japanese poet early period named poetic thirty poetic poems included collection known poems attributed court dubious poems exceptionally ambiguous 10th century treated relatively long renowned love affairs exerted profound influence later japanese culture legends held affairs high poet fathered emperor love affairs inspired tales model handsome nobleman biography birth ancestry born grandson emperors emperor father prince emperor mother fifth child prince supposedly child lived capital poems mother banished old capital modern modern involvement failed coup état known incident born father exile return brothers given surname scholar brother political career remembered mainly poetry high birth served court appointed lieutenant promoted lieutenant chamberlain held junior fifth rank lower grade rose positions provisional assistant master provisional minor captain captain provisional governor reaching junior fourth rank end life risen literary historian critic observed description protagonist tales combined qualities admired high birth grandson emperor extremely handsome gifted poet conquering lover probably expert adept arms competent official aspects life emphasized tales distinguish heroes literature including romantic affairs known great lover poems included describe romantic affairs death national history compiled said elegant handsome appearance self tales portrays falling love consort emperor hinted reasons leaving capital travelling east speculated romantic affair consort emperor reason describes rank going senior sixth rank rising following year speculated error result binding changing order events furthermore affair monk formed core fictional legend affair affair historical family commentary tales speculates emperor product union previous emperor famous affairs gave tales said high describes protagonist presumed visiting hunt sleeping passage describes meeting manner implies sleep woman service 12th century work 13th century work claim product union later adopted stated evidence affair romantic myth poems connects daughter medieval commentaries wife modern scholars wife early source explicitly names note classical play adaptation tales portrays daughter childhood eventually marry wife spirit appears monk deaths speculated based considered beautiful man woman age poet lovers little evidence scholars 20th century held speculation traced far 14th century historian likely period commentaries extant speculates poems left turn likely worked common belief fictional genuine historical work detailing actual events life period commentaries tales tried insert names real women original text simply said woman inserted passages text literary scholar concluded lack surviving evidence possible knew lovers usable evidence way journey east describe leaving travel east region crossing composing poems famous places way tales implies journey result affair doubts journey actually took place point view number surviving poems small having trip composing poems way terms historical likelihood gone wandering end country friends keeping company death according died july 28th day fifth month japanese calendar poem expresses shock regret death come soon burial site location grave uncertain middle ages considered deity avatar possible called graves fact sacred sites consecrated places actually believed buried professor scholar speculated small stone grove eastern known burial mound site speculated site associated near grave site emperor middle ages widely believed secretly fathered site traditionally believed house grave western known temple descendants children poets daughter grandfather poet known married engaged clandestine affair names known nicknames sino japanese reading character surname meaning refers brothers middle captain reference post held near end life provisional middle captain recurring use phrase tales known poetry left private collection included likely compiled later editor compilation century thirty poems attributed included early 10th century later dubious mentioned preface poetic important poets earlier age included later thirty poetic poems attributed example actually later court attribute poems likely misunderstood written appearance tales probably composed death combined poems attributed court total following poem included characteristic style poems attributed imperial dubious large body work contained relatively reliable scholars discuss poetic style use related words pivot words following poem number cited example use related water water brooding pun long rain river tears soaked poems exceptionally ambiguous standards treated anthology relatively long poet collection receive treatment example characteristic ambiguity cites scholars subjected poem famous conflicting interpretations recent centuries period scholar interpreted pair questions marked particle explained away logical poem reading introduced reading implied conclusion poet remains feels different late period poet took different view interpreting moon spring poet remains unchanged similar problem interpretation plagued poem quoted fourth line normally read thought yesterday today occasionally interpreted scholars mean yesterday thought today simply meaning right emotion poem nonetheless clear died fifties knew die someday nonetheless shocked time come soon reception preface describes poems containing feeling insufficient words like faded flowers colour lost retain lingering repeats chinese preface according literary scholars negative criticism seen complimentary likely refers emotional nature poetry insufficient suggest poems misleading explanatory indicates approached art unconventional manner poetry succeeds pointed criticism likely reflected change literary tastes decades compositions criticisms history japanese literature seeds heart concluded discussion following profound poet surviving poems mainly occasional expression suggests deeply felt emotion manner keeps poetry attaining best man poems vein historical importance maintained traditions long night dominance poetry chinese poet translator says large number poems included later court indicator high regard poetry held connection tales tales collection narrative episodes centred presenting poems composed narratives explaining inspired poems widely considered author work scholars come reject speculates possible originally composed work poems kind inventive autobiography later author came manuscript death expanded protagonist work likely modelled work likely resembling present form middle 10th century took decades starting death stages identified composition work stages based primarily poems actually composed background details provided necessarily historical second saw poems added layer necessarily higher proportion fiction fact final stage saw later author adding use treating legendary figure past late 11th century tale refers variant diary influence later japanese culture later centuries considered romantic given rise later legends contemporary considered beautiful man woman court appear later literary works particularly theatre believed men inspired created protagonist tale makes allusion tales draws parallels respective protagonists directly stated text later commentators interpreted tales implying illicit union empress true father emperor interpreted work way uncertain tale describes similar incident protagonist imperial prince affair empress son ultimately emperor true kept secret appears tales book late period contemporary protagonist tale figured prominently period prints alluded 16th century warrior world tales ironic reference poem composed severed head defeated enemy lord killed march gallery image gallery
Ariwara no Narihira