When he was passing through the fields, having gone down to Michinoku, he saw an impressive tomb and asked whose it was; he was told it was the tomb of ‘the Captain’. On asking which Captain, he was told they meant Sanekata; it was winter, and he absently noted the miscanthus grass all around was withered by the frost and, feeling that there was nothing [there] that suited the time…
くちもせぬその名ばかりをとゞめをきてかれ野のすゝきかたみとぞみる
| kuchi mo senu sono na bakari o todomeokite kareno no sususki katami to zo miru |
Imperishable His name alone Remains left here; The frost-burned field of miscanthus Will be my keepsake. |
The Monk Saigyō
西行