Sarumaru Dayū

Sarumaru no Taifu by Kanō Tan’yū, 1648

Sarumaru no Taifu, also known as Sarumaru no Dayū (猿丸大夫, sarumaru no taifu/dayū) was a waka poet in the early Heian period. He is a member of the Thirty Six Poetic Sages (三十六歌仙, sanjūrokkasen), but there are no detailed histories or legends about him. There is a possibility that there never was such a person. Some believe him to have been Prince Yamashiro no Ōe.

Poetry example

The following waka is attributed to Taifu. It is a classic Autumn Poem (秋歌, aki no uta).

Japanese text[1]Romanized Japanese[1]English translation[2]
奥山に
紅葉踏みわけ
鳴く鹿の
声きく時ぞ
秋はかなしき
Oku-yama ni
momiji fumi-wake
naku shika no
koe kiku toki zo
aki wa kanashiki
Autumn at its saddest—
Rustling through the leaves
and moving on alone
deep into the mountains,
I hear a lonely stag
belling for his doe.

This poem is Kokinshū 4:215, and was also incorporate into Fujiwara no Teika's famous Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, as number 5.

References

  1. 1 2 McMillan 2010, p. 156.
  2. ↑ McMillan 2010, p. 7.

This article is partly based on information in the equivalent article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

Further reading

  • Papinot, Edmond (1910). Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha.
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