心にも

あらで浮世に

ながらへば

恋しかるべき

夜半の月かな

さんじょういん

こころにも

あらでうきよに

ながらえば

こいしかるべき

よわのつきかな

Emperor Sanjo

I deeply feel that if

In this floating world

I do remain,

It is then to yearn

For the midnight moon.

Hokusai

Sanjo In (976 - 1017), or simply emperor Sanjo, reigned from 1011 to 1016. Before his ascension to the throne his personal name was Iyasada-shinno. He was also known as Sukesada-shinno and as Okisada-shinno. Only eight poems are known by him.

In A Tale of Flowering Fortunes (translation McCullough) we read:

“Emperor Sanjo’s illness persisted. Because of some frightening supernatural revelations, much of his time had to be devoted to ritual seclusion. Kenshi was also in indifferent health. She seemed terrified of the evil spirits that hovered near her husband, and her unhappiness caused Michinaga and Rinshi endless grief and concern.

Meanwhile, the end of the year approached. Most people were busy and excited, but for Emperor Sanjo, plagued by constant suffering, it was a time of painful indecision. What should he do? On a brilliant moonlit night not long after the Tenth of the Twelfth Month, he composed a poem in the Imperial Apartment for Empress Kenshi...

On the Nineteenth of the First Month in the fifth year of Chowa [1016], Emperor Sanjo relinquished the throne.”

It is thought that Sanjo was becoming blind, which would give poignancy to this poem. Hokusai depicts a temple ceremony which could be related to Tsukuyomi no Mikoto, the god of darkness and the moon; all those present seem sad and subdued. The priest is holding a gohei for prayer.

Gohei