Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/72

68 {| Waka-murasaki no Surigoromo Shinobu no midare Kagiri shirerezu Of Kasuga, you dye my cloak; And wildly like them grows This passion in my heart, Abundantly, without end.
 * Kasugano no
 * Young maiden-flowers
 * }

The maidens must have thought this eminently suited to the occasion, for it was composed in the same mood as the well-known

This is the kind of facile elegance in which the men of old excelled.



In former times there was a girl who, beloved of the Emperor Seiwa, served him in the court, and was allowed even to wear the Imperial purple. She was cousin to the Empress Dowager. Narihira was a very young man at this time. He too was serving in direct attendance upon the Emperor, and he fell in love and became intimate with this girl.

Now Narihira was allowed free access to the palace where the ladies of the court dwelt, and he would visit the chamber of this girl and sit directly beside her. But she entreated him, “If you come to see me thus, His Majesty will hear of it, and we shall perish. Please do not come this way again.”

Narihira answered her: