Princess Kazu · 皇室・徳川将軍家

Original

空蝉の
唐織ごろも
なにかせむ
綾も錦も
君ありてこそ

Princess Kazu's waka, "空蝉の唐織ごろもなにかせむ". Read the original Japanese, modern translation, interpretation, and historical context as distinct parts of the poem.

Person

Imperial princess who married Tokugawa Iemochi and later worked as Seikan'in to preserve the Tokugawa house.

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Translation

What use is this splendid brocade robe? Twill and silk had meaning only while you were here.

Poetic Shape

Tanka compresses feeling into five short movements, traditionally heard as a 5-7-5-7-7 rhythm. Its force is in the turn from image to emotion, and in what the poem leaves unsaid.

Reading

Rather than praising luxurious cloth, the poem withdraws its value.The closing phrase says that patterned silk mattered only while Iemochi was alive, allowing a marriage often reduced to policy to be seen through a delayed gift and the bodily reality of mourning.

Background

A bolt of brocade said to have been sent by Tokugawa Iemochi from Osaka reached Princess Kazu after news of his death in 1866, and this poem is transmitted as her response.While the exact sequence belongs partly to tradition, the verse anchors Seikan'in's later work for the Tokugawa house in a personal bereavement rather than in policy alone.

Source / Transmission

Text and the tradition connecting it to Iemochi's death were checked through Japan's Collaborative Reference Database.

Further Reading

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Relations

People, Poems, and Places

Center Princess Kazu 皇室・徳川将軍家

Kyoto / Kyoto Imperial Palace ink-wash place image

PlacesKyoto / Kyoto Imperial PalaceKyoto, Kyoto

Tokyo / Zojoji Temple ink-wash place image

PlacesTokyo / Zojoji TempleMinato, Tokyo

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Places

Kyoto / Kyoto Imperial Palace ink-wash place image

PlacesKyoto / Kyoto Imperial PalaceKyoto, Kyoto

Tokyo / Zojoji Temple ink-wash place image

PlacesTokyo / Zojoji TempleMinato, Tokyo

Related Places

Places Connected to This Poem

Kyoto, Kyoto · Imperial Court

Kyoto / Kyoto Imperial Palace

Kyoto / Kyoto Imperial Palace ink-wash place image

Court setting of Princess Kazu's upbringing and marriage negotiations.

Princess Kazu

Address3 Kyoto Gyoen, Kamigyo, Kyoto

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Minato, Tokyo · Tokugawa Mausoleum

Tokyo / Zojoji Temple

Tokyo / Zojoji Temple ink-wash place image

Tokugawa mausoleum where Iemochi and Princess Kazu rest beside one another.

Princess Kazu

Address4-7-35 Shibakoen, Minato, Tokyo

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Continue Reading

Poems with a Nearby Aftertaste

Sadakichi Iinuma ink painting inspired by Was the world that passed a dream, or was it real? I feel as though I a...

PoemsWas the world that passed a dream, or was it real? I feel as though I a...Related tone

Yae Yamamoto ink painting inspired by Tomorrow night, who in what land will gaze at this moon? I leave only i...

PoemsTomorrow night, who in what land will gaze at this moon? I leave only i...Related tone

Teruhime ink painting inspired by Between dream and waking, I cannot sort my thoughts and grieve for him;...

PoemsBetween dream and waking, I cannot sort my thoughts and grieve for him;...Related tone

Kyoto / Kyoto Imperial Palace ink-wash place image

PlacesKyoto / Kyoto Imperial PalaceKyoto, Kyoto