4. Akahito Yamabe: Yamabe no Akahito
4
AKAHITO YAMABE
YAMABE NO AKAHITO
Tago no ura ni
Uchi-idete mireba
Shirotae no
Fuji no takane ni
Yuki wa furi-tsutsu.
Uchi-idete mireba
Shirotae no
Fuji no takane ni
Yuki wa furi-tsutsu.
I STARTED off along the shore,
The sea shore at Tago,
And saw the white and glist’ning peak
Of Fuji all aglow
Through falling flakes of snow.
Akahito Yamabe lived about A.D. 700, and was one of the greatest of the early poets; he was contemporary with Kaki-no-Moto, the writer of the previous verse, and like him was deified as a God of Poetry. Tago is a seaside place in the Province of Izu, famous for its beautiful view of Mount Fuji.