S) present
yamafukami
sakosoarameto
kikoetsutsu
oto awarenaru
tanigawano mizu
I had heard
itmightbe likethis
buthowmovingindeed
is thesoundofthevalleyriver!73
The lines"I had heard/ itmightbe likethis- / but. . ." indicatethat

the poet's experiencedeep in the mountainsexceededhis previous
but
It isunclearwhenSaigyosentthesepoemstoJakuzen,
expectations.
1
148-1
Mt.
at
first
his
been
168),
itseemstohave
Koya (ca.
stay
during
It
ofthecapitaltoliveincompleteseclusion.74
whenhe lefttheenvirons
mountain
ofthetrulysolitary
his"discovery"
is as ifSaigyochronicled
his
formed
been
had
that
through
preconceptions
through
life,breaking
tradition.
waka
the
of
withthesoanandyamazato
topoi
familiarity
72
no. 1.
Chisatoshu,
73
74
poemsat each occasion.See Takagi,
JakuzenvisitedSaigyoat Koya severaltimes,exchanging
nowakanosekai,
pp. 165-69.KubotaSho"SaigyotoJakuzen,"pp. 74-75. See also Inada, Saigyo
See Takagi,Saigyo
shukke.
after
from
came
set
that
Jakuzen's
early
ichirohas argued
theyamazato
nokenkyu,
pp. 234-36.

56
JACK STONEMAN
Saigyoseemstogropeforwordsto describewhathe sees,hears,and

feelsdeep in themQuntains.
To expressthenewand intensesensations
ofhismountainhome,he is forcedto lookoutsidethetraditional
dictionofthewakacanon.In thetenYamajukami
ten
poems,he introduces
wordsor phrasesforwhichthereare no previousexamplesofusagein
wakapoetry,
and elevenwordsor phrasesthatdid notappearin waka
beforeor afterhim.75
to secure
These tenpoemsaloneweresufficient
as a "maverick"
and perhapsevenhereticalpoet.
Saigyo's reputation
included
these
Nevertheless,
Furthermore,
Saigyo
poemsin Sankashu.
lateranthologies,
such as Fuboku
wakasho
^TfcfnSKf^(ca. 1310) and
3iMM (1312),includedseveralof the Yamajukami
Gyokuyoshu
poems,
and laterpoetsborrowedfromSaigyo's diction.An overview
ofpoems
beforeand afterSaigyothatincludethephraseyamajukami
showsthat,
traditional
diction
although
yamajukami(suchas mist,
accompanying
bushwarbler,
and fallenleaves)continued,
imagerythataccompanied
in Saigyo's poems(suchas moon,wind,storms,
firewood,
yamajukami
and moss)becameprevalent
as well.Furthermore,
theconceptualdividebetweenthecapitalcity{jniyako
and
fft)and thedeep mountains,
betweentheworld(yotft)and thedeepmountains,
whichSaigyointroducedintoyamajukamirhetoric,
continued
afterhistime.76
Theyamajukami
found
their
into
laterpoetrycollections.
poems
way
were
harvested
for
diction
later
an exThey
by
poets,and stimulated
in waka.Andyettheyare among
pandeduse ofthephraseyamajukami
the mostunorthodox
We mustask ourselves
poems in wakahistory.
would
choose
to
such
radical
whySaigyo
compose
poemsto describe
lifein themountains,
ratherthanrelying
the
conventional
dicupon
- thatcommonto thegrass-hut
tionand imageryofmountainretreat
and mountain-home
topoi.
One explanationconcernsSaigyo'spurposein composingthese
makpoems.He stroveto roughenthe tropeof suburbanreclusion,
it
and morecloselytiedto
ing something
deeperand moreprofound
nature.Hisyamajukamipoemsare notelegantand presentno refined
Wherehe diduse traditional
the
diction,Saigyocounteracted
imagery.
morerefinedor elegantassociations
of certainwordsby addingnew
and oftenstartling
diction.An exampleis Poem 1287:
75Data on word
kokka
taikan
usagegatheredfromShinpen
CD-ROM, Ver.2. ThreetablesdetailingSaigyo'suniquewordchoicecan be foundin Appendix2.
76Ibid.Searchwordswere:
and [UM^.
Jf>$.&fr#, Uj-^fr^, ^SHS^,


yamafukami
makino ha wakuru
tsukikagewa
monono
hageshiki
narikeri
sugoki
57
themoon'slightwinnowing
trees
thetow'ring
through
is bothintense
and veryeerie.77
This stringofimagesin thefirstthreelineswouldhavebeen considwereit notfortheuneredelegantbut notparticularly

