Kokoro ni mo
Arade uki yo ni
Nagaraeba
Koishikarubeki
Yowa no tsuki kana.
THE RETIRED EMPEROR SANJŌ
If in this troubled world of ours
I still must linger on,
My only friend shall be the moon,
Which on my sadness shone,
When other friends were gone.
The Emperor Sanjō, who reigned A.D. 1012–1015, was the son of the Emperor Reisei; he fell into ill health, his palace was burnt down twice, and he was forced to abdicate by Michinaga Fujiwara (see verse No. 59).
