Fujiwara no Michinobu

Fujiwara no Michinobu (藤原道信, 972–994) was a Japanese waka poet of the mid-Heian period. One of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. He produced a private waka collection, the Michinobu-shū.

Fujiwara no Michinobu, from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Biography
Katsushika Hokusai, The Poem of Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason, 1839, Princeton University Art Museum, depicting the poem transcribed in the cartouche at upper right:
Though I know full well
That the night will come again,
E'en when day has dawned;
Yet, in truth, I hate the sight,
Of the morning's coming light.

Born in 972, he was a son of Tamemitsu and adopted by the latter's brother Kaneie.[1][2]

He served as commander of the guard, and although he died young he was considered a brilliant commander.[1] He died in 994.[1][2]

Poetry

Forty-eight of his poems were included in imperial anthologies, and he was listed as one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.[1][2]

The following poem by him was included as No. 52 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese text[3]Romanized Japanese[4]English translation[5]
明けぬれば
暮るるものとは
知りながら
なほうらめしき
朝ぼらけかな
Akenureba
kururu mono to wa
shiri-nagara
nao urameshiki
asaborake kana
As the sun rises
I know that when
it sets at night
I can see you again.
Yet even so, how hateful—
Parting in this cold light of dawn.

A private collection of his poems, the Michinobu-shū (道信集), survives.[1][2]

References
  1. McMillan 2010 : 141.
  2. Daijirin entry "Fujiwara no Michinobu". Sanseidō.
  3. Suzuki et al. 2009 : 67.
  4. McMillan 2010 : 165.
  5. McMillan 2010 : 54.

Bibliography
  • Keene, Donald (1999). A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 1: Seeds in the Heart — Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11441-7.
  • McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.
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