Duplicity

Tags

chrysanthemums, duplicity, Murasaki Shikibu, Tale of Genji, Totoya Hokkei

(Totoya Hokkei; British Museum)

 

Innocuousness

can be just as damning as

a flagrant dislay,

for those in jealousy’s grip.

Suspicions arise

as to what might be buried

beneath russet leaves,

or between well-written lines.

Female coyness leads men on.

Yes, chrysanthemums

can slowly change their colours,

with cultivation.

Even modesty can mask

duplicity of all kinds.

 

Oigimi

Tags

Kaoru, Murasaki Shikibu, Oigimi, Tale of Genji

(Image: Brooklyn Museum)

 

Her anger enhanced

the strong attraction he felt,

but her frank consent

was what he was awaiting.

He had spent a long

time feigning indifference.

Now he lay down beside her,

restraining himself all night.

They stood on the verandah,

watching the dawn sky.

It was a perfect moment.

The city beckoned.

He withdrew silently; his

scent impregnated her robes.

Dutiful Visits

Tags

choka, Japanese poetry, Lady Hitachi, Murasaki Shikibu, Seidensticker, Tale of Genji

 

(Wikipedia.  Murasaki Shikibu portrait

Author: Kano Takanobu; )WalkerPlus)

 

When the letter came,

he did not let her see it.

It was pathetic,

but he saved the woman’s face;

she was a princess!

Murasaki was unique –

she should understand.

But why was he so nervous

if the other meant nothing?

Lady Hitachi

is the one he visits now.

No woman need fret:

she has a ginormous nose!

There is no competition.

 

(I have used Edward Seidensticker’s translation of

‘The Tale of Genji’ throughout.  I have taken his prose

and cut, paraphrased and transformed the material,

re-shaping it into chokas and tankas.  My intention was

to capture the spirit of the tale, but to return it to poetry

by using traditional Japanese forms.

Seidensticker made the work accessible to me, for which

I am indebted.)

Non Pareil

Tags

Murasaki Shikibu, plum blossom, Tale of Genji

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

 

It is quite futile

to torment oneself over

the inconstancy

of the opposite sex, she

declared, with a sigh.

The cockerel crowed early

and she had not slept,

but she trespassed on his dreams.

He left the woman’s chamber

on the first pretext.

Now he was back home,

there was no comparison-

just as sprigs of plum blossom

differ greatly from cherry.

Kiri-Tsubo

Tags

choka, Kiri-Tsubo, koto, Murasaki Shikibu, Music, Otaki, Tale of Genji

 

 

Shadow of herself,

Kiri- Tsubo was wilting.

A hand-drawn carriage

took her from the Emperor.

Her ceremonies at

Otaki were conducted

with solemnity.

Inordinate love killed her.

On damp, chilly nights,

the music of the koto

plucked at his heart’s strings

and he could not bear to think

of their son, removed from court.

 

 

Wakana New Herbs

Tags

boussokusekika, Kashiwagi, Murasaki Shikibu, New Herbs, Tale of Genji, Third princess, Wakanajo

 

Third Princess, your pet

climbed onto the balcony.

Oh, Kashiwagi,

why should you desire it when

you are not a cat lover?

Hanachirusato

Tags

boussokusekika, cuckoo, Hanachirusata, orange blossom, Tale of Genji

 

So unassuming,

you were a Falling Flower.

A cuckoo beckons;

I smell the orange blossoms

and fond memories flood back.

Hahakigi: The Broom Tree

Tags

boussokusekika, Tale of Genji, The Broom Tree, Utagawa Toyokuni, Utsusemi

(Artist:Utagawa Toyokuni; Denman Waldo Ross collection, Museum Fine Arts, Boston)

 

Vice-governor’s wife

was as a broom tree growing

in a shabby yard.

She chose her safe marriage,

for rank dictated conduct.

The Shell of the Locust

Tags

Go, Nokiba-no-ogi, shell of the locust, Tale of Genji, Utagawa Kunisada II, Utsusemi

(Artist: Utagawa Kunisada II; ukiyo-e-org)

Variation on earlier post: The Locust Lady

 

 

Utsusemi and

Nokiba-no-ogi play

Go.  Genji then goes

for the former, but she flees,

leaving her robe behind her.

.

Kiritsubo

Tags

Fujitsubo, Kiritsubo, Murasaki Shikibi, Shining Prince, Tale of Genji

(Fine Arts, San Francisco. Artist: Isoda Koryusai; c 1770 Achenbach

Foundation. Gift Miss Carlotta Mabury)

 

Oh, Kiritsubo,

bullied, you wasted away.

Your son was banished.

Fujitsubo looks like you;

the Emperor wed her, but

The Shining Prince will return.