The past becomes present through us. Past narratives guide present actions. Past relationships inform those in the present. Past thought provides stimuli for present theory. Past descriptions of states of mind serve as reassurance that we in the present are not alone but instead have a wealth of advice to fall back on. And yet, the past remains in the shadows, unseen, asleep in the present.
This blog is entitled Sleeping Mountains in allusion to a poem by Yosano Akiko that I first encountered in a course by Dr. Kimberly Kono at Smith College. It was originally the title of a blog about my life working and studying in Japan from 2005 to 2012.
I was in Germany for the winter holidays when I wrote this. I do not remember the winter thunder storm. I do, however, remember visiting these monuments in Eguchi, Osaka. This play became the topic of my Master’s thesis. (Last edited on January 27, 2022.)
Thememorial to Saigyo and the courtesan’s encounter at Eguchi, now in present-day Osaka. Photo by H. McGaughey
Tübingen, Germany This morning, from the window in the living room, the rising sun could be seen just above the mountains in the distance. Above the sun, dark clouds, their undersides faintly lined in gold. Then suddenly snow started falling in sheets like rain, lightning flashed, and thunder followed. Today is not a day I want to be outside, walking through the changeable weather.
In the Shinkokin waka shū (c. 1205 New anthology of Japanese poems past and present), a pair of poems exchanged by Saigyō and a courtesan (yūjo in Japanese) on a rainy evening comes to mind. Or rather, these poems, as incorporated in the nō Eguchi, have been on my mind for the last few months, since they comprise a core component of my thesis, but for now I’ll set the thesis aside, because I really just want to tell you the story of these poems as I see it.
Saigyō gave the first poem to a courtesan who had refused him lodging on a rainy evening.
世の中を厭ふまでこそ難からめ仮の宿りを惜しむ君かな
Yo no naka wo itou made koso katakarame kari no yadori wo oshimu kimi kana
To hate the world is hard, but you deny me a moment’s shelter?
Sleeping Mountains 