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


p. 97

97

THE ASSISTANT IMPERIAL ADVISER SADA-IYE

GON CHU-NAGON SADA-IYE

  Konu hito wo
Matsu-hō no ura no
  Yūnagi ni
Yaku ya moshio no
Mi mo kogare-tsutsu.

UPON the shore of Matsu-hō
  For thee I pine and sigh;
Though calm and cool the evening air,
  These salt-pans caked and dry
  Are not more parched than I!

Sada-iye, of the Fujiwara family, was the Compiler of this Collection of verses; he was the son of Toshi-nari, the writer of verse No. 83, and he entered the priesthood, dying in the year 1242, at the age of eighty.

Matsu-hō is on the north coast of the Island of Awaji, in the Inland Sea; but the word also means 'a place of waiting and longing for somebody'. Kogare means 'scorching or evaporating' (sea-water in the saltpans), but it also has the meaning 'to long for, or to love ardently.'

The illustration shows two men carrying pails of sea-water to the salt-pans.


Next: 98. The Official Iye-Taka: Jūnii Iye-taka