Only Companion

Written by court princesses, exiled officials, Zen priests, and recluses, the one hundred and fifty poems translated here represent the rich diversity of Japan's poetic tradition. Varying in tone from the sensuous and erotic to the profoundly spiritual, each poem captures a sense of the poignant beauty and longing known only in the fleeting experience of the moment. The translator has selected these five-line tanka - one of the great traditional verse forms of Japanese literature - from sources ranging from the classical imperial anthologies of the eighth and tenth centuries to works of the early twentieth century.

Year

1996

Language

English

Publisher

Shambhala

Editions

2

Pages

144

ISBN

9780877736479

Data source: Wikidata