was a Japanese waka poet of the late-Heian period. One of her poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, and thirty-five in imperial collections. She also produced a private waka collection, the Suō no Naishi-shū.
Biography The daughter of , the governor of Suō Province, her date of birth is unknown.McMillan 2010 : 144 (note 67).Digital Daijisen entry "Suō no Naishi". Shogakukan.Daijirin entry "Fujiwara no Atsuyori". Sanseidō. Her given name was .
She served as in the courts of four emperors, Go-Reizei, Go-Sanjō, Shirakawa and Horikawa.
In 1108, she took ordination as a Buddhist nun due to illness.
The date of her death is unknown, but she probably died around 1110.
Poetry Thirty-five of her poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Goshūi Wakashū on.
The following poem by her was included as No. 67 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: Japanese textSuzuki et al. 2009 : 86.Romanized JapaneseMcMillan 2010 : 168.English translationMcMillan 2010 : 69.春の夜の 夢ばかりなる 手枕に かひなく立たむ 名こそ惜しけれHaru no yo no yume bakari naru ta-makura ni kai naku tatan na koso oshikereI would be sorry to lose my good name for laying my head upon your arm offered as a pillow for a moment fleeting as a spring night's dream.
She left a private collection, the .
In other media Famous woodblock print artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi produced a woodblock print illustrating one of her poems in the early 1840s.
References
Bibliography McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press. Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.
External links List of Suō no Naishi's poems in the International Research Center for Japanese Studies's online waka database. Suō no Naishi on Kotobank.