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English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
法性寺入道前関白太政大臣
わたの原
こぎいでてみれば
久方の
雲居にまがふ
沖つ白波
くもゐにま
かふおきつ
しらなみ
わたのはらこ
- Poem 76
- わたの原
こぎいでてみれば
久方の
雲居にまがふ 沖つ白波
Author: Lay Novice of Hosshō-ji Temple, former Kampaku and Chancellor of the Realm (1097–1164)
Source: Shika Wakashū, Miscellaneous
- English Verse Translation
- When rowing on the open sea, The waves, all capped with white, Roll onward, like the fleecy
clouds With their resistless might; Truly a wondrous sight!
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- Rowing out onto the open sea and looking around — the white waves far off on the water seem to blur into the clouds.
- Commentary
- This poem was composed for a poetry contest held at the imperial palace during the reign of Retired Emperor Sutoku (Poem 77), on the set topic of "a distant view over the sea."
- About the Poet
- The Lay Novice of Hosshō-ji Temple, former Kampaku and Chancellor of the Realm, was better known as Fujiwara no Tadamichi, the eldest son of the Regent Fujiwara no Tadazane. Having no son of his own to inherit the leadership of the Fujiwara regental line, Tadamichi first adopted his younger half-brother Yorinaga as heir. When a son of his own was later born, however, he broke off the adoption in order to pass the family headship to his own child — a decision that sparked a bitter feud with Yorinaga, one that eventually erupted into the Hōgen Rebellion. In that conflict, Tadamichi sided with Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa and emerged victorious, rising to the very pinnacle of the Fujiwara clan. He was also a gifted calligrapher, and is remembered as the founder of the Hosshō-ji school of calligraphy.
- Lay Novice of Hosshō-ji Temple, former Kampaku and Chancellor of the Realm's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
Before the boundless open sea,
even my heart feels set free, far and wide.The beauty woven by white waves and white clouds
was enough to make me forget words.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).