明けぬれば

暮るるものとは

知りながら

なほ恨めしき

朝ぼらけかな

ふじわらのみちのぶあそん

あけぬれば

くるるものとは

しりながら

なおうらめしき

あさぼらけかな

Fujiwara no Michinobu

When the day has broken

The night will come again,

That is what I know for sure.

But I really hate

Those chilly dawns.

Hokusai

Fujiwara no Michinobu (972 - 994) or Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason, was born to Daijo Daijin Tamemitsu, but adopted by Fujiwara no Kane’ie. He was the husband of Michitsuna no Haha (poem 53). He passed away at the young age of 23, but was named one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. There are forty-eight poems of his in the Shuishu and other anthologies.

作者略伝と語釈

Some see this as a love poem. The headnote to this poem reads: “Sent to a woman after returning from her chambers on a snowy day.”  This poem could also refer to a husband and wife, as we know that young married couples at that time lived apart and only met at night. Ake nureba could mean ‘love scene at dawn’.

Hokusai does not show us a winter scene, but the early hours of the day when lanterns are still needed. Carriers hasten on with their load of people - hidden to us - returning from a night in the city.