A Hundred Verses from Old Japan · 43 of 101

42. Moto-suke Kiyowara: Kiyowara no Moto-suke

42

Moto-suke Kiyowara

Kiyowara No Moto-suke

Chigiriki na Katami-ni sode wo Shibori-tsutsu Sue no Matsu-Yama Nami kosaji to wa.

OUR sleeves, all wet with tears, attest That you and I agree That to each other we'll be true, Till Pine-tree Hill shall be Sunk far beneath the sea.

Moto-suke lived towards the close of the tenth century, and was the son of the writer of verse No. 36. The idea of one's sleeves being wet with tears is a common one in Japanese poetry. Matsu-yama, or Pine-tree Hill, is in Northern Japan, on the boundaries between the Provinces of Rikuchū and Nambu. In the illustration the hill with the pine tree on the top appears to be just sinking beneath the waves.