Suo no Naishi (周防内侍)
Suo no Naishi (c. 1037-1109) was a female waka (a traditional Japanese poem of thirty-one syllables) poet during the late Heian Period. Her father was the Suo no Kami (the Governor of Suo Province), TAIRA no Munenaka. Her mother was MINAMOTO no Masamoto. Suo no Naishi's real name was TAIRA no Chushi.
She served through four dynasties under Emperor Goreizei, Emperor Gosanjo, Emperor Shirakawa, and Emperor Horikawa. After that, she is considered to have become a Buddhist nun due to her illness, and appears to have died by 1111.
She often participated in poetry contests such as 'The Koyo-in Poetry Contest' and 'The Chugu Gon no Daibu Yorizane Poetry Contest.'
Suo no Naishi also left Zotoka (poetry exchanged between a man and a woman) which she exchanged between court nobles and tenjobito (high-ranking courtiers allowed into the Imperial Palace). 35 of her poems were selected for "The Goshui Wakashu" (Later Collection of Gleanings of Japanese Poetry) and other Chokusen wakashu (anthology of Japanese poetry compiled by Imperial command). She has her own Kashu (collection of poems), "Suo no Naishi Anthology". She is assumed to have been the author of the sequel to "The Eiga Monogatari" (A Tale of Flowering Fortunes).
Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (the Ogura Anthology of One Hundred Tanka-poems by One Hundred Poets)
No. 67: On a spring night, I laid my head on his arm, although it's just a one night dream, it's shame to hear, people whispering behind their fans (also No. 961 in the 'Miscellaneous' volume of 'The Senzai Wakashu' (The Collection of Japanese Poems of a Thousand Years).