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Title: River of Stars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko by Akiko Yosano, Keiko Matsui Gibson, Stephen Addiss, Sam Hamill ISBN: 1-57062-146-2 Publisher: Shambhala Publications Pub. Date: 01 April, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Shining like a knife...
Comment: I liked the comparison that the introduction made between the thinking of Yosano Akiko and the High Moderns like Eliot and Pound. For all that they were working from different cultures and probably entirely different world views, I think that Akiko shared with them that kind of glittering precision that makes her work very pure to read-- particularly the Tanka.
I was a little bit less impressed with the selection of "Modern Poetry" that came after the Tanka. I'm not sure whether it would have been true of all her non-traditional form poetry, but the poems chosen for this section were not nearly as strong as some of the others, and honestly seemed as though they'd been chosen to illustrate her political thinking rather than the body of her aesthetic work.
Also, compliments to Shambhala Publications for the lucid translation and for the non-irritating introduction. Everything seemed just enough and well done.
Rating: 5
Summary: AKIKO'S PASSION, SENSIBILITY and HUMANITY REVEALED
Comment: A wonderful compilation of poems, well translated by Sam Hamill and Keiko Matsui, illustrated by Stephen Addiss, written by the "goddess of poetry", Yosano Akiko (1878-1942). In the introduction, there is a brief description of the life of this wonderful woman poet. There we learn that she was the epitome of early twentieth century Japanese feminism, social reform and romanticism. The poet was so noted by her peers, that her era is referred to as the Age of Akiko. Born out of a family of poets and literati, she was initially despised by her father, who sought a male son. Afterwards, her father gave her the best available education and supported her fully. Her life was full of adversities and triumphs, and her love story with a romantic womanizer poet, Yosano Hiroshi (pen name Tekkan) reminds me, in a way, of Frida Kahlo's relationship with Diego Rivera. Proficient in modern occidental literature, she can be seen, in the context of her times, as a modernist poet; the first in Japanese history to criticize openly the emperor. Throughout the poems written in tanka form, compiled in this edition, we can perceive and feel her struggle to look directly into the heart and reveal the complexity of the human being, as well as the hues of erotic, spiritual and familial love. There are also some modern style poems which confirm, again the genius and sensibility of the greatest 20th century woman poet of Japan.
"Raindrops continue
to fall on white lotus leaves.
While my lover paints
I open the umbrella
on his little boat....." Long live Akiko!
Rating: 5
Summary: Exquisite, Passionate and Strikingly Direct
Comment: As a poet, I can barely open this book without the muse whispering in my ear. The translations are superb - page after page of delicious tanka with a small section of "modern style poems" at the end. The brush illustrations by Stephen Addiss visually enhance a magnificent experience. Don't miss it!
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Title: The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono No Komachi and Izumi Shikibu (Vintage Classics) by Jane Hirshfield, Mariko Arantani ISBN: 0679729585 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 October, 1990 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: One Hundred Poems from the Japanese by Kenneth Rexroth ISBN: 0811201813 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation Pub. Date: 01 June, 1955 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Women Poets of Japan by Kenneth Rexroth, Ikuko Atsumi ISBN: 0811208206 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation Pub. Date: 01 March, 1982 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Ariake: Poems of Love and Longing by the Women Courtiers of Ancient Japan by Rae Grant, Liza Dalby, Liza Crihfield Dalby ISBN: 0811828131 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: 15 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: A Long Rainy Season: Haiku and Tanka (Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry, Vol 1) by Leza Lowitz, Miyuki Aoyama, Akemi Tomioka, Robert Kushner ISBN: 1880656159 Publisher: Stone Bridge Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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