Post by Saionji Shonagon on Oct 29, 2011 15:34:23 GMT -5
I stumbled over a copy of this nice little collection of Japanese love poems at one of the local used book-stores this morning: Only Companion: Japanese Poems of Love and Longing, translated by Sam Hamill.
Poems are presented in English and Romaji, so the reader can get a sense of what the original Japanese sounds like. An appendix with brief biographical notes identifies the poets.
The good news is that it's still in print and very reasonably priced. www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-647-9.cfm
Here's a sample by Izumi Shikibu:
My black hair tangled
As my own tangled thoughts,
I lie here alone,
Dreaming of one who has gone,
Who stroked my hair till it shone.
Kurogami no
midarete shirazu
uchifuseba
mazu karkiyarishi
hiso zo koishiki. (p. 49)
Well worth searching out if you're a poetry fan.
Poems are presented in English and Romaji, so the reader can get a sense of what the original Japanese sounds like. An appendix with brief biographical notes identifies the poets.
The good news is that it's still in print and very reasonably priced. www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-647-9.cfm
Here's a sample by Izumi Shikibu:
My black hair tangled
As my own tangled thoughts,
I lie here alone,
Dreaming of one who has gone,
Who stroked my hair till it shone.
Kurogami no
midarete shirazu
uchifuseba
mazu karkiyarishi
hiso zo koishiki. (p. 49)
Well worth searching out if you're a poetry fan.