A Hundred Verses from Old Japan · 22 of 101

21. The Priest Sosei: Sosei Hōshi

21

The Priest Sosei

SOSEI HŌSHI

Ima kon to Iishi bakari ni Naga-tsuki no Ariake no tsuki Wo machi izuru kana.

THE moon that shone the whole night through This autumn morn I see, As here I wait thy well-known step, For thou didst promise me— 'I'll surely come to thee.'

Sosei is supposed to have been the son of Bishop Henjō, the writer of verse No. 12, born before the latter entered the church, about the year 850. His name as a layman was Hiro-nobu Yoshi-mine, and he became abbot of the Monastery of Riyau-inwin at Isono-kami, in the Province of Yamato.