The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse by Bownas, Geoffrey -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover About the Author Title Page Copyright Page Contents Introduction by Anthony Thwaite Japanese Poetry and Japan’s Poets by Geoffrey Bownas Further Reading The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse

Primitive Poetry and the Nara Period (to AD 794)

EMPEROR ŌJIN (reigned 270–312)

Song of proposal (from Kojiki) ‘Come, then, my men’ (from Kojiki)

PRINCE KINASHI NO KARU (fifth century)

‘We built mountain paddies’ (from Kojiki) ‘The Palace of Hishiro at Makimuku’ (from Kojiki)

EMPRESS IWA NO HIME (d. 347)

Longing for the Emperor

EMPEROR YŪRYAKU (418–79)

‘With her basket, her basket’

EMPEROR JOMEI (593–641)

Climbing Mount Kagu

PRINCE ARIMA (640–58)

On preparing for a journey

PRINCESS NUKADA (seventh century)

Poem written on the occasion of Emperor Tenji’s ordering Fujiwara Kamatari to judge between the claims of spring and autumn Tanka

PRINCESS KAGAMI (seventh century)

In reply to a poem by her younger sister, Princess Nukada

EMPRESS SAIMEI (594–661)

‘From the age of the gods’

A COURT LADY (late seventh century)

On the death of Emperor Tenji

PRINCE ŌTSU (663–87)

Poem exchanged with Lady Ishikawa

LADY ISHIKAWA (late seventh–early eighth centuries)

Poem exchanged with Prince Ōtsu

PRINCESS ŌKU (661–701)

On Prince Ōtsu’s return to Yamato after a secret visit to Ise Shrine

EMPRESS JITŌ (?645–702)

On the old lady Shii

OLD LADY SHII (late seventh century)

Replying to a poem by Empress Jitō

WORKMAN

The construction of the Palace of Fujiwara

PRINCESS NIU (late seventh century)

On the death of Prince Iwata

KOKASHŪ

‘Through the chinks’

ANONYMOUS POEMS from Manyōshū.

‘My tangled hair’ ‘To meet my love’ ‘In the Lake of Ōmi’ The stairway up to heaven

POEMS OF RIDICULE AND DERISION

‘Like the few ears salvaged’ ‘If my recent love-labours’

BEGGAR SONGS

The sorrows of the deer The woes of the crab

AZUMA UTA

From Shinano From Kamitsuke Third and fourth poems: source unknown

POEMS FROM NOTO

‘In a muddy creek’ ‘From Table Isle’

KAKINOMOTO HITOMARO

In praise of Empress Jitō ‘I loved her like the leaves’ Hunt at Lake Kariji On leaving his wife

YOSAMI (late seventh, early eighth centuries)

At the death of her husband

HITOMARO KASHŪ

Tanka

PRINCE HOZUMI (d. 715)

‘Left at home’

TAJIHI (mid Nara period)

Lamenting his wife’s death

ŌTOMO TABITO (665–731)

In praise of sake: thirteen tanka Returning to his old home

YAMANOUE OKURA (660?–733)

Poems of the fisherfolk of Shika in Chikuzen Pining for his son Furuhi Dialogue on poverty The impermanence of human life

KASA KANAMURA (early eighth century)

On the occasion of the sovereign’s visit to Yoshino Palace in summer, fifth month, 725

YAMABE AKAHITO (d. 736?)

Climbing to Kasuga Moor

TAKAHASHI MUSHIMARO (early eighth century)

For Fujiwara Umakai on his departure in 732 as Inspector of the Western Sea Highway The maiden of Mama in Katsushika Urashima of Mizunoe When Lord Ōtomo, the Revenue Officer, climbed Mount Tsukuba

KAMO TARUHITO (early eighth century)

Mount Kagu

THE EMBASSY TO SHIRAGI (736–7)

Six tanka exchanged between one who sailed and his wife On the journey (two tanka) On the journey (chōka) On reaching Buzen (tanka) Looking at the moon (tanka) Tanka by Mibu Utamaro, an official of the Embassy On the sudden death of Yuki Yakamaro at Iki Island (chōka, anon.)

