#7 Abe no Nakamaro

Abe no Nakamaro

Ama no hara
Furisake mireba
Kasuga naru
Mikasa no yama ni
Ideshi tsuki kamo


Abe no Nakamaro

When I look up at
The wide-stretched plain of heaven,
Is the moon the same
That rose on Mount Mikasa
In the land of Kasuga?


(comment)
Abe no Nakamaro went to China as a member of Imperial embassy, when he was young.
And stayed there long time.
It is told that he composed this poem just after the banquet for going back to Japan.
Nostalgia to home country is expressed in this poem. But there is no dark tone.
But unfortunetly, the ship he embarked was wrecked.
He had never returned to Japan.