A Hundred Verses from Old Japan/Poem 52
52
FUJIWARA NO MICHI-NOBU ASON
Akenureba
Kururu mono to wa
Shiri nagara
Nao urameshiki
Asaborake kana.
THE MINISTER MICHI-NOBU FUJIWARA
Although I know the gentle night
Will surely follow morn,
Yet, when I’m wakened by the sun,
Turn over, stretch and yawn—
How I detest the dawn!
Michi-nobu lived in the tenth century. He is shown in the illustration with his wife on the verandah, watching the day break.