POEMS BY FRONTIER GUARDS AND THEIR FAMILIES (mid eighth century)

Seven tanka by frontier guards Tanka by the father of a guard Two tanka by wives of guards To her guard husband by his wife, and the husband’s reply By a guard

PRINCESS HIROKAWA (mid eighth century)

‘The grass of love would load’

LADY HEGURI (mid–late eighth century)

‘A thousand years, you said’

LADY KASA (mid–late eighth century)

Six tanka written for Yakamochi

LADY KI (eighth century)

For Yakamochi Yakamochi’s reply

LADY ŌTOMO OF SAKANOUE (eighth century)

Sent from the capital to her elder daughter Heartburn

ŌTOMO YAKAMOCHI (?716–85)

Presented to Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue’s elder daughter Expressing his delight on dreaming of his stray hawk Making fun of a thin man Parting sorrows of a frontier guard Heian Period (794 – 1185)

ONO TAKAMURA (802–52)

‘Masked by the snowflakes’

ARIWARA NARIHIRA (825–80)

Eight extracts from Ise Monogatari

BISHOP HENJŌ (816–90)

‘Blow wind of heaven’ ‘The lotus, its flowers’ ‘In fondness for your name alone’ ‘When flowers fall’

ARIWARA YUKIHIRA (815–93)

‘I must depart now’ ‘The robe of mist’

ŌSHIKŌCHI MITSUNE (late ninth century)

‘I must seek as I pick’ ‘The end of my journey’ ‘The blowing wind’ ‘At the great sky’

SUGAWARA MICHIZANE (845–903)

‘When the east wind blows’

ANONYMOUS POEMS from Kokinshū (c. 905)

‘Grass of Kasuga Moor’ ‘I smell the scent’ ‘When the moonlight’ ‘It grows dark, it seems’ ‘May our friend endure’ ‘If I had known’ ‘In this world is there’ ‘To plant plum-flowers’ ‘Whether you might come’ ‘Beating their wings’ ‘When a thousand birds’ ‘In the spring haze’ ‘Dimly in the dawn mist’

MIBU TADAMINE (early tenth century)

‘Since that parting’ ‘When the wind blows’

MINAMOTO MUNEYUKI (d. 939)

‘In my mountain hamlet’

KI TSURAYUKI (868–946)

‘Now, I cannot tell’ ‘When I went to visit’ ‘We drink with palms cupped’ ‘Summer night’ ‘I crossed the spring mountains’ ‘As if it were a relic’

LADY ISE (mid tenth century)

‘Forsaking the mists’

TAIRA KANEMORI (mid tenth century)

‘I would conceal it, yet’

ONO KOMACHI (mid tenth century)

‘The lustre of the flowers’ ‘Was it that I went to sleep’ ‘How helpless my heart!’ ‘When my love becomes’

BUNYA YASUHIDE (mid tenth century)

‘The grasses and trees’

ŌNAKATOMI YOSHINOBU (921–91)

‘The fires lit by the guards’ ‘On Evergreen Hill’

MINAMOTO SHIGEYUKI (d. 1000)

‘Making no sound’

SONE YOSHITADA (late tenth century)

‘Like a boatman’

PRIEST NŌIN (?988–1050)

‘I left the capital’

MINAMOTO TOSHIYORI (1057–1129)

‘The wind howling through the pines’

FUJIWARA MOTOTOSHI (1056–1142)

‘At the end of autumn’

EMPEROR SUTOKU (1119–64)

‘The swift rapids’ ‘The blossom to the roots’

KAGURA

‘On the leaves of the bamboo-grass’ ‘Silver clasp’

AZUMA ASOBI UTA

Suruga Dance

RYŌJIN HISHŌ (?1179)

‘May the man who gained my trust yet did not come’ ‘Even the moon’ ‘Dance, dance, little snail!’ ‘A hundred days, a hundred nights’ ‘The brocade sedge-hat you loved’ ‘The young man come to manhood’ ‘Oh, my man is so unfeeling!’ ‘My child is still not twenty’

HEIKE MONOGATARI

Moon-viewing ‘Presently they heard the toll’

