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A Hundred Verses from Old Japan · 57 of 101

56. Izumi Shikibu

56

Izumi Shikibu

Arazaramu Kono yo no hoka no Omoide ni Ima hito tabi no Au koto mo gana.

MY life is drawing to a close, I cannot longer stay, A pleasant memory of thee I fain would take away; So visit me, I pray.

This lady was the daughter of Masamine Ōye, and the wife of Michisada Tachibana, Governor of the Province of Izumi, hence her name; and also was the mother of the author of verse No. 60. She lived about the latter end of the tenth century, and was one of the lady poets who gave distinction to that period. The verse was addressed to her husband or lover just before her death, and in the illustration we see her on her deathbed, with two servants in the foreground.