Na ni shi owaba
Ausaka yama no
Sanekazura
Hito ni shirarede
Kuru yoshi mo gana.
THE MINISTER-OF-THE-RIGHT OF THE SANJŌ (DISTRICT OF KYŌTO)
I hear thou art as modest as
The little creeping spray
Upon Mount Ōsaka, which hides
Beneath the grass; then, pray,
Wander with me to-day.
The writer’s real name was Sadakata Fujiwara, and he died A.D. 932. For an account of the Fujiwara family see verse No. 18. Mount Ōsaka mentioned here is the same place as that referred to in verse No. 10, and when spelled Ausaka it means ‘a hill of meeting’. The suggestion is, that if she is really like the creeping vine which grows on Meeting Hill, she will come and meet him.
