A Hundred Verses from Old Japan/Poem 18
18
FUJIWARA NO TOSHI-YUKI ASON
Sumi-no-ye no
Kishi ni yoru nami
Yoru sae ya
Yume no kayoi-ji
Hito-me yokuramu.
THE MINISTER TOSHI-YUKI FUJIWARA
To-night on Sumi-no-ye beach
The waves alone draw near;
And, as we wander by the cliffs,
No prying eyes shall peer,
No one shall dream we’re here.
Toshi-yuki, who lived A.D. 880–907, was an officer of the Imperial Guard, and a member of the great and influential Fujiwara family. This family rose into power in the reign of the Emperor Tenchi, and became almost hereditary ministers-of-state. For a long period the Emperors chose their wives from this family only, and to this day a large number of the Japanese nobility are sprung from the same stock. Sumi-no-ye, or Sumi-yoshi, is in the Province of Settsu, near Kobe.
Note the word yoru used twice; in the first instance is a verb, meaning ‘to approach’, and in the next line meaning ‘night’. The illustration shows Toshi-yuki walking on the beach, and evidently waiting for the lady to join him.