Hyakunin Isshu: Meet the Poets
Gokyōgoku Regent and former Chancellor

Meaning

On a cold, frosty night, the cricket cries. Lying alone with one sleeve folded beneath me — how lonely it is.

Commentary

"Samushiro" (cold mat) layers two meanings: the compound word (samu + shiro, cold + white) and the word for a thin reed mat. "Kinu kataski" (spreading half a garment) alludes to the Heian custom of a couple sleeping under a shared robe — here only half is used, because there is no one beside him. The cricket's cry cuts through the silence.

Fujiwara no Yoshitsune (Gokyōgoku Regent) was one of the most powerful men of the early Kamakura period, serving as regent and chancellor. He vanished suddenly from public life at the height of his power, possibly through illness. He was a central figure in compiling the Shin Kokinshū — the last great imperial waka anthology.

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