Consideration of Sensibility Towards Fog (霧に対する感性の考察）

　Consideration of Sensibility Towards Fog、2008

　　　　　　　　By Tadami Yamada

山田維史  「霧に対する感性の考察」 2008年

     When I think back to the popular Japanese songs that sing about "fog," I'm surprised at how many there are. I remembered 19 songs. It's no fun to list them from memory, so I'll look into waka and haiku poems that Japanese people have written about "fog."

     To begin with, I looked closely at the Kokin Wakashū (古今和歌集；Collection of Ancient and Modern Poetry, 905) and found nine poems in which about “fog”, two of which were by known authors and the rest were anonymous.

     恋こいて逢う夜は今宵天の川霧立ちわたり明けずもあらん

     The night we meet

     longing for each other

     tonight the Milky Way 

     will be covered in mist 

     it will probably never dawn

     春霞かすみて去にし雁がねは今ぞ鳴くなる秋霧の上に

     The geese 

     that left in the spring mist 

     for the northern country

     are now returning here

     as the autumn mist rolls in

     人の見る事や苦しき女郎花秋霧にのみ立ち隠るらん　　壬生忠峯

     Embarrassed 

     to be by people

     Ominaeshi flowers stands 

     probably hidden 

     in the autumn mist

　

               Mibu no Tadamine

      霧たちて雁ぞ鳴くなる片岡の朝の原は紅葉しぬらん

     The mist rises 

     and the geese cry

     The autumn leaves of the morning

     fields of Kataoka must be 

     at their best right now

            [Note] Kataoka is currently near Oji-cho, Kitakatsuragi-gun, Nara Prefecture. 

     秋霧は今朝はな立ちそ佐保山の端はその紅葉他所にても見ん 

     There must be a lot of mist 

     around the edge of 

     Mount Sahoyama this morning

     The autumn leaves there are beautiful

     but I'll look elsewhere

 

　　　　　[Note] Mt. Sahoyama is currently around Saho in Nara City.

　

     秋霧の共に立ち出でて別れなば晴れぬ思いに恋や渡らん　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　平元規　蔵人右衛門尉

     The morning dawned, autumn mist rolled in

     We stood up together, time to say goodbye

     but just as the mist did not clear

     my feelings for you did not clear either

     and my love for you only grew wider

               Taira no Motonori, Kuroudo no Uemonnojo

     ほのぼのと明石の浦のささ霧に島隠れ行く舟をしぞ思う

     As dawn breaks

     the gentle mist of Akashi Bay

     I watche the boat gradually disappear 

     behind a small island

     I think of the person I love

     

     朝な朝な立つ河霧の空にのみ浮きて思いのある世なりけり

     Every morning

     the river mist rises 

     and floats in the air

     It floats and leaves thoughts 

     of this sad world

     秋霧の晴れて曇れば女郎花花の姿ぞ見え隠れする

     Just when I think 

     the autumn mist has cleared

     the sky becomes cloudy 

     and the Ominaeshi flower can be seen

     but then it disappears again

     When we look at these nine poems in this way, we can see that "fog" as a natural phenomenon is given a metaphorical role of hiding or revealing things, and that it generally symbolizes "love." In other words, the poems are not about a misty scene in and of itself. They are about entrusting a more depressing emotion to the fog.

     But has this emotion entrusted to the fog continued into much later times?

     

     When I searched for haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), written about fog about 750 years after the compilation of the Kokin Wakashu, I found one in "Nozarashi Kiko (野ざらし紀行)“ 1685-87. There is also one in "Sarashina Kiko(更科紀行)”1688－89, but this was written by Ochi Etsujin (1655/56-?) who accompanied Basho on his travels.

     Let's take a look at these two poems.

     霧しぐれ富士を見ぬ日ぞ面白き　　芭蕉

     It's interesting to see 

     the mist and rain 

     especially since you can't see Fuji

                                                      Basho

(During the journey, Mt. Fuji never disappeared from view, so when the mist and rain fell and Fuji disappeared, it was a special pleasure.)

     霧晴れて棧は目もふさがれず　　越人

     The fog has cleared,

     so the shoji screens

     are left uncovered with windproof

                                                 Etsujin

     These two poems do not have the slightest bit of emotion found in the Kokin Wakashu. Romance is out of the question.

