#japanese poetry

[feral-ballad]

Yosano Akiko, tr. by Sam Hamill & Keiko Matsui Gibson, from River of Stars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko

[Text ID: “Picking wild roses, / some to weave into my hair / and some for the hand, / I then waited for hours, / I waited for you all day.”]

[ariadnethedragon]

The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu

[contremineur]

When I look at her asleep in the dawn, the body of my lover shines like the lilies in the fields of May.

anonymous Japanese poet

transcribed (and possibly adapted) from a book of early Japanese poetry in the shadowy stacks of Cambridge University Library thirty years ago – any thoughts on a more detailed source would be much appreciated

[fairydrowning]

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" Japanese novelist "Natsume Soseki" wrote this phrase "the moon is beautiful" to express the love and that's equivalent to "I Love You" in Japanese.

[tsumakoushika]

強さで繋がっているより

弱さで繋がっていたい

長く細く脆く

一見、すぐに切れてしまいそうな

色のついた糸で

[nemfrog]

Ogura hyakunin isshu (One hundred poets, one hundred poems). 1680.

"This illustrated book of Ogura hyakunin isshu (One hundred poets, one hundred poems) is a collection of one hundred 31-syllable classical Japanese poems (waka), each by a different poet. The collection is organized chronologically from Emperor Tenji (626-671) to Emperor Juntoku (1197-1242). Each of the poets is depicted by a woodblock print created by Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-circa 1694). Morobonu is often considered the first Ukiyo-e artist." Library of Congress

LOC

[noosphe-re]

Not knowing the name of the tree, I stood in the flood of its sweet scent.

Matsuo Bashō

[anza-langblr]

冬は海辺で色とりどりの貝殻を拾い、夏は静かに舞い落ちる雪を眺めたいものだ。 In winter, I want to gather colorful seashells on the beach, and in summer, I want to gaze at snow falling softly down to the ground.

[lionofchaeronea]

This thing called universal gravitation / Is the power of loneliness pulling together. --Shuntarō Tanikawa (b. 1931)

[haikuandmore]

The distant village  lost in evening mist  when I make my way  home to my lodge  where cedars stand  Ngôi làng ở nơi xa sương chiều hôm khuất mất khi tôi trở về nhà nơi có những cây tuyết tùng - Ryōkan Taigu

English Translation: Burton Watson Dịch Việt: Bạt Xứ Art: Yokoyama Taikan

[cntarella]

Death is closer than you think. Trace my throat with your fingertip. I am not faking a fever. Sweat collects between my clavicles. I cannot fathom dying before your embrace. So, please—.

09/09 : Nine Japanese Female Poets / Nine Heian Waka by Naoko Fujimoto

[feral-ballad]

Yosano Akiko, tr. by Sam Hamill & Keiko Matsui Gibson, from River of Stars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko

[Text ID: “I want, suddenly, to suck / your feverish lips with mine.”]

[ariadnethedragon]

The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu

[the-cricket-chirps]

Ogata Korin

36 poets

Edo period

[collectingforgottenpoetry]

You must fully understand the beauty of life, if you want to see the beauty of death; and life will be more beautiful from the reason of contrast with death. And death, again from the contrast with life, will be more tender in pathos, more subtle in rhythm.

Excerpt from Epilogue, by Yoné Noguchi. As featured in Japanese Hokkus, 1920 edition.

[tsumakoushika]

美しい夕暮れに妻と散歩した。茜に染まる西の空、月、白粉花の香り、風、水の流れ、鳥たちの囀り、全てが調和して、遥かなる影を大地に刻み、輝いていた。妻の話を聴きながら、歩みに合わせる。恋う気持ちが愛になり、祈りになり、空へ届き、光になる。宙の底でぼんやり光り、やがていつか消える時が来ても、想いは繋がり、何処かで誰かの足元を照らす灯りになる。