A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (The Hyakunin-isshu): 31. Korenori Saka-no-Uye: Saka-no-Uye no Korenori
A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (The Hyakunin-isshu), tr. by William N. Porter, [1909]
SURELY the morning moon, I thought,
Has bathed the hill in light
But, no; I see it is the snow
That, falling in the night,
Has made Yoshino white.
Little is known about this poet, but he is said to have lived some time in the tenth century. Yoshino is a mountain village in the Province of Yamato, famous for its cherry blossoms; at one time it contained the Imperial Summer Palace. In the illustration we see the poet looking across at the village on the hills all covered with snow.