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A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (The Hyakunin-isshu), tr. by William N. Porter, [1909], at sacred-texts.com


p. 34

34

OKI-KAZE FUJIWARA

FUJIWARA NO OKI-KAZE

  Tare wo ka mo
Shiru hito nisemu
  Takasago no
Matsu mo mukashi no
Tomo nara-naku ni.

GONE are my old familiar friends,
  The men I used to know;
Yet still on Takasago beach
  The same old pine trees-grow,
  That I knew long ago.

Oki-kaze, the son of Michinari, was an official in the Province of Sagami in the year 911; the date of his death is unknown, but he is mentioned as being alive as late as the year 914. Takasago, which is mentioned again in verse No. 73, is a seaside place in the Province of Harima, famous for its pine trees; the pine tree is one of the recognized emblems of long life in Japan, because it is believed that after a thousand years its sap turns to amber.


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