Ryōzen

Priest Ryōzen (良暹, Ryōzen-hōshi), from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Ryōzen (良暹, dates unknown, but flourished c. 998—1064) was a Japanese waka poet of the mid-Heian period. One of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, and thirty-one of his poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Goshūi Wakashū on.

Biography

Although his exact birth and death dates are unknown,[1] he flourished around 998 to 1064.[2]

A Tendai monk[2] at Hiei-zan,[1] he later became abbot (別当, bettō) of the Gion Monastery.[1][2] He lived as a hermit at Ōhara (Japanese Wikipedia) and then, late in life, at Unrin'in (雲林院, Japanese Wikipedia).[2]

Poetry

Thirty-one of his poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Goshūi Wakashū on.[1][2]

The following poem by him was included as No. 70 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese text[3]Romanized Japanese[4]English translation[5]
さびしさに
宿を立ち出でて
ながむれば
いづこも同じ
秋の夕暮れ
Sabishisa ni
yado wo tachi-idete
nagamureba
izuku mo onaji
aki no yuugure
Lonely, I step outside my hut
and look vacantly around:
It's the same all over—
Autumn dusk!

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Digital Daijisen entry "Ryōzen". Shogakukan.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 McMillan 2010 : 144 (note 70).
  3. ↑ Suzuki et al. 2009 : 90.
  4. ↑ McMillan 2010 : 169.
  5. ↑ McMillan 2010 : 72.

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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