Hyakunin Isshu: Meet the Poets
Acting Middle Counselor Masafusa

Meaning

The cherry blossoms on the high peaks of Takasago have already bloomed. Let the mist not rise over the foothills and hide them from view.

Commentary

The poem sets up a visual longing: blossoms are blooming on the far mountain, but haze obscures the view of the closer hills that lie between. The wish that the haze "not rise" (tatazu mo ara namu) is graceful and understated — a spring yearning rather than an assertion. Takasago was in Harima Province (modern Hyōgo).

Minamoto no Masafusa was a brilliant Sinologist and scholar who tutored three successive emperors. He was also an accomplished waka poet and a key figure in transmitting classical learning into the late Heian period. This poem shows a lighter, more lyrical side than his scholarly reputation might suggest.

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