IMAYŌ

‘The Buddha himself’ ‘Rather than the vows’ ‘We come and we see’ (in Moon-viewing, see Heike Monogatari, p. 86) Kamakura and Muromachi Periods (1185 – 1603)

TAIRA TADANORI (1144–84)

‘The capital at Shiga’ ‘Overtaken by the dark’

PRIEST SHUNE

‘With the spring, now’

PRIEST SAIGYŌ (1118–90)

‘Trailing on the wind’ ‘At the roadside’ ‘A man who has grown distant’ ‘A man without feelings’ ‘Is it a shower of rain?’ ‘I cannot accept’ ‘On Mount Yoshino’ ‘The winds of spring’ ‘The cry of the crickets’ ‘Every single thing’

FUJIWARA SANESADA (1139–91)

‘The cuckoo called’

PRINCESS SHIKISHI (d. 1201)

‘O my soul, my string of gems’

PRIEST JAKUREN (d. 1202)

‘The drops of pattering rain’ ‘Now spring’s over, I know not’ ‘One cannot ask loneliness’

FUJIWARA SHUNZEI (TOSHINARI) (1114–1204)

‘Has it flown away’ ‘Even at midnight’ (In autumn, lodging at a temple near his wife’s grave) ‘Oh, this world of ours’

MINAMOTO KANEMASA (twelfth century)

‘How many nights have you wakened’

FUJIWARA YOSHITSUNE (1169–1206)

‘No man lives now’ ‘The cicada shrieks’

KUNAIKYŌ (d. 1207)

‘By the light or dark’ ‘Bringing flowers with it’

LADY SANUKI (early thirteenth century)

‘The sleeve of my dress’

MINAMOTO SANETOMO (1192–1219)

‘When mountains are split’ ‘The breakers of the ocean’ ‘That it might be so always’

EMPEROR GOTOBA (1180–1239)

‘Faintly the spring, it seems’ ‘Though the nightingale sings’

FUJIWARA TEIKA (SADAIE) (1162–1241)

‘Pining for one who does not come’ ‘This spring night’ ‘As far as the eye can see’ ‘He for whom I wait’

MUROMACHI BALLADS (fifteenth–sixteenth centuries)

‘On the under-leaves’ ‘The nightingale’ ‘Rain beating down’ ‘Dropped the door-bolt thong’ ‘Men’s hearts, like the nets’ ‘The moon shines over the hill field’ ‘The slave-boat rides the open sea’

ARAKIDA MORITAKE (1473–1549)

‘Fallen flower I see’ ‘Summer night’ ‘As the morning glory’

YAMAZAKI SŌKAN (1465–1553)

‘Folding its hands’ ‘If it rains’ Edo Period (1603 – 1868)

MATSUNAGA TEITOKU (1571–1653)

‘Dumplings before cherries’

YASUHARA TEISHITSU (1610–73)

‘Oh! oh! is all I can say’

MATSUO BASHŌ (1644–94)

‘The sea dark’ ‘The cuckoo’ ‘On a bare branch’ ‘Seven sights were veiled’ ‘The beginning of art’ ‘Summer grasses’ ‘Ailing on my travels’ ‘Spring’ ‘Clouds now and then’ ‘The beginning of autumn’ ‘Silent and still: then’ ‘To the sun’s path’ ‘Soon it will die’ ‘The winds of autumn’ ‘You say one word’ ‘A flash of lightning’ ‘Still baking down’

MUKAI KYORAI (?1651–1704)

‘Winter blast’ ‘Which is tail? Which head?’ ‘My native town’

NAITŌ JŌSŌ (1662–1704)

‘“I’ve seen it all”’ ‘Its sloughed-off shell’

HATTORI RANSETSU (1654–1707)

‘Painting pines’ ‘New Year’s Day’ ‘Harvest moon’

ENOMOTO KIKAKU (1661–1707)

‘Harvest moon’ ‘Baby sparrows’ ‘On New Year’s dawn’ ‘Wooden gate’

NOZAWA BONCHŌ (d. 1714)

