| [I]What is tanka? (Primer course I) (4) The motives for composing tanka In this chapter, I would like to discuss “What is the motives for composing tanka? What has motivated poets to compose tanka since old time？ Fumiko Reizei, President of Reizei Family, the twenty sixth descendant of Teika Fujiwara (1162-1241) who accomplished the method of composition of aesthetic tanka, discussed the motives for composing tanka in the publication, “Shiguretei,” Volume 29, June 20 1989: “Every day I enjoy watching flowers and hearing birds singing in my yard so that I can recognize the changes of the four seasons personally, without a calendar. In short, I can know whether spring or summer has already come or not, to hear birds singing as well as various flowers and insects etc. When the succesive holidays are coming (the first ten days of May), at the edge of my yard, dozens of peonies come out beautifully every year. All colors: white, pink, dark red etc, are acceptable to me. I, myself, unconsciously applaud them. Even bees flying from everywhere seem also to praise them by coming to each petal. At its best, the peony is the king of flowers, but it's a pity it is so fragile when it rains. At the beginning of June, brown lilies with rain drops on their petals start blooming against dark green and look better than white lilies. Wild oranges also smell fragrant and look pretty. I always walk in my yard in the early morning and hear birds such as bulbul, great tit, sparrow, dove, and shrike singing. Ｉ also watch dew on the leaves of butterburs or peonies and can feel at sympathy with those that lived in olden times. All that I experience every day, as I discussed above, motivates me to compose tanka.” The motives for composing tanka seem to be exaltation as well as the enjoyment which we can get when we observe nature. She enjoys watching flowers and hearing birds singing in her yard and she also appreciates nature because of her rich sensibility. I would like to show you the following four tanka composed by Fumiko Reizei on the themes such as “The plum blossoms in my yard,” “Dawn in spring,”“The little cuckoo,” and “The colored leaves,” which are my favorite tanka among her works composed in each season. These seem to show her exaltation as well as enjoyment of nature. When I read each tanka, I can feel deeply her sensibility for nature, affection for the plum blossoms and the little cuckoo, delight in the changes of seasons and the deep impression of the colored leaves. |
夕暮れはひとしお香こそ通ふなり仄かに白き庭の梅枝 The white plum blossoms,/ which are abloom in my yard in the gentle breeze,/ smell all the more fragrant as I watch them in the evening. by Fumiko Reizei 帰る雁 鳴きて越え行く 東山 花の峯より しらむ曙 The dawn is breaking/ from the peak of Higashi with cherry blossoms,/ above which the wild geese fly away bidding us farewell. by Fumiko Reizei ふる里をしのひねに鳴くほとときす 橘薫る 山庵に聞く I heard the cuckoo/ whisper its longing for its native village at/ the hut in the mountain, in which wild oranges smell fragrant. by Fumiko Reizei たか織るや誰か染めたるや錦なす峯又峯に続く紅葉葉 Who has woven them/ and who has dyed this mountain like a colored print?/ One after another peak is crowned with red leaves. by Fumiko Rezei 第一章（〜短歌とは何か？〜）[入門講座I] 第 4節 歌を詠む心 本節では「歌を詠む心」について述べてみたいと思う。古来歌を詠む心とは何であったろうか。芸術的短歌の作歌法を創案した藤原定家の二十六代目のご子孫である冷泉布美子氏は機関紙「志（し）くれてい」２９号の巻頭で次のように述べている。 『鳥の鳴く声または開花の色香などで四季を知り、あゝ春だ、夏だと自然の喜びにひたる日々である。晩春の連休のころには庭の一隅の牡丹の十株ほどが見事に花開き、白もよし、ピンク、えんじもまたよしと一人拍手喝さいの気持ち。 大きな花を子細に見れば、薄い花弁の弱々しい幾枚もが雌雄の花蕊（かずい）をつつみ豪華を極める。蜜蜂がその中に入り大いに賞賛する。誠に美しい花王であるが、雨にはもろく名残惜しい。 六月の初めには、姫百合が朝露を分けて深緑の中に錆朱（せいしゅ）を染めて咲き出し、白百合にも優る趣を添えてくれた。花橘（はなたちばな）も馨高く美しい。 夜のしらむころから鳴く鵯（ひよどり）、四十雀（しじゅうから）、雀、鳩、百舌の声を聞き、蕗（ふき）や牡丹の広葉（ひろは）の玉露（たまつゆ）を愛でつつ庭を歩み、毎朝御文庫の小さな窓に頭を垂れ、階上（かいじょう）の神仏に祈りを込める私である。そして、これらは私の歌の心となるのである』 「歌を詠む心」とは自然を観察して得られる喜びやその賞賛であるようだ。冷泉氏は感受性豊かな故に庭の花鳥（はなとり）の声など、自然の美しさをよく味わっておられる。冷泉氏が四季折々に詠まれた歌の中から、「庭梅（にわのうめ）」、「春曙（はるのあけぼの）」、「郭公（ほととぎす）」、「紅葉（もみじ）」を歌題に詠まれた四首をご紹介する。 これらの歌は自然への喜びや賞賛である。一つ一つの歌をじっくり鑑賞すると、冷泉氏の自然への深い感受性、つまり、「梅や郭公を愛でる心」、「四季の変化への歓喜」、「紅葉していく木々に対する深い感動」などを感じ取ることが出来る。 |
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| 古典短歌講座（第１版） Classical Tanka composition in English (1) |
| プラボットの異端児（短歌入門部屋）に戻る 当サイトはリンクフリーです、どうぞご自由に。 Copyright(c) 2010 Yoshihiro Kuromichi(plabotnoitanji@yahoo.co.jp) |
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