No. 11 An Exile's Farewell
9th century. Sangi is a title: “Privy Councillor.” Also a scholar, Takamura, through some perceived disrespect to the Emperor, was banished to the Oki islands. They are now a geo-park. The poem was meant as a farewell to his friends, though no one was there to see him off.
An Exile’s Farewell
O’er the wide, wide sea,
Towards its many distant isles,
Rowing I set forth.
This, to all the world proclaim,
O ye boats of fisher-folk!
Sangi Takamura (Ono no Takamura)
Wada-no-hara
Yasoshima kakete
Kogi-idenu to
Hito ni wa tsuge-yo
Ama no tsuri-bune.
About this poetry
At Salty Dog Digital we’ve decided to gradually republish Clay MacCauley’s translation of Single Songs of a Hundred Poets – a collection of japanese poetry from the seventh through thirteenth centuries. Sixty four of these poems are the rewards in our game fourtex zen.
No. 12 Angels on Earth
No.10 At The Ōsaka Barrier