innovative,78
"both
intense/ and very
usualdictionofthesecondhalfofthepoem
and sugoki
was unheardof in the
ofhageshiki
eerie."The combination
an audaciousdescription.
wakapoetryofSaigyo'stimeand represented
thereader'sexpectations
The secondhalfofthepoembetrays
byhurlof
imagery thefirst
ingsevereadjectivesto describetheconventional
halfofthepoem.
theeleganttoneofthe
in Poem 1290,Saigyoundermined
Similarly,
ofthe
theimagery
to
counteract
diction
non-traditional
poembyusing
threelines.
first
yamafukami
iwa ni shitataru
mizutomemu79
otsuru
katsukatsu
tochihirouhodo
I'll storeup thewater
fromtherock,
thatdrip-drops
chestnuts
whileI'm gathering
thatfallplop-plop.80
77
no. 1287 [1199].
Sankashu,
78
Perhapsevidenceof thiscan be seen in theinclusionof ajien poem usingthephrasemaki
fromSaigyo'spoem)in theimperialanthology
Senzaishu
tsuki
noha wakuru
(no. 1020).
(borrowed
was a phraseunusedin wakapreviousto Saigyo,itsinclusionin an
tsuki
Whilemakinoha wakuru
tastes.
to traditional
indicatesitsappropriateness
imperialanthology
79Some textualvariantshave tamemu
(Watanabe,
(Goto, Kazamaki) ratherthan tomemu
can be interpreted
themeaningto "store"(??). Tomemu,
restricts
however,
Nishizawa).Tamemu
"to seekout,"the meaningof thepoem
as "store"(Sfr) or "seekout" ffitS). If interpreted
like "I'll tryto findwherethe waterdripsfromthe rockwhileI
wouldchangeto something
thatthemeaningis "store,"NishizawaYoshihito
Mostscholarsagree,however,
gatherchestnuts."
forspendinga
are bothpreparations
chestnuts
water
and
that
out
gathering
up
storing
pointing
winterin themountains
p. 229). SinceI haverelieduponWatanabeforthetranscrip(Sankashu,
and optforthemeaning"store."
in hiragana
tionofthesepoems,I willleaveitas tomemu
80
no. 1290 [1202].
Sankashu,

58
JACK STONEMAN
Althoughthe firstthree lines exhibituntraditionaldiction,theyneverthelesspresenta pleasant, even elegant image that would likelybe
acceptable to the poetic establishment.The second half of the poem,
however,exhibitsdictionthatwould not likelyhave been acceptable at
the time,"gatheringchestnuts"being too low or too closelyassociated
withpeasantry.81
a.vividonomatopoeia
As with"plop-plop" (katsukatsu),
in
was an image
nowhere
else
chestnuts"
waka,"gathering
appearing
neverused beforeor afterSaigyo's timein waka.
Nevertheless,in a famous passage fromthe Sukagawa section of
Oku no hosomichi,
Basho referredto Saigyo's chestnutpoem, stating:
this
"Nearby
post town,under the shade of a large chestnuttree,lived
a monk who had renounced the world. PeacefullyI realized thismust
be howit was togatherchestnuts
in thedeepmountains"*2
Many of Saigyo's
series,anticipatewhatHaruo
poems,and especiallythe YamaJukami
in
his
of
's
Basho
Shirane,
study
poetics,has termedthe"haikaiimagiare
and contemporary,
nation,"in whichhighand low,and historical
in
a
Shirane
obaxes
of
work.
juxtaposed,creatingmultiple
meaning
serves:"Haikaiimagination
and
. . . tookpleasurein thejuxtaposition
collisionoftheseseemingly
humorworldsand languages,
incongruous
and recastestablished
culturalassociations
and convenouslyinverted
the'poeticessence'(honH)
ofclassicalpoetictopics."83
tions,particularly
culturalassociations
and
Saigyo'syamaJukami
poemstreat"established
conventions"
in a similarmannerto Bashoand hisstyleofhaikai.
Both
in individualpoemsand in thesetas a whole,Saigyodelightsin the
oftraditional
and inventive
diction,thedefamiliarization
juxtaposition
of the topoiof reclusion,and the recontextualization
of reclusionas
more
multivalent
thanpreviously
something
depictedin waka,achievmultivoiced
character."84
ingwhatShiranecallsan "heteroglossic,
one
Although mightintepret
Saigyo'syamaJukami
poemsas a strictly
in
conversation
with
the
waka
tradition
inthe"haikailiterary
undertaking
81 What is
objectionable here is not the chestnutsthemselvesbut thatthe poet is carryingout the

unseemlytask of gatheringthem. If the poet were observingpeasantrygatheringchestnuts(from
a distance not only of space but also of class), the image would most likelybe acceptable and
labeled pastoral. Jakuzen's Poem 1303 (Appendix 1) in which he observes
woodcuttersgathering
wood and fruitsis more traditionalas a pastoral poem.
82 Mhonkoten
taikei,vol. 46 (Iwanami Shoten, 1959), p. 76.
bungaku
83
and thePoetryofBasho (Stanford:Stanford
Shirane, TracesofDreams:Landscape,CulturalMemory,
UniversityPress, 1998), p. 2.
84
Ibid., p. 22. See also pp. 47-51.

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI POEMS
59
it is possibleto read thepoems

esque" mannerI havejust described,
of Saigyo'sactuallifein themountains,
as
as descriptions
specifically,
to place thepoeticpersonasquarelywithinthemountain
hisattempt
landscape.Poem 1293willillustrate.85
yamafukami
hoda kirunarito
kikoetsutsu
tokoronigiwau
ono no otokana
I hearwhatseemslike
choppingfirewood
thisplace is a bustle
withthesoundofaxes!86
was an imagefoundin the

and burningfirewood
gathering
Although
wakacanon,and one associatedwithyamajukami,thegarishdescriptionof axes and bustling
peasantscuttingfirewoodis brashin comIn
with
the
usuallygenteelimageryof a lonesomeyamazato.
parison
to Saigyo'sbustle,IzumiShikibu'sfPllôft (b. 976?)famous
contrast
ofthewaka
thetypically
pastoralperspective
poemhighlights
yamazato
tradition:
ZT}LZictf&K>%riic&rcrc\:ru$%v<&%&(Dium
sabishisani
keburio danimo
tatajitote
shibaorikuburu
fuyuno yamazato
So lonesome
eventhesmoke
theytryto savefromdying
as theyburnkindling
in theirmountainhome.87
obRatherthantakinga pastoralapproach,in whichan aristocrat

servesfromafarthedoingsofpeasantfolk,Saigyo'spoem insertsthe
poetintothebustle.Smokeand charcoalkilns,oftenelementsofpastoralyamazato
poems,imparttoyamajukamipoemsas wellan elegant,
when firewoodis mentionedin yama
lonesometone. Furthermore,
it
other
poets, is almostalwaysbeinggatheredrather
Jukami
poemsby
thancut or sawn.Severalof Saigyo'syamajukamipoems are indeed
in theirmannerofjuxtaposingstaidelegantimageswith
haikai-esque
85 See also Poem 1298
byjakuzen in Appendix 1.
86
87 Go
Shuishu,no. 390.

