A Hundred Verses from Old Japan/Poem 52

by Fujiwara no Michinobu

Layout 2

52

FUJIWARA NO MICHI-NOBU ASON

Akenureba
Kururu mono to wa
Shiri nagara
Nao urameshiki
Asaborake kana.

 

THE MINISTER MICHI-NOBU FUJIWARA

Although I know the gentle night
Will surely follow morn,
Yet, when I’m wakened by the sun,
Turn over, stretch and yawn—
How I detest the dawn!

Michi-nobu lived in the tenth century. He is shown in the illustration with his wife on the verandah, watching the day break.