Starry Night

Starry Night by Lady Daibu

It must have been around the beginning of the twelfth month. Darkness had set in, and sleet, neither quite snow nor rain, was falling intermittently. Banks of cloud pressed overcast, while here and there groups of stars shone and were then snuffed out. I lay down and pulled the quilt up over my head. But later in the night – it must have been about the second quarter of the Ox* – I pushed the quilt off and looked up into the sky. It was unusually clear and had turned a lighter blue, against which large stars had appeared with unusual brilliance in one unbroken expanse. The sight was extraordinarily beautiful. It looked just as if pieces of gold and silver leaf had been scattered on paper of pale indigo. I felt as though I were seeing such a sky for the very first time that night. I had often before looked at starlit skies so bright that the moon might almost have been shining. but perhaps because of the time and place, that night made a particularly vivid impression on me, and I could only remain there sunk in thought:

The moon
I have often gazed upon,
But the stirring beauty
Of a night of stars
I have understood this night.

*Between 1:30 am – 2:00 am (not 2:30-3:00 am, as older theories of Heian timekeeping maintained).

Kenrei-mon-in Ukyo no Daibu (1155 – 1214)
She served for a daughter of Taira no Kiyomori who was a military leader of Japan.

Translation: Phillip Tudor Harries
– The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu, Stanford University Press

A birth of notion: The first moment she realized the beauty of a starry night.

In 1185, Taira clan was defeated and fell into ruin at the Battle of Dannoura by an old enemy, Minamoto clan. After Taira no Sukemori, her lover, who died in the battle, she wrote over 300 pieces of poems with forewords. The theme of her poems was the memory of joy and painful love affair with Sukemori. She also depicted the brilliant palatial life, including a friendship with the high-ranking nobles of the Taira clan, and other courtiers.

In the forwards of “Starry Night,” the 251st verse, she illustrated the scene as massive stars had appeared with exceptional brilliance. It was a new moon night, according to the date of the forewords, the 1st day of December by the lunar calendar. I imagine that she must have seen Sirius and the stars of Orion at the southwest sky at around 2:00 am probably in the beginning of January. The temperature may have been below 35 ℉ as she saw sleet. The air was clear, especially after windy weather. Thinking of her thoughts, I wonder what the brilliant stars brought to her mind. Sadness, pleasure, regret? Alternatively, all those memories of the moment she had with a died lover, I would not know. I, however, at least could say Lady Daibu found herself in the beauty of stars which gave her a notion that she loved and missed Sukemori from deep in her heart once again. Although it might be too much to say, it could have been the moment which implied her a new beginning of the understanding of herself. Because I think she did not only realize the beauty of the starry night but also she noticed an inspiration beyond her thoughts which she connected with stars. If so, she must have found something different and new in herself, which she’d never had before. It should have been something cherished.

In 1991, an asteroid 5242 was discovered and named Kenreimonin (建礼門院) whom Lady Daibu served for.

References

1. Harries, Phillip Tudor. The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu. Stanford University Press, 1980, pp. 227-229.

星月夜

十二月ついたちごろなりしやらん。夜に入りて、雨とも雪ともなくうち散りて、むら雲さわがしく、ひとへに曇りはてぬ物から、むらむら星うち消えしたり。ひきかづきふしたる衣を、ふけぬるほど、丑（うし ）二つばかりにやと思ふほどにひきのけて、空を見上げたれば、ことに晴れて浅葱色（あさぎいろ ）なるに、光ことごとしき星のおほきなる、むらなく出でたる、なのめならずおもしろくて、花の紙に、箔をうち散らしたるによう似たり。こよひはじめてみそめたる心ちす。さきざきも、星月夜（ほしづきよ ）みなれたることなれど、これはおりからにや、ことなる心ちするにつけても、ただ物のみおぼゆ。

月をこそ
ながめなれしか
星の夜の
深きあはれを
こよひ知りぬる

建礼門院右京大夫 (1155 – 1214)
– 岩波文庫「建礼門院右京大夫集」 (p.120-121)

十二月一日ごろでした。夜になり、雨とも雪ともなく降ってきて、群れ立つ雲も騒がしく、空はすっかり雲に覆われてはいないものの、ところどころに星がまたたいている。衣をかぶり橫になりましたが、夜も更けた午前二時ごろ、衣を脱いで天を見上げると、すっかり晴れわたり、浅葱色（あさぎいろ ）の空に、大きな光を放つ星々が一面に現れている。その光景は言いつくせぬほどすばらしく、まるで淡藍色（うすあいいろ ）の紙に金箔を散らしている様で、そんな星空はその晩、初めて見たような気がします。それまでも星月夜は見馴なれてはいましたが、時の巡りあわせでしょうか、特別な心地とともに想いに耽るばかりでありました。

星々を見初めた時

1185年、想い人平資盛（たいらのすけもり）を壇ノ浦の戦いで失った後、彼女は300以上の歌を残しました。平家臣下、殿中人との交流や宮廷での煌びやかな生活を詠いながらも、主題は平資盛との楽しく苦しい恋の想い出です。

詞書には美しくも異様に大きな星を観たとあります。陰暦の12月1日とあるので、その晩は新月。午前二時頃、冬の南西に輝くシリウスとオリオン座の星々を観たのではないかと思います。少しばかりの風の後、空気は澄み渡り、雨とも雪ともなく降ったという気温は5度以下。彼女は何を考え、輝く星々は何を彼女にもたらしたのでしょう。悲しみ、喜び、後悔、あるいは壇ノ浦に散った恋人と過ごした時の記憶全てでしょうか。知るよしもありません。ただ、少なくとも恋人を失った悲しみと恋慕を星々の美しさに見出し、それを改めて感じのだと思います。また、彼女にとって自身の思いに至る新たな始まりだったとは言い過ぎでしょうか。単に星々の輝きに魅せられただけでなく、自身の思考を越えた直感を得て、それを星々と繋げたと思うのです。もしそうなら、彼女が内面に見つけたのはそれまでとは異なるもの。それがなにかは分かりませんが、とても大切なものであったに違いありません。

現代語訳: astrogrammar