浅茅生の

小野の篠原

忍ぶれど

あまりてなどか

人の恋しき

さんぎひとし

あさじうの

をののしのはら

しのぶれど

あまりてなどか

ひとのこいしき

Minamoto no Hitoshi

The sparse grass growing

In the field of dwarf bamboo

Can easier hide itself

Than the why so overwhelming

Love I still feel for her. 

Hokusai

Sangi Hitoshi (880 - 951), also called Minamoto no Hitoshi, held many official posts, one that of sangi, court counsellor. There is not much known about his poetry.

作者略伝と語釈

On the woodcut the poet is walking along a moor with dwarf bamboo, unable to hide from people’s eyes. The farmers have been cutting grass or bamboo. The alliteration in shinohara (moor with dwarf bamboo) and shinobu (to conceal, love secretly) is relevant here.

Dwarf bamboo