Solemn fleecy clouds
Prevail o’er far and wide,
In the glow of the setting sun –
Would tonight be a moon-lit night,
Clear and serene o’er the ocean?
(Vol.1-15)

Naka-no Oh-e, to become Emperor Tenchi later, was a great leader, having established the base for a legal system in the fledgling nation, importing Continental Chinese culture, transferring the capital from Nara to Ohmi (now Shiga Pref.) where he encouraged Japan’s culture to blossom. There are one Chohka (Long Poem) and one Tanka (Short Poem) besides this current Tanka – all 3 in a row of numbers (Vol.1-13/14/15), and the first 2 poems (Vol.1-13/14) may be alluding to a romantic rivalry between him and his younger brother, Prince Oh-ama-no Miko (to become Emperor Tenmu, later), in the love trianle on Princess Nukata. This current poem is more of a descritptive nature with a grandiose scale of image. The other two poems (Vol.1-13/14) are skipped here due to the existence of several proper nouns, thus not quite poetic, in my view.

「春日原生林より大仏殿を望む」―　Overlooking Great Buddha Hall, Nara City, with range of mountains and clouds above, from Mt. Kasuga Primeval Forest (World Heritage), shot by HM 9/2019

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