Ariwarano Narihira's Masterpiece of Epic Poetry and Machi Tawara, Who calls It Bad (Essay)
An extremely beautiful epic poetry (Journey song) appears in the 87th paragraph of The Tale of Ise.
It seems
that there is a person
Untie a necklace
Will they fall soon
On the narrow sleeves
ぬきみだる 人こそあるらし 白玉の まなくも散るか 袖のせばきに
This is a poem that Narihira composed when he visited a famous waterfall (famous Nunobiki Falls) in what is now Hyogo Prefecture with a group of people. There is a man above the waterfall who cuts off the string of the jeweled necklace, and the jewels fall down, but my sleeve is too narrow to catch them, and the jewels drift away in vain.
What a beautiful landscape! Compared to many poems by Japanese poets, this poetry will be one of the best.
By the way, when I was reading a book by Machi Tawara (a former high school teacher who was two years younger than me), who made a name for herself in the songbook "Salad anniversary", I came across an unexpected story. The description caught my eye. She had decided that Narihira's famous song was a piece of crap.
...She has a spectacular career, but I cannot understand her criticism of "Untie…". One thing I can think of is that her successful work "Salad anniversary" is definitely a collection of "love songs". To put it in an old fashioned way, it's a "somonka:相聞歌", and I have to admit that there are modern ideas and technical mastery in this field.
Then, what about "Kiryo no Uta:羇旅歌" = "Journey songs"? Since ancient times, I think that female poets do not have "masterpieces" in this field of singing. I can't even think of a female poet who composed such a song. For men, names such as Kakinomotono Hitomaro, Yamabe Akahito, and Otomo Tabito are easily remembered. Of course, Ariwarano Narihira. (Of course, Hitomaro and Narihira were also excellent Somonka poets.) In addition, female poets famous for Somonka including Prince Nukata, Komachi Ono, Izumi Shikibu, and Imperial Princess Noriko, I don't remember seeing a dynamic epic poetry even though I talked about their passionate love songs.
Machi Tawara, you don't have the knowledge, experience, or ability to talk about "Untie...".
