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| Mornings making you feel like this? Then you're in the right place |
I personally have nothing against mornings or morning people, though I wouldn't say that I'm a big fan of mornings myself. I've already made a few posts about some sub-themes contained in the Hyakunin Isshu, (such as loneliness or "wet sleeves"), but the following is a special collection for my fellow non-morning people. If you've ever cursed the rising sun, then here are some poems for you:
Like the morning moon,
Cold, unpitying was my love.
And since we parted,
I dislike nothing so much
As the breaking light of day.
~Mibu no Tadamine
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| The author, probably |
This author actually dislikes a very specific time of day: 暁（akatsuki）which refers to sometime around after 3AM and just before sunrise. However, in this English translation, it says "breaking light of day", so we'll take it as a "hating morning" poem.
The context for why the author hates this time of day has to do with some dating conventions of the time. When courting and meeting with ones lover, it was standard for a man to visit the woman. However, in this case, the poem was written about a man who had to return home without getting to meet his love. We don't know why she rejected him, but the result is that the moon now reminds the author of his "cold, unpitying" love who turned him away. The author singles out a specific point in the lunar cycle, 有明の月 (ariake no tsuki), which refers to when the moon still remains in the sky until early dawn. So maybe the author doesn't hate all mornings, but rather just early the mornings where he can still see the moon that makes him think of the woman who ghosted him.
The context for why the author hates this time of day has to do with some dating conventions of the time. When courting and meeting with ones lover, it was standard for a man to visit the woman. However, in this case, the poem was written about a man who had to return home without getting to meet his love. We don't know why she rejected him, but the result is that the moon now reminds the author of his "cold, unpitying" love who turned him away. The author singles out a specific point in the lunar cycle, 有明の月 (ariake no tsuki), which refers to when the moon still remains in the sky until early dawn. So maybe the author doesn't hate all mornings, but rather just early the mornings where he can still see the moon that makes him think of the woman who ghosted him.
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| Sokka can relate |
Though I know indeed
That the night will come again
After day has dawned,
Still, in truth, I hate the sight
Of the morning's coming light.
~Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason
That the night will come again
After day has dawned,
Still, in truth, I hate the sight
Of the morning's coming light.
~Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason
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| Credit goes to my friend for pointing out that this poem and this meme somehow have the same energy |
Without any context, you might think, wow, this person really hates mornings. However, it's not that the author hates mornings in general, but more what the morning represents; in this case, it means he must be parted from his lover.
For more context, in the Heian period, nobles such as the author could only meet with their lovers at night, and had to return home early the next morning. This poem was written for his lover the morning after they had spent the night together, and it is expressing how he hates to be parted from her.
Or if you like, you can pretend the poem means that the author just really, really despises watching that big ball of fire rise once again in the east.
[80]ながか (Nagaka)
Is it forever
That he hopes our love will last?
He did not answer.
And now my daylight thoughts
Are as tangled as my black hair.
~Taikenmonin no Horikawa
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| Turns out there's also a poem for people who struggle with bedhead |
Perhaps you've noticed by now that hating mornings and being hopelessly in love often went hand in hand for these Heian-era nobles. Like the author of [52] Ake, this poem was written the morning after she met with her lover. Since the author is a woman, hers is instead written as a response to the poem her lover sent her after spending the night together. Without her love by her side, she is left to wonder whether the feelings they shared are truly mutual, or whether that meeting may in fact be the last. She compares her tumultuous thoughts to her bedraggled hair, which was probably quite long considering that noble women of this period would grow their hair out as long as possible.
For this author, morning means facing off with the anxiety that her lover may leave for good. Truly, consciousness is a curse for this author, and having to deal with serious bedhead is probably not all that fun either.
[59] やす (Yasu)
Better to have slept
Care-free, than to keep vain watch
Through the passing night,
Till I saw the lonely moon
Traverse her descending path.
~Akazome Emon
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| ... |
Even if you already dislike mornings (which I assume you do, because why else would you be reading this list), you'd probably dislike the morning a lot more if you'd just spent all night waiting for someone who never showed up. That's the scene the author of this poem is expressing, and it seems that she wrote this poem for her sister who was waiting for her lover to come meet her. Apparently, the person she was waiting for was Fujiwara no Michitaka, the husband of [54] Wasure, who was known for having numerous lovers. In the end, he never shows and her sister is forced to watch the moon set and the sun rise, having waited up the whole night in vain. To get no sleep, get stood up by a playboy, then be taunted by the cruel sun, rising cheerfully the next morning? Rude.
[78]あわじ（Awaji）
Guard of Suma Gate,
From your sleep, how many nights
Have you awakened
At the cries of sanderlings,
Flying from Awaji Island?
~Minamoto no Kanemasa
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| When you're guarding Suma Gate and you get woken up by sanderlings...again. |
This poem doesn't have to do with love, but instead is the author's imagining of a lone guard's isolation being felt all the more keenly when he is awakened by the calls of migratory birds outside his window. If you haven't heard sanderlings before, you can listen to a video recording here, but suffice it to say that it sounds like the bird-call equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. If I was woken up by these birds night after night, I would probably try to eradicate the entire species. I would wish them all the misfortune in the world. I would probably go on fuming about my undying hatred for them until sunrise and then start hating the morning too. How dare the sun rise when I haven't even gotten a full night's sleep because of these horrible birds?? Though the birds' calls in the poem are usually interpreted as a reflection of the loneliness of the guard, after hearing these birds for myself I have concluded that they are worthy of all the hatred one can muster, especially if they wake you up again and again. They would definitely make you hate mornings, if they didn't make you lose your sanity first.
☀️ 💢 😡
For all my fellow morning-averse friends, I hope you enjoyed this post! And if you ever find yourself despising the dawn, maybe imagining these poems as eloquent ways to cuss out the sun can help!
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