4381372A Hundred Verses from Old Japan — Poem 49William Ninnis PorterŌnakatomi no Yoshinobu

49


ŌNAKATOMI NO YOSHI-NOBU ASON

Mikaki mori
Eji no taku hi no
Yo wa moete
Him wa kie-tsutsu
Mono wo koso omoe.


THE MINISTER YOSHI-NOBU, OF PRIESTLY RANK

My constancy to her I love
I never will forsake;
As surely as the Palace Guards
Each night their watch-fire make
And guard it till daybreak.


The author was the son of the Minister Yorimoto, and he lived during the latter part of the tenth century. The illustration shows the watchman outside the Palace tending his fire.