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Dhammapada · narration sample

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A Hundred Verses from Old Japan · 86 of 101

85. The Priest Shun-ye: Shun-ye Hōshi

85

The Priest Shun-ye

SHUN-YE HŌSHI

Yomosugara Mono omou koro wa Ake yarade Neya no hima sae Tsurena kari keri.

ALL through the never-ending night I lie awake and think; In vain I look to try and see The daybreak’s feeble blink Peep through the shutter’s chink.

This priest was the son of the author of verse No. 74. He describes in this poem a sleepless night, when he looks in vain to catch the first glimpse of daybreak through the joints of the sliding screens, that form the walls of a Japanese house. But in the picture, as will be noticed, one of the sliding screens is removed, in order to show the priest within.