     Matsue Ishu Shigeyori (1602-1680), about 40 years older than Basho, was said to be a heretic in the Teimon school of haiku, but his book "Kebukigusa (毛吹草)”1645, was widely used when Teimon school of haiku was in its heyday and was a masterpiece. "Kebukigusa” contains "Haiku Shiki no Kotoba (俳諧四季之詞),” which can be called a collection of seasonal words, and in the "Autumn" section there is "Mist." If we include the later "additions," there are eight poems about fog. We will look at them below, but in fact even the Teimon haikai that preceded Matsuo Basho no longer had the sentiment of ancient and modern times. So, is it a calm observation of fog as a natural phenomenon? Well, we can say yes, but we can't say no. If waka is the high-brow literary art of the aristocracy and samurai classes, what was emerging here was a new literary art called "haikai" that somehow evoked the humorous spirit of townspeople. It is different from the interest in serenity that is connected to the "wabi" perfected by Basho, and can be said to be a perspective on nature and things that is the very preliminary stage.

     Anyway, let's look at the eight poems from the "Fog" section of "Kebukigusa.” There is no need to interpret them, so I will leave that out. 

     是はまた霧を通すや風袋　　　    重頼

     Noway, this is a wrapping that 

     not the wind but the fog through too

                                                   Shigeyori

     霧の海に立つや白鷺の波頭　　    道二

     A white heron standing in a sea of ​​mist, 

     the crest of a wave

                                                   Douji

     富士は磯というや理霧の海　　    重方

     Mt. Fuji is called a rocky shore!

     standing over the sea of ​​mist

                                                   Shigekata

     風の手のやふるや霧のまばら垣　 正依

     The wind's army blows mist arrows 

     into the sparse hedges 

                                                   Masayori

(I will give my own interpretation of this phrase. The wind's hand falls on the sparsely fogged fence. Also, as an alternative interpretation, the wind's hand breaks through the sparsely fogged fence. The latter may be more natural.)

     大海を手柏で急く霧間かな　　　 正直

     It is like the ocean,  must I harry to go  

     with clapping my hands through the mist

                                                   Masanao

     天は沖地は磯なれや霧の海          未得

     The sky is the ocean, the earth 

     is a shore, the sea of fog

                                                  Mitoku

     風口は干潟となるや霧の海　　　 不及

     When the wind turns into a tidal flat

     the fog turns into the sea

                                                   Fukyu

     朝霧の海高くして山もなし　　　  一言

     The sea of ​​morning fog is high

     but there are no mountains

                                                   Ichigen

     Next, let's look at a verse by Yosa Buson (1716-1783), 72 years after Basho.

     朝霧や杭打つ音丁々たり　　　蕪村

     In the morning mist

     the sound of hammering stakes echoes 

                                               Buson

     This verse doesn't need any interpretation, but I'll explain the scene a little more. In other words, in the early morning fog, the sound of driving in stakes can be heard from somewhere. Perhaps it's for preparations for winter. A new day's life has already begun, cutting boldly through the bleak, smoky morning landscape.

     This is my interpretation of this poem, but it's not far off the mark. If that's the case, it makes sense why Yosa Buson's poems are described as emotional and romantic. And isn't this romanticism due to the graceful leap of image between each word? I feel that Yosa Buson's poems are more masculine than Basho's.

     However, this is a departure from the discussion of "fog," so I will leave it aside for the moment.

     Now let's look at two poems about "fog" that were included in "Ki-yose (季寄せ)," a collection of seasonal words compiled by Takahama Kyoshi in 1940.

     噴火口近くて霧が霧雨が　　　　左右

     Near the crater

     there is mist and drizzle

                                                  Sayu

     野菊より霧たちのぼる屋島かな　 壽子

     Mist rises from the wild chrysanthemums

     Oh! it's Yashima

                                                    Hisako

     I don't know why Kyoshi included these two poems. I don't think they are particularly good, but they are quite amateurish, and conversely, they may be seen as a common sensibility of modern Japanese people about "fog (mist)." In other words, "fog" is seen as nothing but fog. There is not only the sentiment of the Kokin Wakashu, but also the humor of Teimon Haikai and the acuity of Buson.

     Now, I have examined "fog" in waka and haiku, somewhat roughly. 

