55. The First Adviser of State Kintō: Dai-Nagon Kintō

Taki no oto wa Taete hisashiku Narinuredo Na koso nagarete Nao kikoe kere. THIS waterfall's melodious voice Was famed both far and near; Although it long has ceased to flow, Yet still with memory's ear Its gentle splash I hear. This poet was the father of the writer of verse No. 64, and was a member of the Fujiwara family at the zenith of their power; he was a great statesman and scholar, and died in the year 1041. The verse was written in praise of a waterfall that had been made by the orders of the Emperor Saga early in the ninth century, but which had by this time ceased to exist; and the illustration well shows the watercourse now run dry.