60
JACK STONEMAN
common,unorthodoxvocabulary,and in placing the poetic persona in

thesepoems
more immediatevicinityto common life.Understandably,
had much effecton Matsuo Basho and especiallyhis Okunohosomichi.88
The audial qualityof theyamajukamipoems is in keepingwithmany
of Saigyo's poems whichbringsound to the fore.However,the sounds
in this set of poems are more closelytied to the wild and even fierce
mountain foreststhe poet inhabits.The clamor of woodcutters'axes
is one example; the "fearsomevoice of the owl" in Poem 1291 is another.Saigyo also describedthe awe-inspiring
thunderousrushofwind
over the peaks in Poem 1292 and the strangecryof a monkeyin Poem
1289.
The imagerySaigyo employedin \myamajukami
poems is exceptional.
An example is his referenceto monkeys.Withfewexceptions- one instance in Kokinshu,
one in Shuishu,
and severalin Man'yoshu89
monkeys
in
waka
of
the
Heian
rarelyappeared
period. Monkeys often
poetry
appear in Chinese poetry,however,where the cryor hollerof a monkey is most oftenassociated with solitude,mountains,and the moon.
There are twenty-three
in Chinese poetryfrom Wakan
uses of monkey
roeishu
and Shinsenroeishu
#f$ifiBU^ (1 122-1 133). As if the image of
a monkeyin wakawere not rare enough, Saigyo places the monkeyon
a "mat of moss," a combinationof images found neitherbeforenor
afterin a waka. He has innovatively
juxtaposed seeminglyunrelated
words in order to startlethe reader and impart a sense of observed
experience.
In Poem 1287, cited above, Saigyo's word choice is again unusual,
creatingan atypical image thatjars the reader. Hageshikiand related
formshageshiand hageshiku
were almost always used in waka to modify"wind" (kazeJH)and sometimes"storm" (arashiM). Thus hageshiki
was imbued with an audial quality,as it is the soundof the wind that
is intenseor violent.By using hageshiki
to describe moonlight,Saigyo
accomplishesthe effectof synaesthesia,compellingthe reader,byjolting the senses,to consider exactlywhat the poet means to conveyby
such strangesensoryarrangements.
88See
on Saigyoand Basho,see Ito
Takagi,"SaigyotoJakuzen,"p. 74. Forfurther
scholarship
Bashonoshigaku
ffiMWxL,Saigyo
Hiroyuki
Shoten,2000);MezakiTokue,Bashonouchi
(TaishOkan
naruSaigyo:tonseisvkihydhaku
nokeifu(Kadokawa Shoten, 1991).
89The
in manyMan'yoshu
appearanceofmonkeys
poemsis influenced
byChinesepoetry.

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI
POEMS
61
a similareffect
bytheplacementofthepoems
Saigyoaccomplished
is folPoem 1287,fullof starkand frightening
themselves.
imagery,
is
even
tender.
whose
lowedbya poem
imagery bucolic,
yamafukami
mado no tsurezure
toumonowa
irozukisomuru
haji no tachieda
theonlyone to visit
theleisurebymywindow
is thebranchofthesumac
to turncolor.90
nowbeginning
Betweenthisamiablepoemand thetranquilchestnut-gathering
poem
imthereaderwithitseccentric
is a cacophonouspoemthatsurprises
its
vociferous
several
are
that
there
if
we
assume
and,
monkeys,
agery
audialquality.
yamafukami
no
kokeno mushiro
ue ni ite
naku
nanigokoro
nakumashirakana
on
sitting
a matofmoss,
a monkey
casuallycallsout.91
thepleasantchestnut
poemis an ominouspoemthatreturns
Following
traits
and
stark
the
to
intimidating ofthedeep mountains.
yamafukami
torino
kejikaki
otowa sede
monoosoroshiki
no koe
fukurou
no soundofa bird
heardnearhome,
onlythefearsome
voiceoftheowl.92
theharshwind
thisqualitybydescribing
Saigyo'snextpoemamplifies
mountain
downfromthe
peaks.
rushing
90
91
92

62
JACK STONEMAN
yama fukami
kogurakimine no
kozue yori
monomonoshikumo
wataru arashi ka
So deep in the mountains,

over the dark treetops
of the highpeaks
withterribleforce
the tempestrushes.93
The noise of the stormis echoed, or perhaps replaced, by the racket

of axes cuttingfirewoodin Poem 1293. The bustle in thispoem does
not carrythe sinisterovertonesthat were presentin the voice of the
owl and the rush of the windstorm,but both bustleand awe are contained in the statementin the next poem that "everythingin sight"
(and withinearshot)causes the poet to feelpathos.
yama fukami
iritemi to miru
mono wa mina
aware moyosu
keshikinaru kana

once I penetratedthem
in sight
everything
seemed to exude
a solemnpathos.94
In the finalpoem of the sequence, Saigyo completeshis portraitof

the deep mountainswitha descriptionof what he has learned through
his reclusionthere.
yama fukami
narurukasegino
kejikakini
yo ni tozakaru
hodo zo shiraruru

the tame deer
comes so close to myhouse
thatI realizejust how far
fromthe worldI've come.95
The deer in thispoem functionsquite differently

fromdeer in typical
autumnpoems. It is not used by Saigyo to indicateseason, thoughthat
is a natural byproductof its appearance, nor is it used as an explicit
93
94
Sankashu,no. 1294 [ 12061.
95