     Returning to the first modern popular songs and chants I only touched it a little, it may be said that the sentiment of popular songs about fog is connected to the Kokin Wakashu. The Chant is a little drier, more stoic than the popular songs, and I feel that it has inherited the haiku style from Teimon Haikai to Basho and Buson. There is no symbolism attached to the "fog," and it seems to express the emotion of the natural phenomenon surprisingly frankly.

     可愛いあの娘が　夜霧のなかへ　投げた涙のリラの花

     何にも言わぬが　笑ってみせる　ああこれが男と云うものさ

　　　　　　　　　　　　　「夜霧のブルース」より、島田磬也作詞　1947年

     The cute girl threw the tearful lilacs into the night fog

     I smile without saying a word. Ah, this is what it means to be a man

                                From "Night Fog Blues"  Lyrics by Shimada Keiya, 1947

     さ霧消ゆる湊江の　舟に白し朝の霜

    ただ水鳥の声はして　いまだ覚めず岸の家

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　           「冬景色」より、文部省唱歌　1913年

     The river mouth where the mist has disappeared   

     The morning frost is white on the boats 

     Only the cries of waterfowl can be heard

     and the house on the shore is still awake

                               From "Winter Scenes"  Ministry of Education song, 1913

     So, is this sensibility towards "fog" common to Westerners as well?

     Popular songs that were hits in Japan include "San Francisco in the Fog" and "London Bridge in the Fog."

     "San Francisco in the Fog" is also known as "Memories of San Francisco," but its original title is "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," with lyrics by Douglas Cross and music by George Corley. It was sung by opera singer Claramé Turner in 1954 and by Tony Bennett in 1962, and became a big hit.

     The original title of "London Bridge in the Fog" is "On London Bridge." With lyrics by Syd Tepper, music by Roy Bennett and sung by Jo Stafford, it was a big hit in 1956.

     As the original titles indicate, the word "fog" does not appear anywhere in these two songs. If you look at the lyrics, "San Francisco in the Fog" does indeed say, "Though the morning fog chills the air." However, there is not as much romantic attachment to "fog" as the titles given in Japan.

     As for "London Bridge in the Fog," there is no image of "fog" anywhere in the lyrics, which begin with "I walked on London Bridge last night." In other words, the title is based on the image that Japanese people have of London Bridge.

     So I looked through the original texts of poems by great British poets that I had on hand. Of course, I didn't look for complete works by those poets, but I tried to find poems that contain the words "fog," "mist," and "haze." By the way, of these three words, "fog" is apparently the thickest fog, with visibility of less than 1km. Next is "mist." "Haze" is when visibility is slightly blurred.

     Thinking myself a bit curious, I started by looking through all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets. It didn't come up anywhere. Nothing in the poetry of John Keats. No Joachim du Berry. No Remy Bellow. No William Blake. There was no Wilfred Owen either. I also looked through a collection of nursery rhymes, but there was nothing.

     This is a surprising result for a Japanese person who has an image of "foggy London" or "English fog."

     So I looked through the first and fourth books of "Leaves of Grass" by the American Walt Whitman, but not surprisingly, "fog" does not appear there. Then, wondering if it might be there, I opened Edgar Allan Poe's long narrative poem "The Raven," but it was not there. That is "Nothing more!"

     English poetry frequently uses the stars, moon, and sun, and words such as morning dew, dewy grass, spring shower, the breeze, driving rain, chill blustering rain, rebounding hail, and tempest as metaphors for transience. But for some reason, I couldn't find "fog."

     I went back to English poetry and flipped through Robert Browning's collection of poems. And there I found it!

     In the first and second lines of the poem entitled "Prospice."

     Fear death? ---to feel the fog in my throat,

     The mist in my face,

     I also found the following lines in the first and third stanzas of T.S. Eliot's poem "Marina."

     The woodthrust singing through the fog

     A breath of pine, and the woodsong fog

     Although there are too few examples to show, perhaps this shows the difference between Japanese and Western sensibilities regarding "fog." At the very least, it can be said that Westerners do not have the strong emotional attachment to fog that allows them to have romantic feelings like the Japanese do. This may be clearly shown in the difference between the titles given by Japanese people, such as "San Francisco in the Fog" and "London Bridge in the Fog," and the original titles.