Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Japanese poet
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (Japanese: 柿本人麻呂 or 柿本人麿, c. 653–655 – c. 707–710) was a Japanese waka poet and aristocrat of the late Asuka period. He was the most prominent of the poets included in the Man'yōshū. He is ranked as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. From the Heian period on, he was often called Hito-maru (人丸).

For my girl
From the top of the plum tree
The lower branches
Drenched me with dew.

In our room
By our bed
Gazing at your pillow.

Have hidden the paths
On the autumn mountain.
How can I find my girl,
Wandering on ways I do not know?
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QuotesEdit
Kenneth Rexroth's translationsEdit
One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (1955)Edit
One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (New Directions Publishing, 1955), ISBN 978-0811201810
- Sasa no ha wa
Miyama mo saya ni
Sayagedomo
Ware wa imo omo
Wakare kinureba- In the empty mountains
The leaves of the bamboo grass
Rustle in the wind.
I think of a girl
Who is not here. - XVII, p. 19
- In the empty mountains
- Hito goto wa
Natsu no no kusa to
Shigeku to mo
Imo to ware to shi
Tazusawarineba- Gossip grows like weeds
In a summer meadow.
My girl and I
Sleep arm in arm. - XIX, p. 21
- Gossip grows like weeds
- Asa ne gami
Ware wa kezuraji
Utsukushiki
Kimi ga ta makura
Fureteshi mono wo- This morning I will not
Comb my hair.
It has lain
Pillowed on the hand of my lover. - XX, p. 22
- This morning I will not
- Kurokami no
Shira kami made to
Musubiteshi
Kokoro hitotsu wo
Ima takame ya mo- Your hair has turned white
While your heart stayed
Knotted against me.
I shall never
Loosen it now. - XXI, p. 23
- Your hair has turned white
- Aki yama no
Momiji wo shigemi
Mado inuru
Imo wo motomenu
Yama ji shirazu mo- The colored leaves
Have hidden the paths
On the autumn mountain.
How can I find my girl,
Wandering on ways I do not know? - XXIII, p. 25
- The colored leaves
- Ie ni kite
Waga ya wo mireba
Tama doko no
Hoka ni mukikeri
Imo ga ko makura- I sit at home
In our room
By our bed
Gazing at your pillow. - XXV, p. 27
- I sit at home
One Hundred More Poems from the Japanese (1976)Edit
One Hundred More Poems from the Japanese, trans. Kenneth Rexroth (New Directions Publishing, 1976), ISBN 978-0811206198
- Ito ga tame
Hozu e no ume wo
Ta oru to wa
Shizu e no tsuyu ni
Nurenikeru kamo- When I gathered flowers
For my girl
From the top of the plum tree
The lower branches
Drenched me with dew. - XXII, p. 24
- When I gathered flowers
External linksEdit
- Encyclopedic article on Kakinomoto no Hitomaro on Wikipedia
- Kakinomoto no Asomi Hitomaro Poems at Poem Hunter