SAIGYO'S
YAMA FUKAMI
POEMS
63
symbolof the poet'sloneliness.Neitherits crynor any otherstansuchas hagi$c (bushclover),is mentioned.

dard association,
Rather,
is
modified
thedeer
meaning"tame"or "accustomedto,"
by naruru,
a combination
uniqueto thispoem. In thispoem,thedeer is accustomedto thepoet beinga partof thedeep mountainlandscapeand
mioiyamajukami
The suffix
so is notafraidto approachhisdwelling.
all
that
of
the
can be rendered"because,"indicating
phenomenain
thesepoems,includingthe tame deer,are not onlyelementsof the
butare also resultsofthegenuinesolitudeofa place
deep mountains,
so distantfromcivilization.
Saigyostatedthatthe deer comingnear
hisdwellingcausedhimto realizejusthowfarfromtheworldhe had
thathe has becomeso mucha partofthelandscape
come.He suggests
thatthedeerno longerfearhim.He has shed
ofthedeep mountains
as evidenced
of
the
corruptworldoutsidethemountains,
anyvestige
Such
byhisacceptanceintothemenagerieofyamajukami. an assimilawas onlyhintedat in Saigyo'sothersoanand
tionintohissurroundings
intothemounhas
he
Here
completedhisabsorption
poetry.
yamazato
nature
with
"oneness"
tain landscape,achieving
onlysymbolizedin
Whereasthenaturalelementsofthemountain
otherreclusion
poetry.
idealsin tradiand religious
homeweresymbolsofcertainsentiments
on
theirownas
stand
natural
elements
the
here
tionalyamazato
poems,
environment.
realistic
aspectsofthepoet's
The secondexplanationforwhySaigyomay have chosento use
it has to do withhis
and unusualdictionis speculative;
suchstartling
of poeticlanguagein the wakatradistancetowardsalientattributes
natureofpoeticlanguagemeantthat
intertextual
tion.The cumulative
a poet
by the end of the Heian period,everypoeticword(utakotoba)
intoa poemwas chargedwithmeaning.
mightchooseto incorporate
Each worda poet mightchoose fromthe canon of acceptabledicconnotations,
tionwas encodedwithspecificemotionalor situational
thatmaybe
on
to
a
for
it
(dai)
topics
compose
poet
making possible
Hon'i(poeticessence),engo(associated
to personalexperience.96
foreign
wereall partofthecode
oremotions)
ideas
renso
and
(associated
words),
- the
of the wakalexicon.This mostsalientaspectof wakalanguage
ofwordsandideas presented
utterinterconnectedness
poetswithboth
96
An Approach to Shunzei's Poetics," HJAS 50. 1 (1990):
Shirane, "Lyricismand Intertextuality:
71-85.

64
JACK STONEMAN
theirmostpowerful
obstacle.Ifa textis so
tooland theirmostdifficult
and culwhat
Shirane
calls
Haruo
heavilyprogrammed
"literary
by
turalcodes,"theneachpoemdependsupona hostofotherpoemsand
In otherwords,
largerpoeticand culturalcontextsforitsmeaning.97
ofmeaning
were
in
the
never
control
of
poets
completely
production
withintheirverses.
The intertextual
natureofutakotoba
ennabledpoetsto createpoems
butthis
exhibiting
greatdepthand resonancedespitetheirpithiness,
and inallusion
of
ever-exteriorizing
process creating
meaningthrough
tertext
carriedwithit thedangerofpreventing
trulypersonalexpression.The codifiedand intertextual
natureofpoeticlanguagemade it
or authopossibleto readnearlyall poemsdevoidofdiscretecontexts
rialvoices,sinceeverypoet drewfromthe same circumscribed
lexicon and reliedupon the standardized
associationsof thosewordsto
createmeaning.Wakapoetsin thelate Heian periodoftenprivileged
thefictional
exand allegoricalin theirpoems,stressing
notindividual
but
a
mountain
allusive
citation.98
two
about
Hence,
pression
poems
home- one composedwhileviewinga paintedscreenand one composed whilephysically
presentin a mountainhome- mightbe indistheirsharedlanguagemakingitimpossible
to distinguish
tinguishable,
betweenthe poem of "experience"and the poem of "imagination."
One can arguethatwakapoetsdid notfussaboutthecontextoftwo
suchpoemsbut focusedon theirliterary
meritsalone and thepoets'
skillful
ofstandardized
diction.Nevertheless,
one can also
employment
that
avoided
traditional
and
established
argue
Saigyo
poeticlanguage
a poeticpersonathatintimated
livedexperienceprecisely
becausehe
didwantto fussaboutthecontextofhispoems.
wordsand
By avoidingtraditional
poeticlanguage,by privileging
that
would
be
new
and
to
his
readers,Saigyodenied
images
startling
- allusion,intertext,
to a certaindegreethebasicfunctions
ofwaka
and
resonance.Withoutthe "built-in"intertext
of typified
(and topified)
hispoemsforcedreadersto go beyondthestrictures
ofwaka
utakotoba,
to
understand
context.
Rather
than
the
language
"exteriorizing" meanof
the
to
the
cumulative
ing
poembyappealing
bodyofmeaningsand
associative
clusters
in thewakalexicon,he usedthetechnique
residing
97
Ibid., p. 72.
98
Ibid., p. 85.

