Meet the Poets of Hyakunin Isshu
Abe no Nakamaro

Meaning

Looking up at the vast sky, I see the moon. Is that the same moon that rose over Mount Mikasa in Kasuga, so long ago?

Commentary

Abe no Nakamaro sailed to Tang China as a student envoy while still in his teens, and in his twenties passed the demanding imperial examinations. He went on to serve in high office under Emperor Xuanzong.

After a long and distinguished career in a foreign land, Nakamaro finally received permission to return home in his fifties. This poem is said to have been composed at a farewell banquet held in his honour before his departure.

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