Izumi Shikibu
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Izumi Shikibu (和泉式部? b. 976?) was a mid Heian period Japanese poet. She is a member of the Thirty Six Elder Poetic Sages (中古三十六歌仙 chūko sanjurokkasen?). She was the contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu and Akazome Emon at the court of Joto Mon'in, and was perhaps the greatest poet of her time.
Izumi Shikibu was the daughter of Oe no Masamune, governor of Echizen. Her mother was the daughter of Taira no Yasuhira, governor of Etchu. At the age of 20 she was married to Tachibana no Michisada, who soon became governor of Izumi. As is standard for Heian period women, her name is a composite of "Izumi" from her husband's charge (任国 ningoku?) and her father's official designation of master of ceremony (式部 shikibu?). Their daughter Koshikibu no Naishi was also a gifted poet. Izumi Shikibu accompanied Michisada to the provinces for a time, but found life there disagreeable and returned to the capital.
Izumi Shikibu had a sequence of affairs at the court in the capital. In the beginning, before her marriage to Michisada, she is believed to have been the companion (some accounts say wife) of a man named Omotomaru at dowager Queen Shoko's court. While still married to Michisada, she fell madly in love with Emperor Reizei's third son, Prince Tametaka (977–1002) and had a public affair; as a result of the scandal she was divorced by her husband and disinherited by her father. That Tametaka died because he visited Shikibu during the plague season became the prevailing mythology of this affair.
After Tametaka's death, she was courted by Prince Atsumichi (981–1007), a half brother of Tametaka. The first year of this affair is described in the semi-autobiographical novel Diary of Izumi Shikibu (和泉式部 izumi shikibu nikki?); like many Diaries (日記 nikki?) of this period, the narration in Izumi Shikibu Nikki is in the third person, and parts of it are certainly fiction. It is believed that Shikibu's motive in writing this diary was partly to explain her affair to her fellow courtiers. Like before with Tametaka, this affair also soon ceased to be secret, and Atsumichi's real wife left his house in anger. Shikibu moved into Atsumichi's residence, and the two had a very public courtship until Atsumichi's death in 1007 at the age of 27.
The following year, Izumi Shikibu went to the court of Fujiwara no Shoshi, the daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga and the Empress Ichijo. Izumi Shikibu Nikki was actually written around this time, along with most of her important work that is present in the Izumi Shikibu Collection (和泉式部集 izumi shikibu shū?) and the Imperial anthologies. Her life of love and passion earned her the nick name of The Floating Lady (浮かれ女 ukarejō?) from Michinaga. Indeed, her poetry is characterised by overflowing passion and overwhelming sentimental appeal. Her style was the direct opposite of that of Akazome Emon, even though both served in the same court and were close friends. At the court she also nursed a growing rivalry with Murasaki Shikibu, who had a similar poetic style, though this rivalry pales in comparison with Murasaki Shikibu's spirited competition with Sei Shonagon. Izumi Shikibu's emotional poetry won her the praise of many at the court, including Fujiwara no Kinto.
While at the court, she married Fujiwara no Yasumasa, a military commander under Michinaga famous for his bravery, and left the court to accompany him to his charge in Tango Province. She is said to have lived long, outliving her daughter Koshikibu no Naishi, but the year of her death is unknown. The last Imperial correspondence from her was in 1033.
[edit] Poetry examples
- Shikibu's love poems are full of startling imagery.
刈藻かき臥猪の床のゐを安み
さこそねざらめ斯らずもがな
karu mo kaki fusu wi no toko no wi wo yasumi sa koso nezarame kakarazu mo gana
loosely: Trampling the dry grass the wild boar makes his bed, and sleeps. I would not sleep so soundly even were I without thse feelings.
(Goshuishu 14:821)黒髪のみだれて知らず打臥せば
まづかきやりし人ぞ戀しき
kuro kami no midarete shirazu uchifuseba madzu kakiyarishi hito zo kohishiki
loosely: My black hair is unkempt; nonplussed, he lies down and first gently smooths it, my darling!
(Goshuishu 13:755)(A man willing to smooth the unkempt long hair of a Heian noblewoman must have been very affectionate indeed.)
- A large number of Shikibu's poems are poems of lamentation (哀傷哥 aishō no uta?). A few examples, first to Tametaka:
亡人のくる夜ときけど君もなし
我が住む宿や魂無きの里
naki hito mo kuru yo to kikedo kimi mo nashi wa ga sumu yado ya tamanaki no sato
loosely: They say the dead return tonight, but you are not here. Is my dwelling truly a house without spirit?
(Goshuishu 10:575)Upon seeing her daughter Koshikibu no Naishi's name on her Imperial robes she received after her death:
諸共に苔のしたには朽ちずして
埋もれぬ名をみるぞ悲しき
morotomo ni koke no shita ni ha kuchizu shite udzumorenu na wo miru zo kanashiki
loosely: Beneath the moss, imperishable, her name of high renown: seeing it is a great sadness.
(Kinyoshu 10:620)
[edit] References
- Edwin Cranston. Izumi Shikibu. Kodansha.
- Earl Miner, Hiroko Odagiri; and Robert E. Morrell (1985). The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature. Princeton University Press, 170–171. ISBN 0-691-06599-3.
- Shuichi Kato (October 1995). A History of Japanese Literature. Kodansha. ISBN 1-873410-48-4.
- Chieko Mulhern (ed.) (1994). Japanese Women Writers: A Bio-critical Sourcebook. Greenwood Press.
- Janet Walker (June 1977). "Poetic Ideal and Fictional Reality in the Izumi Shikibu nikki". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 37: 135–182.
- Edwin Cranston (trans.) (1969). The Izumi Shikibu Diary. Harvard University Press.