65
of "interiorization,"
lifeofthepoeticpermovingtowardtheinterior
in
for
his
order
to
contexts
sona,
generate
poems.The variousaspects
of
which
are
ofthepoet'sexperience,
notencumbered
withthe
many
and techniques
ofthewakacanon,can conconventional
associations
in
the
mountains
to thereadermoredirectly
the
vey poet'sexperience
wakaof the Heian period.Read againstthebackthanconventional
dropof the centralpoeticpracticesof Saigyo'stime(thearistocratic
and theemerging
by imperialanthologies
profespoetryrepresented
sionalhousesofpoetry)and trendsin thetopoiofgrasshutand mounthatseemto be
tainhome,theseradicallynewwordsand expressions
- that
ofthepoet'sexperiencehaveanotherfunction
directreflections
and poeticpraxis
thepoetfromthepoeticestablishment
ofdistancing
ofthetime.Thus,thetamedeercan symbolize
Saigyo'sdisconnection
fromthephysicalas wellas thepoeticworldof thecapital.As noted
ofSaigyo's
SaigyoscholarWilliamR. LaFleurwritesin hisassessment
as
the
accents
thephysi"In
such
verses
these,
poet
yamajukami
poems,
and urbansociety."99
cal and socialdistanceplacedbetweenhimself
a clear attemptto departfromthe
Saigyo'sten poems represent
It
ofthecapital,as KubotaShoichirohas stated.100
poeticestablishment
differ
from
those
of
that
ten
is in thisstylistic
distancing Saigyo's poems
oftraditional
rhetorical
deJakuzen's
poemsexhibita variety
Jakuzen.
dicand
vices,suchas "pivotwords"(kakekotoba
SFHhI) engo.m
Jakuzen's
thanSaigyo'sand more
are also moreconservative
tionand expression
Furcloselyalignedwiththelanguageofimperialpoetryanthologies.
of
the
same
are
thermore,
varying
expressions
poems slightly
Jakuzen's
- loneliness
in solitude,
and longingforcompanionship
emotionalstate
whichis typicalof reclusepoetry whereasSaigyo'spoemsexpressa
emotionalstates,such
and sometimes
wholehostofvarying
competing
even
horror.102
and
as loneliness,
bustle,pathos,fear,surprise,
andlanguageoftheworldSaigyocreatedintheten
The environment
poemsis farremovedfromtheelegantreclusionofladiesyamajukami
in thelate Heian period.Saigyo'spoeticexchanges
(nyobo)
in-waiting
andJosaimon-in
thecirclesofTaikenmon-in
as
_LB
such
withnyobo,
99Awesome
The Life,Times,and Poetry
ofSaigyo(Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003), pp.
Nightfall:
20-21.
100
nokenkyu,
p. 235.
Quotedin Takagi,Saigyo
101Forerwo
see Poems1296,1297,1298,1305in Appendix1.
and kakekotoba,
102See
Inada,pp.172-74.

66
JACK STONEMAN
trendtoward
of thecontemporary
P^l^ (1126-1189),wereindicative
As grass
theshiftoftopoirelatedto reclusion
to tonseisha.m
fromnyobo
hutsand mountainhomesbecame increasingly
associatedwithmale
hermits
and monks,manyofwhomin factspentmostoftheirlivesin
remoteareas and underindigentcircumstances,
theimageryrelating
to thesepoeticand religious
shifted
and
spaces
expanded.Traditional
connotations
of renunciation
but
remained, theywerealso deepened
dicIn additionto thetraditional
bya senseofutterdisconnectedness.
tionand imageryof hutsand mountainretreats,
and
words
images
thatwerecoarserand moreferalcame to be associatedwithreligious
a roughening
of thesetropeswithin
reclusion,representing
Japanese
This changewas brought
diverseand
aboutbytheincreasingly
poetry.
visceralexperiences
ofBuddhisthermits
and bytheefforts
ofpoetsto
achieveinnovative
formsofexpression
as theystruggled
to capturethe
essenceofreligious
in theirpoems.Saigyowas a keyfigrenunciation
urein thisdevelopment.
103
Kuwabara,pp. 137-59.See also WatanabeYumiko,pp. 83-89; NakamuraFumi,pp. 53-59.

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI POEMS
67
Appendix1
THE YAMAZATO EXCHANGE
The Sankashu
arrangesthepoemsas twosetsof ten,one setforeach
orderso as to highlight
author.I arrangethemin alternating
Jakuzen's
carefuland correspondent
responsesto each of Saigyo'spoems.My
to commentin theannotaalso givesme theopportunity
arrangement
in Saigyo'sandJakuzen'slanguage
differences
tionson thesignificant
and approaches.Because all tenof Saigyo'spoemsare includedwith
in thebodyof thepaper,I will
and Englishtranslation
romanization
citeonlytheJapaneseoriginalhere.
ni,Koyayoritsukawashikeru
NyudoJakuzen,Oharani sumihaberikeru
WhenMonkjakuzenwas livingin Ohara,I sentthe
fromKoya
following
Saigyo
awaresawa
koyato kimimo
omoiyare
no
akikuregata
Ohara no sato
Thinkofme,
forsuchmovingpathos
is foundhereas at Koyathislateautumneveningin
Ohara village.105
Jakuzen
104
105
Sankashu,no. 1296 [1208]. Jakuzen responds to Saigyo's use of aware("moving," or "pathos")
in
by assertingthat such pathos is found in Ohara as well. He puns on koya,meaning the area
which Saigyo is living,and "such," or "like this." He also establishes a season in his firstpoem,
autumn, whereas Saigyo waited untilhis thirdpoem to establishseasonality.

