Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Ki no Tsurayuki


Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern
Title : Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0887272495
ISBN-10 : 9780887272493
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 442
Publication : First published January 1, 905
Awards : Japan-US Friendship Commission's Friendship Literary Translation (1982)

This is the first complete translation of the tenth-century work Kokinshu, one of the three most important anthologies of the Japanese classical tradition. This edition presents the entire work, including clearly annotated translations not only of the 1,111 poems, but also of the original Japanese and Chinese prefaces. Royally commissioned in order to return Japanese poetry to the public arena after a renewed interest in Chinese literature, the Kokinshu's compilers linked the poems by topic, theme, imagery, and chronological and narrative progression to form an integrated anthology; thus, the Kokinshu is meant to be read as a single unit. Indexed. "Rodd's translation of the Kokinshu, with its grace and elegance unimpaired, enables the Western reader to appreciate a collection that was long the central pillar of Japanese literature." --Donald Keene

Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern Reviews

  • Hymerka

    Якби не ці пісні,
    Яким би чином
    Дізнались ми про справжні почуття
    Тих, хто давно
    Цей грішний світ покинув?

    Мібу-но Тадаміне

    Товстенький, ошатний, любовно оформлений томик від, на жаль, вже не існуючого видавництва "Факт". Книга зроблена напрочуд добротно: спершу подається японський оригінал з транскрипцією, потім переклад з усіма необхідними коментарями, ґрунтовною передмовою, алфавітними показчиками і списком використаної літератури. Вражаюча робота. Але найголовніше — це, звичайно, самі пісні з далекої Японії, та із ще більш далекого 10-го століття. Як дивно думати, що всі ці поети давно померли, певно, вже й кісточки їхні зітліли, але разом з тим, ось вони тут, всі їхні радощі і страхи, кохання і скорбота, подорожі і службові підвищення. Все, як у нас. Як колись, як зараз, як ніколи, як завжди.

    Спочатку дорікаємо сваволі,
    Сумуємо
    У грішнім світі цім,
    Та згодом
    Підкоряємося долі.

    Оно-но Такамура

  • Tana

    elegant quiet
    a form in which the plaintive
    voices of the past
    take the shape of the seasons
    of love and the self alone

  • Brendan Coster

    Actually very good. Both the translation and the content. I think I prefer McCoulough's presentation of the poems when the words mean two different things (she puts them one on top of the other). Rodd, generally, used the two meanings of the word in the poem itself which, while easier to read and I didn't mind, I just felt like you lose a great deal of the wit subtlety of the original. You are forced to read Rodd's notes beneath the poems and then kind of rearrange the translation in your head to see what she did with it.

    Anyways, my issues are mostly be preference. I four star this because, throughout, I appreciate the attempt to relate these 1000 year old poems to us, now.

    Content-wise, some of these are so steeped in their culture, place, and time has to be unreachable - those were a bit more interesting to me in general. The number of ancient cultures that are both non-european and ALSO left us source materials and writings is slim.

    Then there were those timeless poems - relate-able to anyone. I sent a few to my wife knowing she'd appreciate them (and she's certainly not doing a crash course in classical Japanese lit here...)

    I also had to read this one... there's like 21 other collections of poems spanning from this era on, but I many of the poem get copied and re-copied. I figure the one that starts the format and 'genre' will be enough for whatever I'm trying to do here. It's probably good enough that if I saw a copy some at a booksale I'd pick it up for sure. Maybe, when I'm feeling good, I can look back at people who had nothing BUT time and see what real decadence looks like.

  • Bere Tarará

    Esencial para entender la tradición japonesa. La edición de Rubio contiene una excelente explicación introductores

  • El Vatikan

    Forgot about this for like a week

  • Lulu

    They gathered poems from the previous century as well as poems they and their contemporaries had written, but their work did not stop with the task of selection. Rather than arrange their materials by date of composition or by author, they chose a thematic arrangement. The twenty books of the Kokinshu illustrate the topics treated in Japanese court poetry: nature and the natural progression of the seasons, love and the progress of the love affair, celebration, mourning, travel and parting, and combinations of these themes. Within the larger topics, much care was taken in the ordering of individual poems: each one is linked to those before and after by a chronological or geographical progression of natural or human affairs, by imagery, or by subtle shifts in theme.

  • Manda Lea

    Preface is a little heavy. The Spring poems are a bit redundant. The simplicity and complexity of these poems are, otherwise, pretty astounding.

  • Sean Brown

    Simply amazing both in their English meanings and their phonetics in the original Japanese.

  • Debora Stefani

    i think this book can be reference for students who want to studying about Japanese poems...
    Thanks a lot..
    i hope i can read full of this book..