著者

窪田 薫

出版者

東海大学

雑誌

東海大学紀要. 文学部 (ISSN:05636760)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.12, pp.47-60, 1969

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Princess Nukata (630〜715 or more), one of the greatest poetesses in Japan, was a priestess in the Court. Her first poem (Manyo, No. 7) remaining in the Manyo-shu (万葉集) is a tanka (a Japanese ode with 31 syllables) reciting yrically her dear recollection of the cottage life in her adolescence when the ritual of the priestesses-in-Court was held at Udi (宇治) in 644 A. D. They thatched the hut with spiritual miscanthus which they had cut for themselves upon the beautiful autumn field. There in the mysterious cottage, she probably, as a hostess-of-god, accepted Prince Ohoshiama(大海人) as a guest-god, conceiving Princess Toiti (十市). Her second poem (M., No. 9) was made in 659 when the amily of the Queen Saimei (斉明) visited the spa of Ki (紀) located at the sea-side with scenic beauty. This tanka has been very famous for its enigmatical letters giving hitherto no satisfactory solution. According to my decipherment, the uzzling poetry reads as follows : Thou shalt keep serene, oh, the Calm Sea! Th' My Crown Prince might stand under the oly Oak To perform the Archery Rite divining New Year. When the capital was removed to Afumi (近江) on the Lake Biwa (琵琶湖) in 667, the King Tenti (天智) ordered her to make odes (M., No. 17,18,19) for the chorus to pacify the master-spirit of Mt. Miwa (三輪山), standing by the old capital. We find with interest, in those odes of hers, flattery to the awful master of the mountain and high-handed attitude to the less dire spirit of the hanging clouds. With respect to her lineage of much doubtfulness, the diagram shown on the next page is my speculative proposal to be repared for the settlement.