Hyakunin Isshu: Meet the Poets
Koshikibu no Naishi

Meaning

The road to Oe Mountain and Ikuno is so long and far — I have not yet set foot on it, nor received a letter from my mother.

Commentary

This is a brilliant impromptu poem. When Acting Middle Counselor Sadayori teased Koshikibu by asking whether she had received poetic help from her famous mother (then in distant Tango Province), she deflected with this poem — packing in the place names Ōeyama, Ikuno, and Amanohashidate to prove her independent mastery.

Koshikibu no Naishi was the daughter of Izumi Shikibu and inherited her mother's gift. She died young, survived by her mother — an unusual and tragic reversal. This poem became famous as proof of her independent genius, and the story of her impromptu reply is one of the most celebrated anecdotes in Japanese poetry history.

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