Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology

by Steven D. Carter (Editor, Translator)

This anthology brings togethere in convenient form a rich selection of Japanese poetry in traditional genres dating back from the earliest times to the twentieth century. With more than 1,100 poems, it is the most varied and comprehensive selection of traditional Japanese poetry now available in English. Ezra Pound called poetry "the most concentrated form of verbal expression," and the great poets of Japan wrote poems as charged and compressed as poems can be. The Japanese language, with its few consonates and even fewer vowels, did not lend itself to expansive forms, making small seem better and perhaps more powerful. There is also the historical context in which Japanese poetry developed―the highly refined society of the early courts of Nara and Kyoto. In this setting, poetry came to be used as much for communication between lovers and friends as for artistic expression, and a tradition of cryptic statement evolved, with notes passed from sleeve to sleeve or conundrums exchanged furtively in the night. Add to this the high sense of decorum that dominated court society for centuries, and you have the conditions that led to the development of the classical uta (also referred to as tanka or waka ), the thrity-one-syllable form that acts as the foundation for virtually all poetry written in Japanese between 850 and 1900. In choosing poems, the compiler has given priority to authors and works gnerally acknowledged as of great artistic and/or historical importance by Japanese scholars. For this reason, major poets such as Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Izumi Shikibu, Saigyo, and Matsuo Basho are particualarly important collections such as Man'yoshu, Kokinshu, and Shin kokinshu. In addtion, the volume also contains samplings from genres such as the poetic diary, linked verse, Chinese forms, and comic verse.

Genres: Poetry, Japan, Japanese Literature, Classics, Anthologies, Fiction

534 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Professor of Japanese literature

Steven D. Carter has written eleven books and numerous articles on pre-modern Japanese literature and is an award-winning translator. He has received numerous academic awards, as both a scholar and a teacher. At Stanford he teaches courses in pre-modern Japanese literature and language.

Professor Carter's research interests include: Japanese poetry, poetics, and poetic culture; the Japanese essay; travel writing; historical fiction; and the relationship between the social and the aesthetic. His most recent book is Haiku Before Haiku: From the Renga Masters to Basho (Columbia University Press, 2011).

Before coming to Stanford in 2003, Professor Carter taught at UCLA, Brigham Young University, and UC-Irvine, serving as chair of the East Asian Languages and Literatures Department at the latter institution for 10 years.

He began his study of Japanese language and culture as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, receiving his BA in Japanese with minors in English and history in 1974. He received an MA and PhD from UC-Berkeley, concentrating on classical and medieval Japanese poetry. His interest in Hiroshima dates to a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum in 1969, during one of the hotter periods of the Cold War.

Reviews

[Paul H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best single English-language collection of Japanese poetry in existence (I've read them all). Definitely the place to start if you're even vaguely interested in this genre.

[Edgar Trevizo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es uno de los libros más impresionantes que he leído: un vasto, delicado, elegante y hermoso trabajo de compilación, traducción y edición. Todo este libro, sus 1,119 poemas, es un tesoro. Un tesoro.

[Diana Wilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Classic Compilation and Translation of Japanese Poetry

This is a compilation of Japanese poetry from earliest times to the present.

The poems are grouped by writer, with information given on the writer (when possible) and the circumstances giving rise to the poem (or shedding light on the poem). I

This was published by the Stanford University Press. The poems are presented in their entirety, and any notes or information are beside them, saving the reader from the annoyance of having to look to the bottom of the page or flip to the back.

Beautifully done, well worth owning.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overview of Japanese poetry with the original and notes on translation. I have a better understanding of Haiku and the traditions surrounding it. I enjoyed very much the black and white drawings sprinkled throughout which capture a mood or time period. This is a book to be enjoyed multiple and endless several sittings.

[Farah SA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for students of Japanese and anyone who is interested in Japanese, especially the poetry. This book tells us about (brief) history of Japanese poetry, not only haiku but also other form of Japanese poetry.

[Gary]

Just now diving in!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carter's translations are scholarly but elegant. Includes generous and helpful notes and scholarly apparatus.

[Paul Kerschen]

Meticulously done. Reading in concert with a literary history like Keene's is a good way to avoid the false sense of sameness that comes with the heft.