Fujiwara no Michinobu

Fujiwara no Michinobu, from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Fujiwara no Michinobu (藤原道信, 972–994) was a Japanese waka poet of the mid-Heian period. One of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. He produced a private waka collection, the Michinobu-shū.

Biography

Katsushika Hokusai, The Poem of Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason, 1839, Princeton University Art Museum, depicting the poem transcribed in the cartouche at upper right:
Though I know full well
That the night will come again,
E'en when day has dawned;
Yet, in truth, I hate the sight,
Of the morning's coming light.

Born in 972, he was a son of Tamemitsu and adopted by the latter's brother Kaneie.[1][2]

He served as commander of the guard, and although he died young he was considered a brilliant commander.[1] He died in 994.[1][2]

Poetry

Forty-eight of his poems were included in imperial anthologies, and he was listed as one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.[1][2]

The following poem by him was included as No. 52 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese text[3]Romanized Japanese[4]English translation[5]
明けぬれば
暮るるものとは
知りながら
なほうらめしき
朝ぼらけかな
Akenureba
kururu mono to wa
shiri-nagara
nao urameshiki
asaborake kana
As the sun rises
I know that when
it sets at night
I can see you again.
Yet even so, how hateful—
Parting in this cold light of dawn.

A private collection of his poems, the Michinobu-shū (道信集), survives.[1][2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 McMillan 2010 : 141.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Daijirin entry "Fujiwara no Michinobu". Sanseidō.
  3. ↑ Suzuki et al. 2009 : 67.
  4. ↑ McMillan 2010 : 165.
  5. ↑ McMillan 2010 : 54.

Bibliography

  • Keene, Donald (1999). A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 1: Seeds in the Heart — Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11441-7.
  • McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.
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