68
JACK STONEMAN
Saigyo
hitorisumu
Oboro no shimizu
tomototewa
tsukio zo sumasu
Ohara no sato
I livealone,
liketheclearmoonin thewaters
ofOboro spring
herein
whomI makemyfriend
Ohara village.107
Jakuzen
Saigyo
sumigamano
tanabikukeburi
hitosujini
kokorobosoki
wa
Ohara no sato
Fromthecharcoalkiln
trailsaway
one wispofsmoke,
is
forlorn
utterly
Ohara village.109
Jakuzen
106
Sankashu,no. 1287 [11991.
107
Sankashu,no. 1297 [1209]. In his second poem, Saigyo boldly uses unconventional diction
to establish a chillingscene. Jakuzen responds by treatingthe moon as his friend,using conventional imagery,such as the moon reflectedin the water.AlthoughJakuzen's poem carries obvious
Buddhistovertones(the moon representingenlightenment,and "clear" applyingto both the moon
and the poet's heart), Saigyo's poem does not hint at a Buddhist reading; it remains observationbased and simplydescribes the poet's emotions.Jakuzen employs several pivot words (kakekotoba)
and associated words (engo).Sumucan mean "live," "clear [water]," and "clear [heart]." Sumuis an
engoof shimizu(here translated"waters").
108
Sankashu,no.1288 [1200].
109
Sankashu,no. 1298 [1210]. Although Saigyo employs three highly unorthodox words or
irozukisomuru,
phrases in his poem (madono tsurezure,
haji),Jakuzen's poem is replete with standard
diction and associations. Charcoal kilns and their attendant smoke are perhaps the most salient
and kokorobosoki
are all engoof keburi
images associated with Ohara. Tanabiku,
hitosuji,
(smoke).

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI
POEMS
69
Saigyo
nanito naku
tsuyuzo koboruru
akino ta ni
hitahikinarasu
Ohara no sato
Forno particular
reason,
dewdropsin theautumnfields
as tearstoo drop
whentheclappersringoutin
x11
Ohara village.
Jakuzen
Saigyo
mizuno otowa
makurani otsuru
kokochishite
nezamegachinaru
Ohara no sato
I feelas if
thesoundofthewaterdripping
is at mypillow
sleeplessnightsin
l*3
Ohara village.
Jakuzen
110
no. 1289 [1201].
Sankashu,
111
no. 1299 [1211].Jakuzenherelinkshispoem to Saigyo'swithnanitonaku,"forno
Sankashu,
whichmightalso be renwhichreceivesSaigyo'snanigofcoro
naku,"casually,"
reason,"
particular
ofJakuzen'sverseis subduedand pastoralcomparedto the
dered"forno reason."The imagery
ofSaigyo'sverse.
and wildimagery
startling
112
1290 [1202].
Sankashu,no.
113
fromthe
no. 1300 [1212].Jakuzenechoes Saigyo'semphasison sound,shifting
Sankashu,
to thesoundofthewater.Once againJakuzenfavorsorthodoxdictionand
soundofthechestnuts
whileSaigyochoosesrareand unusualwordsand images.
imagery

70
JACK STONEMAN
Saigyo
ada ni fuku
kusano iorino
awareyori
sodeni tsuyuoku
Ohara no sato
The sorrows
ofthisrickety
grasshut
buffeted
the
by winds
bringdewdroptearsto mysleevesin
115
Ohara village.
Jakuzen
Saigyo
yamakazeni
mineno sasakuri
haraharato
niwani ochishiku
Ohara no sato
Blownbythemountain
winds,
chestnuts
fromsurrounding
peaks
fallpitterpatter,
covering
mygardenin
!*7
Ohara village.
Jakuzen
114
1291 [12031.
Sankashu,no.
115
no. 1301 [1213].Saigyodrawsa distinction
betweenthefamiliar
Sankashu,
(birdsfromhome,
or tamebirds)and the unfamiliar,
and fearsome(owl).Whilenot the onlyunusualdictionin
was nevertheless
nota.birdmentioned
oftenin poetry,
and neverin an imSaigyo'spoem,Jukurou
It is now associatedwithwinterin thehaikaitradition.
perialpoetryanthology.
Jakuzen'spoem,
on theotherhand,reliesuponstandardassociatedtermsand imagery
in describing
hishut.Fuku,
whichpunson [wind]"blowing"and "thatching"
a hut,is an engo
forhut.Tsuyu
is an engo
forhut,
and sodeis an engofortsuyu.
116
no. 1292 [1204].
Sankashu,
no. 1302 [1214].Jakuzenheredismantles
thecharacter
forarashiM,usedbySaigyo,
Sankashu,
to arriveatyamakaze
[JUS,a cleverbut familiarconceit.Perhapstakinghis cue fromSaigyo's
Poem 1290 ("chestnuts
thatfallplop-plop"),
Jakuzendescribessmallchestnuts
fallingwithinhis
fornarano
garden.Jakuzen'sharahara
(pitter
patter)was usedrarelyin waka.It was usuallyan engo
ha (oakleaves)or tsuyu
was unprecedented.
(dew,and byextension
tears).His use ofsasakuri

