A Hundred Verses from Old Japan/Poem 12
12
SŌJŌ HENJŌ
Amatsu kaze
Kumo no kayoiji
Fuki tojiyo
Otome no sugata
Shibashi todomemu.
BISHOP HENJŌ
Oh stormy winds, bring up the clouds,
And paint the heavens grey;
Lest these fair maids of form divine
Should angel wings display,
And fly far far away.
The poet’s real name was Munesada Yoshimune, and he was the great-grandson of the Emperor Kwammu. On the death of the Emperor Nimmyō, to whom he was much devoted (A.D. 850), he took holy orders, and in the year 866 was made a bishop. He died in the year 890, at the age of seventy, from being buried, by his own wish, in a small stone tomb covered with soil, with only a small pipe leading from his mouth to the open air; he remained thus, until hunger and exhaustion put an end to his life. He is said to have composed the above verse, before he entered the priesthood, on seeing a dance of some maidens at a Court entertainment; he pretends that the ladies are so beautiful that they can be nothing less than angels, and he is afraid they will fly away, unless the wind will bring up the clouds to bar their passage. In the picture he is shown with two acolytes, apparently addressing the wind.