‘Overnight’ ‘Cool and fresh’ ‘Brushwood bones’ ‘Winter rain’

MORIKAWA KYOROKU (1656–1715)

‘“Long, long ago now”’ ‘Autumn so soon’

KONISHI RAIZAN (1654–1716)

‘Girls planting paddy’ ‘Spring breeze’

SUGIYAMA SAMPŪ (1647–1732)

‘Glint of hoe’ ‘Cherries, cuckoo’

UEJIMA ONITSURA (1661–1738)

‘Daybreak’ ‘It’s summer; then’ ‘Will there be any’ ‘To know the plums’ ‘Come, come, I say’ ‘They bloom and then’ ‘Trout leaping’ ‘Green cornfield’

KUROYANAGI SHŌHA (d. 1771)

‘A heavy cart rumbles’ ‘Deep in the temple’

TAN TAIGI (1709–71)

‘“It’s the east wind blowing”’ ‘The bridge broken’ ‘On the dust-heap’ ‘A chilling moon’ ‘Winter withering’

MIURA CHORA (1729–80)

‘You watch – it’s clouded’ ‘Peering at the stars’

YOSA BUSON (1716–83)

‘Scampering over saucers’ ‘Spring rain’ ‘Spring rain’ ‘Sudden shower’ ‘Spring rain’ ‘Mosquito-buzz’ ‘Fuji alone’ ‘Spring rain’

ŌSHIMA RYŌTA (1718–87)

‘Night growing late’ ‘Oh, this hectic world’ ‘Bad-tempered, I got back’ ‘I look at the light’

TAKAI KITŌ (1741–89)

‘Winter copse’

KATŌ GYŌDAI (1732–92)

‘Snow melting!’ ‘Autumn hills’ ‘Mournful wind’

TAKAKUWA RANKŌ (1726–98)

‘Rain of a winter storm’

ŌTOMO ŌEMARU (1722–1805)

‘Fall on, frost!’

KOBAYASHI ISSA (1763–1827)

‘The world of dew is’ ‘My home, where all I touch’ ‘Thin little frog’ ‘Stop! don’t swat the fly’ ‘Melting snow’ ‘The garden: a butterfly’ ‘Beautiful, seen through holes’ ‘With bland serenity’ ‘Emerging from the nose’ ‘Slowly, slowly, climb’ ‘Far-off mountain peaks’ ‘For fleas, also, the night’ ‘Red sky in the morning’ ‘Someone, somewhere – there’s’ ‘The radish-picker’ ‘Three ha’pence worth’ ‘A world of dew’ ‘Viewing the cherry-blossom’ ‘Spring rain’

BASHŌ, KYORAI, BONCHŌ, FUMIKUNI

The Kite’s Feathers

CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON (1653–1725)

‘To this world, farewell’ (from The Love Suicides at Sonezaki)

SENRYŪ (from eighteenth century)

Senryū

KYŌKA (eighteenth century)

‘A blind-drunk’ (Shokusanjin) ‘The haiku monkey’s’ (Shokusanjin) ‘Our poets had best’ (Yadoya Meshimori) ‘Sweat dripping down’ (Moto Mokuami)

RYŌKAN (1757–1831)

The hare in the moon ‘In the village’ ‘In my begging bowl’ ‘Water I will draw’ ‘The wind is gentle’

TACHIBANA AKEMI (1812–68)

Poems of solitary delights

FOLK-SONG

Lullabies Children’s songs – sung to accompany games or at special seasonal festivals. Lyrics of the Bon Dance Rice-planting songs Miscellaneous

Modern Period (from 1868)

1. Tanka

EMPEROR MEIJI (1852–1912)

‘In my garden’ ‘The young go off’ ‘Whenever I see’ ‘For ever and ever’ ‘In newspapers, all see’

ITŌ SACHIO (1864–1913)

‘When cowherds begin’ ‘Standing there’ ‘I have forsaken’ ‘No high mountains’ ‘Beyond the back door’

MASAOKA SHIKI (1867–1902)

‘Village snuffed asleep’ ‘I thought to make’

YOSANO AKIKO (1878–1942)

