Ono no Komachi

Like Ariwara no Narihira, the legends have eclipsed the historical Ono no Komachi. Her poetry dates from the period 833-857, and she seems to have engaged in poetic exchanges with contemporaries such as Fun'ya no Yasuhide, Archbishop Henjô and Ôshikôchi no Mitsune. The poetry itself is evidence of a passionate nature, and fed tales of her as a great beauty of her age. According to legend, she ended her days in penury, but the true facts will never be known.

Komachi is, perhaps, the earliest and best example of a passionate woman poet in the Japanese canon, outshining her contemporary Ise, and starting a tradition continued by Izumi Shikibu in a later age and Yosano Akiko in the modern one. She is also, perhaps, the most skilled user of kakekotoba of her time, and the writer of some of the most intense and accessible poetry in the canon.

In the Japan 2001 Waka, the following poems are by Komachi:

KKS II: 113 KKS XII: 552 KKS XII: 553 KKS XII: 554 KKS XII: 557 KKS XIII: 623 KKS XIII: 656 KKS XIII: 657 KKS XIII: 658 KKS XIV: 727

KKS XV: 782 KKS XV: 797 KKS XV: 822 KKS XVIII: 938 KKS XVIII: 939 KKS XIX: 1030 KKS XX: 1104 GSS XI: 779 GSS XV: 1090 GSS XVII: 1195

GSS XIX: 1360