Arakida Moritake

Arakida Moritake (荒木田守武; 1473 – August 30, 1549) was a Japanese poet who excelled in the fields of waka, renga, and in particular haikai. He studied renga with Sōgi.¹ He was the son of Negi Morihide, and a Shintoist. At the age of 69, he became head priest of the Inner Ise Shrine.

Moritake's most famous poem:

A fallen blossom

returning to the bough, I thought --

But no, a butterfly.

(Translation by Steven D. Carter)²

Notes

Carter, Steven D. Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology. Stanford University Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0804722124 p338
Carter, 1991. p340

External links

Works by or about Arakida Moritake at Wikisource
A history of Japanese literature

[1] Carter, Steven D. Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology. Stanford University Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0804722124 p338

[2] Carter, 1991. p340

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