‘You never touch’ ‘Spring is short’ ‘The sutra is sour’ ‘No camellia’

SAITŌ MOKICHI (1882–1953)

‘On the mountain’ ‘Close to death’ ‘Faded vine flowers’ ‘Crimson tomato’ ‘The light pink’

WAKAYAMA BOKUSUI (1885–1928)

‘How forlorn’ ‘Like a bubbling stream’ ‘The hill asleep’ ‘On the sea-bed’ ‘At my side’

ISHIKAWA TAKUBOKU (1886–1912)

‘Weeping, sobbing’ ‘Carrying mother on my back’ ‘Working, working’ ‘A day when I yearn for home’ ‘In the crowd at the station’ ‘They might have hurled stones’ ‘On the far river bank’ ‘In the snow’ ‘Today, my friends seemed’ ‘In a single night’ ‘I write in the sand’ ‘Through the train window’ ‘The wind in the pines’

2. Haiku

NAITŌ MEISETSU (1847–1926)

‘Early winter’ ‘The wind blows grey’ ‘Clods of earth’ ‘Hill field: under the moon’

MASAOKA SHIKI

‘Looking through’ ‘A snake falls’ ‘He washes his horse’ ‘Again and again’ ‘Soon to die’ ‘Snake-gourd in bloom’ ‘A crimson berry’ ‘As the bat flies’ ‘I want to sleep’ ‘So few the cicadas’

KAWAHIGASHI HEKIGOTŌ (1873–1938)

‘Cold spring day’ ‘The Nō by torchlight’

TAKAHAMA KYOSHI (1874–1959)

‘Autumn wind’ ‘The snake fled’ ‘On the stolen’ ‘On far hills’ ‘Against the broad sky’ ‘Shuttlecock’ ‘The sky is high’ ‘In the old man’s eyes’ ‘Like dust swirling’ ‘First butterfly’ ‘Even sparrows’

WATANABE SUIHA (1882–1946)

‘Waves on the ebb’ ‘The noisy cricket’ ‘Wild geese flying’ ‘Autumn wind’

IIDA DAKOTSU (1885–1962)

‘Above her sash’ ‘Iron autumn’ ‘Udders dripping’ ‘Dragging across’ ‘In the winter lamp’

HARA SEKITEI (1886–1951)

‘Warm and snug’ ‘Feeling lonely’ ‘Stepping on a tendril’ ‘The autumn storm dying’ ‘On scattered hailstones’

MIZUHARA SHŪŌSHI (1892–1981)

‘Pear blossoms’ ‘Stars above the peaks’ ‘Gathering water-oats’ ‘The reed-warbler’ ‘Everywhere, everywhere’

KAWABATA BŌSHA (1900–41)

‘On the snow’ ‘Bright moonlight’ ‘Nothing there but’ ‘Hearing the thunder-clap’ ‘Wasting in summer’ ‘Pillow hard as stone!’

NAKAMURA KUSADAO (1901–83)

‘Undergraduates’ ‘Already winter’ ‘A father at last’ ‘Family reunion’ ‘Gentle as my dead friend’s hand’ KATŌ SHŪSON (1905–93) ‘Sad and forlorn: the shrike’ ‘Sticking out my head from’ ‘Autumn wind’

MATSUMOTO TAKASHI (1906–56)

‘Her summer kimono’ ‘Cicadas shrieking’ ‘In the brothel’ ‘On an onion tuft’

ISHIDA HAKYŌ (1913–69)

‘Sparrows scurrying’ ‘Sick-room window’ ‘Dead fly husk’

3. Modern Senryū 4. Shintaishi (‘New-Style Poetry’)

TSUCHII BANSUI (1871–1952)

Moon over the ruined castle

SHIMAZAKI TŌSON (1872–1943)

By the old castle at Komoro Song of travel on the Chikuma River Coconut

KAMBARA ARIAKE (1876–1952)

Oyster shell

TAKAMURA KŌTARŌ (1883–1956)

Bedraggled ostrich Artless talk Chieko mounting on the wind

KITAHARA HAKUSHŪ (1885–1942)

