Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

thumb|When I gathered flowersFor my girlFrom the top of the plum treeThe lower branchesDrenched me with dew. thumb|I sit at homeIn our roomBy our bedGazing at your pillow. thumb|The colored leavesHave hidden the pathsOn the autumn mountain.How can I find my girl,Wandering on ways I do not know? Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (Japanese: 柿本人麻呂 or 柿本人麿, c. 653–655 – c. 707–710) was a Japanese waka poet and aristocrat of the late Asuka period. He was the most prominent of the poets included in the Man'yōshū. He is ranked as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. From the Heian period on, he was often called Hito-maru (人丸). Quotes Kenneth Rexroth's translations One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (1955) One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (New Directions Publishing, 1955), 978-0811201810 Sasa no ha waMiyama mo saya niSayagedomoWare wa imo omoWakare kinureba In the empty mountainsThe leaves of the bamboo grassRustle in the wind.I think of a girlWho is not here. XVII, p. 19 Aki yama niOtsuro momiji baShimashiku waNa chiri midare soImo ga atari minu In the Autumn mountainsThe colored leaves are falling. If i could hold them back,I could still see her. XVIII, p. 20 Hito goto waNatsu no no kusa toShigeku to moImo to ware to shiTazusawarineba Gossip grows like weedsIn a summer meadow.My girl and ISleep arm in arm. XIX, p. 21 Asa ne gamiWare wa kezurajiUtsukushikiKimi ga ta makuraFureteshi mono wo This morning I will notComb my hair.It has lainPillowed on the hand of my lover. XX, p. 22 Kurokami noShira kami made toMusubiteshiKokoro hitotsu woIma takame ya mo Your hair has turned whiteWhile your heart stayedKnotted against me.I shall neverLoosen it now. XXI, p. 23 Masu kagamiSoko naru kage niMukai ite miruToki ni kosoShiranu okina niAu kokochi sure A strange old manStops me,Looking out of my deep mirror. XXII, p. 24 Aki yama noMomiji wo shigemiMado inuruImo wo motomenuYama ji shirazu mo The colored leavesHave hidden the pathsOn the autumn mountain.How can I find my girl,Wandering on ways I do not know? XXIII, p. 25 Fusuma ji woHikite no yama niImo wo okiteYama ji wo yukebaIkeri to mo nashi When I left my girlIn her grave on Mount HikiteAnd walked down the mountain path,I felt as though I were dead. XXIV, p. 26 Ie ni kiteWaga ya wo mirebaTama doko noHoka ni mukikeriImo ga ko makura I sit at homeIn our roomBy our bedGazing at your pillow. XXV, p. 27 Ware yu nochiUmaremu hito waWaga gotekuKoi suru michi niAi kosu na yume May those who are born after meNever travel such roads of love. XXVI, p. 28 Kamo yama noIwane shi makeruWare wo kamoShira ni to imo gaMachitsutsu aramu My girl is waiting for meAnd does not knowThat my body will stay hereOn the rocks of Mount Kamo. XXVII, p. 29 Oki tsunamiKi yoru ariso woShikitae noMakura to makiteNaseru kimi kamo On the shingleBeaten by wavesHe sleeps with his headAmongst the rocks. XXVIII, p. 30 One Hundred More Poems from the Japanese (1976) One Hundred More Poems from the Japanese, trans. Kenneth Rexroth (New Directions Publishing, 1976), 978-0811206198 ''Ito ga tameHozu e no ume woTa oru to waShizu e no tsuyu niNurenikeru kamo When I gathered flowersFor my girlFrom the top of the plum treeThe lower branchesDrenched me with dew. XXII, p. 24 External links Kakinomoto no Asomi Hitomaro Poems at Poem Hunter Category:8th century deaths Category:Poets from Japan