A Heian prince and poet, eldest son of Emperor Yōzei, who served as Minister of War and of Ceremonial. He was famous as a man of elegance and many love affairs, and anecdotes about him survive in several collections of tales. Some twenty of his poems appear in imperial anthologies from the Gosenshū onward. His Hyakunin Isshu poem, vowing to meet his lover even at the cost of his life, was sent after his secret affair with a consort of the retired Emperor Uda had been discovered.
わびぬれば 今はた同じ 難波なる
身をつくしても 逢はむとぞ思ふ
Now that I am sunk in misery, nothing matters anymore. Like the channel markers of Naniwa, I would give up my very body to see you.
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