Rain on Castle Island Larches

ISHIKAWA TAKUBOKU (1886–1912)

After a fruitless argument Rather than cry

HAGIWARA SAKUTARŌ (1886–1942)

Sick face at the base of the earth The new Koide Highway Putrid clam Cock

MIKI ROFŪ (1889–1964)

Home After the kiss

TSUBOI SHIGEJI (1889–1975)

Autumn in jail Star and dead leaves English – ugh! Butterfly Silent, but…

HORIGUCHI DAIGAKU (1892–1981)

Landscape Hammock Memories

SAIJŌ YASO (1892–1970)

The crow’s letter

SATŌ HARUO (1892–1964)

Song of the pike

TANAKA FUYUJI (1894–1980)

Lakeside hotel Autumn night Blue night road

NISHIWAKI JUNZABURŌ (1894–1982)

Rain Weather Eye

KANEKO MITSUHARU (1895 – 1975)

Song of the tart Ascension Opposition

MIYAZAWA KENJI (1896 – 1933)

November Third

YAGI JŪKICHI (1898 – 1927)

‘I first saw my face in a dream’

MARUYAMA KAORU (1899–1974)

Sorrow of parting Gun emplacement Wings

MIYOSHI TATSUJI (1900–64)

Lake Thunder moth On the grass

TAKAHASHI SHINKICHI (1901 – 87)

Beach rainbow Birth

OKAMOTO JUN (1901–78)

Under the hazy, blossom-laden sky Battlefield of dreams

MURANO SHIRŌ (1901 – 75)

Black song The flesh Present winter Beggar

NAKANO SHIGEHARU (1902 – 79)

The Imperial Hotel Song Farewell before dawn Tokyo Imperial University students

KUSANO SHIMPEI (1903–88)

Mount Fuji, Opus 5 Stone

KONDŌ AZUMA (1904–88)

Mediterranean woman Fire

TAKENAKA IKU (1904–82)

Story Thinking stone Stars Tourist Japan

HARA TAMIKI (1905–51)

‘In the fire, a telegraph pole’ Glittering fragments

NAKAHARA CHŪYA (1907–37)

Leaves of the fig-tree Cold night The Marunouchi Building

TACHIHARA MICHIZŌ (1914–39)

Afterthoughts Night song of a traveller

KINOSHITA YŪJI (1914–65)

Late summer

KURODA SABURŌ (1919–80)

I’ve changed completely

YOSHIOKA MINORU (1919–90)

Still life Past Saffron gathering

ISHIGAKI RIN (1920–2004)

Living

TAMURA RYŪICHI (1923–98)

October poem Three voices Four thousand days and nights Far-off land

YOSHINO HIROSHI (b. 1926)

For my first child Sunset glow

IBARAGI NORIKO (b. 1926)

The fruit When I looked my prettiest

IIJIMA KŌICHI (b. 1930)

Mother tongue Stranger’s sky

KAWASAKI HIROSHI (1930–2004)

Animal nightmares

ŌOKA MAKOTO (b. 1931)

Song of the flame For spring Words words

SHIRAISHI KAZUKO (b. 1931)

Street Pond Memories of Joe

TANIKAWA SHUNTARŌ (b. 1931)

When the wind is strong The isolation of two billion light years Growing up Family Sadness Nero Sonnet 62

NAKAE TOSHIO (b. 1933)

Night and fish

TAKAHASHI MUTSUO (b. 1937)

Dead boy Christ of the thieves

YOSHIMASU GŌZŌ (b. 1939)

Burning

ISAKA YŌKO (b. 1949)

Morning assembly Persimmons Fingers

ASABUKI RYŌJI (b. 1952)

96 I classify

ITŌ HIROMI (b. 1955)

Under the earth Bad breasts Glenn Gould Goldberg

Notes Appendices

1. Glossary of Japan’s Poetic Forms 2. Taste-words: The Japanese Aesthetic 3. Some Prosodic Techniques of the Japanese Poet 4. Glossary 5. Chronological Tables 6. Map: Japan

Index of Poets Footnotes

Introduction by Anthony Thwaite

Page xli

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