SAIGYO'S
TAMA FUKAMI POEMS
71
Saigyo
masuraoga
tsumagini akebi
sashisoete
kaeru
kurureba
Ohara no sato
Woodsmen119
tuckakebiafruits120
away
in theirbundlesoffirewood,
whenduskcomesto
returning
Ohara village.121
Jakuzen
Saigyo
mugurahau
kadowa konohani
uzumorete
hitomo sashikonu
Ohara no sato
My gate
coveredin creepingvines
and buriedbyfallenleavesnobodyeverentersitherein
Ohara village.123
Jakuzen
118
no. 1293 [1205].
Sankashu,
119Masurao
or gathto strongmen.In thecase ofthispastoralpoem,theyare woodcutters
refers
backto thevillageto sell.
ererswhobringfirewood
120Sometimes
called"chocolatevine"or "chocolatefruit"
(Akebiaquinata).This wordwas used
cenJakuzen,all fromthelatetenthto mid-twelfth
rarelyin waka,withonlyfourusagespredating
notthefruit.
in thesefourpoemsindicatedthevine,however,
Akebi
turies.
121
soundof
no. 1303 [1215]. WhileSaigyoplacesgreatestemphasison thestartling
Sankashu,
fruit
woodcutters
of
bucolic
a
more
axes poundingtrees,
gathering to take
image
Jakuzenpaints
homewiththemfromtheirday'slabors.
122
no. 1294 [1206].
Sankashu,
123Sankashu,
describeimages,sounds,or eventsoutno. 1304 [1216]. Saigyo'spoemsgenerally
Of Saigyo's
more
seem
whereas
sideone'sdwelling,
closelytiedto hisdwelling.
Jakuzen'spoems
mentionhisdwellingor seemconnectedsomehowto hisdwelling.
tenpoems,onlytwoexplicitly
mentionhis hutor are somehowconnectedto his hut.This
Five ofJakuzen'spoemsexplicitly
and theexperiWhereas
one
is
emphasizesthedepthsofthemountains
Saigyo
example.
poem
and
enceofsolemnpathosafforded
Jakuzenemphasizestheloneliness
byone whoenterstherein,
that
itis wilderness
intothewilderness,
natureofhishut.WhileSaigyoactively
trudges
unkempt
comestoJakuzenin hissedentary
dwelling.

72
JACK STONEMAN
Saigyo
ni
morotomo
akimo yamajimo
fukakereba
shikazo kanashiki
Ohara no sato
So deep in autumn
and so deep themountainpathtoo,
thecryofthedeeris all themoresad,
as too thegloomof
Ohara village.125
Jakuzen
124
no. 1295 [1207].
Sankashu,
125
no. 1305 [1217].Saigyoavoidsthetraditional
associations
of"deer"(hagi,thecryof
Sankashu,
thedeer,evening,
mantears,longingforcompanionship).
Jakuzenusesthedeerin a traditional
here"as too."
ner,evenmakingthehackneyed
pun on shika("deer")and shika("thus"),translated
The deerin Saigyo'spoemhas becomeusedto Saigyoand hisdwelling,
thatitis Saigyo
implying
whohas assimilated
to thewildsurroundings.
The familiar
deerthenbecomesa symbol,
or sign,
of Saigyo'sremovefromsociety.
inJakuzen'spoem it is autumnand themountain
Conversely,
thecryofthepoet)evenmore
paththatare deep,makingthecryofthedeer(and byextension
sad foritsbeingso farremovedfromsociety.
The conventional
sad and lonesomeimageryof
thedeer is missingfromSaigyo'spoem,however,
whichsimplystatesthathe has come a long
fora tonseisha.
wayfromtheworld,whichofcourseis a positiveassessment
Jakuzen'spoem,by
and perhaps
contrast,
emphasizesthegloomyand lonesomenatureofhisexistenceas a tonseisha
- thisimageryand
even a lingering
attachment
or longingforcivilization
however,
expression,
are moretypicaloftraditional
grasshutpoems.

SAIGYO'S
YAMA FUKAMI
POEMS
73
Appendix2
UNIQUE DICTION IN SAIGYO'S YAMAFUKAMI POEMS
Table 1: Dictionwithno previoususage

NO.
WORD OR PHRASE
1286 &fc*nftSSJII7fc(var.
(DJ117k)
howmovingindeedis the
soundofthevalleyriver
1287
$ #<DMt><
the
through
winnowing
trees
tow'ring
POST-SAIGYO USAGE
The nunRengetsuMR (1791-1825)has one

Amanokarumo
poemin herpersonalcollection
iSAO^'JiH (no. 168)thatmentions
tanigawa
nomizuand aware,
butawaredoes notdirectly
nomizu.
modify
tanigawa
Atleastthreelaterusages.One, byJien,is
includedin Senzaishu
(no. 1020).
1288 $.<D~Dtl~3tl
theleisurebymywindow
and
Two laterexamplesfromtheeighteenth
This is a phraselikely
centuries.
nineteenth
takenfromChinesepoetry.
1289 f5f'i>&<(&#)
Casually
tenotherusages,all postdatApproximately
ingSaigyo.This phrasemostoftenis usedin
prose.
1290 g tCL ftIt

fromtherock
drip-drop
Onlyone otherexample,fromthe 1243 colA W (no.

wakarokujo
lectionShinsen
SfSlftlflK
544).
1291 ^ < 6 >

Owl
laterusagesofjiikurou,
Thereare seventeen
nonein imperialanthologies.
1293 flt#
Choppingfirewood
One previoususageof/ww/a
appearsin a
Shunzei
's
poembySaigyo contemporary
1
the
no.
eiso
However,
Sft&SI,
70).
(Choju
in Shunzei'spoemis beingburned,
firewood
notchopped.
1294 M^M^>
in sight
everything
Onlytwootherusages,one byJien
no. 5265) and one byFujiwara
[Shugyokushu,
Mitsutoshi
m&yt& (1203-1276),foundin
wakashu
theca. 1304collection
fnit
Shuijutei
JHf*ftlS;llt
(no. 139).

