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A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (The Hyakunin-isshu), tr. by William N. Porter, [1909], at sacred-texts.com


p. 47

47

THE PRIEST YE-KEI

YE-KEI HŌSHI

  Yaemugura
Shigereru yado no
  Sabishiki ni
Hito koso miene
Aki wa ki ni keri.

MY little temple stands alone,
  No other hut is near;
No one will pass to stop and praise
  Its vine-grown roof, I fear,
  Now that the autumn's here.

The Priest Ye-kei lived about the end of the tenth century, but nothing is known about him. In the picture he is shown outside his humble little temple with its patched roof and the vine growing up the wall.


Next: 48. Shige-yuki Minamoto: Minamoto no Shige-yuki