Light Verse from the Floating World

by Makoto Ueda (Translator)

Similar in form to the well-known, more serious haiku, the satirical―and often humorous―poems known as senryu have received little scholarly attention because most were written by anonymous amateur poets and were therefore considered popular literature unworthy of serious study. Senryu are interesting, however, precisely because they reflect the thoughts and feelings of ordinary townspeople in a way that other more orthodox types of Japanese literature do not. In his introduction on the nature and historical background of the form, Makoto Ueda explores the elements of humor and satire contained in senryu, highlighting the mores that lie behind the laughter the poems evince.

Collecting 400 eighteenth- and nineteenth-century poems―with the romanized Japanese verse presented at the bottom of each page― Light Verse from the Floating World is divided into thematic sections, each preceded by a short

• satirical senryu, aimed at people of the ruling warrior class and civilians of various professions;

• senryu on human relationships―between young lovers, husband and wife, parent and child, or family members of different generations;

• poems on townspeople enjoying themselves in the "amusement" district;

• ridicule of well-known historical figures;

• and poems on the poets' general outlook on life.

Replete with keen observations on the human world rather than the natural one, this first comprehensive anthology in English translation of this major genre of Japanese literature will appeal to scholars and students of Japanese culture, as well as general readers of poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Japan, Japanese Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Makoto Ueda (上田 真 Ueda Makoto, born 1931) is a professor emeritus of Japanese literature at Stanford University.

He earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature in 1961.

In 2004-2005 he served as the honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives at the California State Library in Sacramento, California. He was given that honor "in recognition of Ueda’s many decades of academic writing about haiku and related genres and his leading translations of Japanese haiku." The library added that "Ueda has been our most consistently useful source for information on Japanese haiku, as well as our finest source for the poems in translation, from Bashô to the present day." His work on female poets and 20th century poets "had an enormous impact".

He is an author of numerous books about Japanese literature and in particular Haiku, Senryū, Tanka, and Japanese poetics.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Freyja · Rating 3 out of 5]

People in the Edo period had surprisingly great sense of humor. While Japanese poetry such as haiku mostly known for it's beautiful depiction of nature and seasonal reference, it's really fun to read this kind of poetry in which they captured everyday life of commoners. Senryuu writers keenly study various aspects of human condition and reports their findings in a humorous way that sometimes crossing over to satire territory. All of the senryuu that been included here are interesting selections, even though i'm a bit sad that only the romanized ver is written alongside the translation, i'm still thankful that Makoto Ueda also gave small disclaimer on some of the senryuu due to their vague context. The foreword in each chapters also helps a lot in understanding both the meaning and a brief summary of what life was like back on those days, i gained a lot of new insights from this book alone. Before reading this, i wasn't really interested in Edo period, but this book really changed my perspective. Please give it a try even if you're not familiar with Japanese literature/history, it has clear introduction which is easy to understand.

My personal favorite senryuu:

tarai kara tarai ni kawaru yume no uchi
from one bathtub
to another bathtub
it's all a dream

dete yuke ni narete nyoubo wa sutteiru
"You're divorced!"-
but his wife, who's heard it before,
just sits there, smoking

mou hoka ni shinite nashi ka to fugu wo kai
"Anyone willing
to die with me?" asks the man
buying a fugu

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

(for ref i'm taking japanese at uni) bro i ate this up.... i was supposed to look over it for an essay, but i legit sat for two hours and read the entire thing. ueda's commentary helps so much in understanding the poetry, but i think it definitely helps to have other background knowledge of history / culture to properly understand some of them. im not sure what it would be like reading this as someone who doesnt have any other context than the book itself, but man this is pure bants and i loved it. thank u ueda makoto for making my essay process more enjoyable. it was so interesting to see poetry from what we consider to be suuuuuch a long time ago about the trivial things in life that can still be related to and appreciated today. it really made me feel a connection to the people of the time instead of just seeing it as another period in history to read about. i loved the translations i thought they worked really well in english which from translating stories i know how god damn difficult that is..i could never bring myself to try to translate a poem from japanese to english lol, if u are thinking about doing gods work just stop because ueda makoto has already done it. thanks king

[Don Wentworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of senryu, light verse in haiku form, that collects poems that deal with the foibles of being human. It is a book that will have great appeal to students and scholars of Japanese literature and culture.

There is much of interest here - I noted 20 poems that resonated with me. There is a great deal, however, that requires a deep engagement and understanding of things Japanese that is well above my level of comprehension so the 3 star rating might more appropriately apply to this reader rather than the book itself.

Here are 3 of my favorite pieces from the collection:


the pediatrician
first takes the pulse
of the stuffed tiger


his head drops so low
the reprimand passes
far above it


little by little
the mother is helping her son
beome a bum


Though not for everyone, this a well-translated and documented collection of early verse for those interested in both the form and the culture.

-Don Wentworth

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ueda says that while these may not be as "poetic" as haiku b/c they are just moments that don't refer to themselves (they aren't always comparative in the poem), but they are valuable b/c they were written by regular citizens. I can see where he's coming from--some of these are so generally observed as to be truisms, but many are just little peeks into life, and that's pretty poetic. I'm down with simplicity.

Other than the poems, the introduction and little explanations before each section are very accessible and informative.

[Donna Beaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a book that talks about "Senryu" the closely related form of the more popular Japanese genre, haiku. Here is a review and discussion of Makoto Ueda’s book of senryu, “Light Verse from the Floating World” from the Haiku Chronicles podcast, Episode 17: Tea Talk -- An Anthology Of Premodern Japanese Senryu.

[Ad · Rating 5 out of 5]

400 senryu from the 18th and 19th centuries, a representative collection of Japanese light verse. Translated and with an excellent introduction by Makoto Ueda.

[Marc Manley]

Great example of pre-modern poetry that is sharp and witty!