Minamoto no Hitoshi

Minamoto no Hitoshi
Depiction in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Minamoto no Hitoshi

Minamoto no Hitoshi (源等) was the great-grandson of Emperor Saga, living from 880-951AD.

During his lifetime he was Governor of several important provinces and in 947AD he recieved the rank of General of the Fourth Rank.

We can find four of his poems in the Gosenshūas well as one of his poems (No.39) in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu which goes as follows:1

Japanese text2
Romanized Japanese1
English translation1
浅茅生の
小野の篠原
忍ぶれど
あまりてなどか
人の恋しき
Asajiu no
Ono no shinobara
shinoburedo
amarite nado ka
hito no koishiki
I try to conceal my feelings,
but they are too much to bear-
like reeds hidden in the low bamboo
of this desolate plain.
Why do I love you so?

Footnotes

1. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.
2. Suzuki, H. et al. (1997) ”Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu”. Tokyo: Bun’eidō.

Check out the Japan Archives, our Japanese History Podcast.
Instagram (Japan): @japan_archives

Check out our Gaming Channel on Youtube.
Instagram (Minecraft): @mycenria

Find the website useful?
Please consider donating to help up keep the website running.



Supernatural Creatures