A Hundred Verses from Old Japan/Poem 39
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39
SANGI HITOSHI
Asajū no
Ono no shinowara
Shinoburedo
Amarite nado ka
Hito no koishiki.
THE PRIVY COUNCILLOR HITOSHI
’Tis easier to hide the reeds
Upon the moor that grow,
Than try to hide the ardent love
That sets my cheeks aglow
For somebody I know.
Little is known of this poet, except that he lived some time in the tenth century.
Note the word shinowara, meaning ‘a bamboo moor’, contrasted with shinoburedo in the next line, which means ‘though I might manage to conceal’.
The picture shows Hitoshi on the wild moor, with the reeds growing all around him.