A Hundred Verses from Old Japan · 75 of 101

74. The Minister Toshi-yori Minamoto: Minamoto no Toshi-yori Ason

74

The Minister Toshi-yori Minamoto

Minamoto No Toshi-yori Ason

Ukari keru Hito wo Hatsuse no Yama-oroshi Hageshikare to wa Inoranu mono wo.

OH! Kwannon, Patron of this hill, The maid, for whom I pine, Is obstinate and wayward, like The gusts around thy shrine. What of those prayers of mine?

Toshi-yori is supposed to have been the son of the writer of verse No. 71; he probably lived early in the twelfth century. Hatsuse is a mountain village near Nara, in the Province of Yamato; the temple there is dedicated to Kwannon, Goddess of Mercy, 'who looketh for ever down above the sound of prayer.'