Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 6
kasasagi nowataseru hashi nioku shimo noshiroki wo mirebayo zo fukenikeru

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When I see the whitenessof the frost that lieson Magpie's Bridgethen I knownight has deepened.
Otomo no Yakamochi (718-785)

[Otomo no Yakamochi, statue in front of
Takaoka Station, Toyama Pref.]

Otomo no Yakamochi (718"-780) is famous as the compiler of the Manyoshu and the last major poet included, with the substantial number of 479 poems, making up 10% of the total Manyoshu volume as a sort of "poem diary." Yakamochi, the scion of an influential family, grew up as a fashionable young man in literary court circles and exchanged love poems with innumerable woman. At age 30 Yakamochi served as governor of Etchu (now Toyama Pref.) where he diverted himself with excursions to scenic spots and parties with other officials, catching everything in his unique poetry, known for its delicate depictions of nature. Unfortunately, after his return to the capital Nara in 751 he was so busy furthering his career and at the same time embroiled in political intrigue, that he wrote little or no poetry anymore. He is a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. As Donald Keene says in Seeds in the Heart, his poetry lacks the grandeur of Hitomaro, but his voice is distinctive. "Anticipating the Kokinshu, his poetry is often melancholy rather than tragic, exquisitely phrased rather than explosively intense." Yakamochi wrote in almost eve...