Uma no Naishi (馬内侍, 949–1011) was a Japanese waka poet and noble from the middle Heian period. She is enumerated as one of the Thirty-Six Female Immortals of Poetry alongside famous authors, poets, and contemporaries Sei Shōnagon and Murasaki Shikibu.
Naishi, as a contemporary and follower of Shōnagon,[1] was a lady of the same court in Heian period Japan, and bettered her knowledge of waka poetry through her connection to Shōnagon, who was famously known for her waka poetry as well as her novel of courtly observations, The Pillow Book (枕草子, makura no sōshi). Shōnagon was a notorious rival of fellow Immortal of Poetry, Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji.
Her poems are included in the Japanese imperial poetry anthology Shūi Wakashū. She also has a personal collection entitled Uma no Naishi-shū (馬内侍集).
At some point in her life, she had a love affair with Major Captain of the Left Asamitsu, writing a poem for him. Of the waka poems she wrote, only three have survived into modernity. Near the end of her life, Naishi took Buddhist vows and withdrew to a temple to serve as a monk.
Writing
|
Why is that
All unnoticed grows A floating water shield? How pained is a heart That no one knows at all... |
|---|
| utsuroFu Fa
sitaba bakari to misi Fodo ni yagate mo aki ni narinikeru kana |
Change has touched
The under-leaves alone – When I saw that At last, our autumn Had arrived! |
|---|
|
Puissant
Kamo Shrine's Deity, hear me! If my love forsakes me not, Then never will I forsake him! |
|---|
This poem was written in response to a confession of love by Asamitsu, Major Captain of the Left.[4]
References
External links
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
