87. The Priest Jaku-ren: Jaku-ren Hōshi
87
THE PRIEST JAKU-REN
JAKU-REN HŌSHI
Murasame no
Tsuyu mo mada hinu
Maki no ha ni
Kiri tachi-noboru
Aki no yūgure.
Tsuyu mo mada hinu
Maki no ha ni
Kiri tachi-noboru
Aki no yūgure.
THE rain, which fell from passing showers,
Like drops of dew, still lies
Upon the fir-tree needles, and
The mists of evening rise
Up to the autumn skies.
This verse is a good example of a picture verse, intended to call up the scene to one's imagination. Jaku-ren was another of the great Fujiwara clan, and lived about the end of the twelfth century.
Murasame means 'rain falling in showers, here and there', and the illustration plainly shows it raining on one side of the house only.