Early Modern Japanese Literature Quotes

“If love goes too far, it turns into cruelty.”
― Haruo Shirane, Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900

“His smiling face revealed a love too strong to be kept inside, but the feelings obviously rising inside him kept him from looking directly at Kikunojou. He gazed instead at Kikunojou's clear reflection on the water.”
― Haruo Shirane, Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900 (Abridged Edition) (Translations from the Asian Classics

“In the middle distance, sails were gliding like butterflies, and farther away, ships dotted the mouth of the bay between Awa and Sagami as if brushed in ink in a single flowing stroke.”
― Haruo Shirane, Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900