74
NO.
1294
JACK STONEMAN
WORD OR PHRASE
(5 *t
$>It tl ><fc
exudepathos
POST-SAIGYO USAGE
SevenotherusagesafterSaigyo.Significantly,
one poembySaigyo'scontemporary
Kojiju
'hftft (ca. 1121-after1202)in the 1200col-
lection Shojishodohyakushu
ZEjpWjSH tf (no.
and "cry
"storm"(arashi)
2091) also mentions
of a monkey"(mashiranonakukoe).
1295
IlllZ>Z>ip c?
tame deer
Only one otherusage by Sanjonishi Sanetaka

S3EIH, no. 7701). "Deer" in
(Setsugyokushu
Sanetaka's poem is pronounced shikarather
than kasegias in Saigyo's poem.
Table 2: Diction withno otherusage

NO.
WORD OR PHRASE
1287 /^HfWfbt
intense
moonlight
1289 SO&L3 andL (8)
matofmossandmonkey
1290 7j<A6t?
(var.fctbts)
catch(andstore)water
1290 frOfrO
plop-plop
(One usageofkatsukatsu
postdatesSaigyo,butitis usedto mean"barely
visible.")
1290 <tt>6^
chestnuts
gathering
timesinMan'yoshu,
butis usedas a color.)
(7o^t appearsmultiple
1291 W"frJ
birdnearthehouse
1292 *Hgi*
darktrees
(Koguraki
appearsmanytimesin waka,butis always'hfc!",meaning
to thetreesthemselves
as beingdark.)
"shadowy"and notreferring
1292 *H|t*
darktreesofthepeaks
1292 &(D&(DL<
awesome

SAIGYO'S
NO.
YAMA FUKAMI
POEMS
75
WORD OR PHRASE
1293 tZ\cg&&
noisyplace
1295 tftiB3>5
farfromtheworld
Table 3: Dictionwithrareusage
NO.
WORD OR PHRASE
PREVIOUS AND / OR LATER USAGE
1287
"3"Cf#
eerie
Thereare onlytwopreviousexamplesofsugoshi
in waka.Thisphrasewas morecomor sugoki
monlyusedin prosebutcameto be usedin
wakaafterSaigyo'stime.
1288
fr3 #"?
to turncolor
beginning
Thereare approximately
twenty
examplesof
thisphrase,one ofwhichpredatesSaigyoand
is foundin the 1150 collection
Kyuan
hyakushu
X^'SM (no. 141).Jienusedthephrasetwice
nos.755, 1254)and Go Toba once
(Shugyokushu,
no. 1586).
(GoToba-ingoshu'&Mi$t'&M,
1288
&C
sumactree
"Sumac"appearsrarelyin waka.Thereis only

one usagepreviousto Saigyo,in the 1127
&MM (no. 243).
Kin'yoshu
imperialanthology
1289
0$< L >
monkey
crying/calling
poemappearsin an impeOnlyone monkey

rialanthology
priorto Saigyo'stime(Kofrinshu,
no. 1067).Thereare manyusagesinMan'yoshu
and in ChinesepoetryoftheHeian period,but
fewin wakabeforeSaigyo."Monkey"appeared
in wakaafterSaigyo.
morefrequently
1291
^ fe?"5 b #
fearsome
Thereare onlytwoprevioususages,bothof
whichdescribe"evening"(&W), and one postSaigyousagefromtheEdo period.
1293
9$(D1=?
soundoftheaxe
Thereare onlysevenusagesofononootobefore
no. 249.
Kinyoshu,
Saigyo,mostimportantly


Saigyo Fukami

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Harvard-Yenching Institute

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

would be kusano io or kusano ion.

3 See Inada Toshinori

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eatingan ambivalentstancesharedby manywakascholars.Though

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Rohlich, "Mountain Villages in the Tale of Genii,"in Gerwoto kyoiku:

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TAMA FUKAMI POEMS

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topicappearedin poemsfromthespring,autumn,and winterbooks

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SAIGYO'S TAMAFUKAMI POEMS

solitudeand mounIn Chinesepoetrygrasshutsusuallysuggested

You in the"OrchidBureau"at this

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

charactersforsoonwere pronounced in a Japanese manner as kusano

148 times.Data gatheredfromShinpen

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SAIGYO'S YAMAFUKAMI POEMS

Hutsreappearas a commontropein fasciclessix,seven,and eight,

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

Livingin thewildand unkempt

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

SAIGYO'S TAMAFUKAMI POEMS

Followand itsdelusionsand came to be called "recluses"(tonseisha).

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

In bothpoems,the hutis an explicitly

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TAMA FUKAMI POEMS

negativeaspectsof grasshutsand mountain

and howitshouldbe translated

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translatedas "mountainvillage") as a distinctly

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TAMA FUKAMI POEMS

byAriwaraMuneyana&HCtt^ (d. 898) and Ise *I5 (ca. 874-after

These poems introduceseveralwordscommonlyassociatedwith

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This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

SAIGYO'S TAMAFUKAMI POEMS

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

assessmentofyamazatoin poetryshifted.The yamazatotropewas transformedfromgloom to salvificglow.

no. 609 [557]; Saigyohoshikashu,no. 2170. All Saigyo

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

I've trulycometo know

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TAMA FUKAMI POEMS

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

YAMA FUKAMI POEMS

Like manyotheryamajukamipoemsbeforeSaigyo's time,thispoem

The lines"I had heard/ itmightbe likethis- / but. . ." indicatethat

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

Saigyoseemstogropeforwordsto describewhathe sees,hears,and

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SAIGYO'S YAMAFUKAMI POEMS

This stringofimagesin thefirstthreelineswouldhavebeen considwereit notfortheuneredelegantbut notparticularly

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM

objectionable here is not the chestnutsthemselvesbut thatthe poet is carryingout the

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Fri, 2 Jan 2015 15:21:25 PM