Man’Yoshu is a compilation of ancient Japanese poems from the Nara Era. Most of the poems originally are written in “tanka”, which means “short poem/song” and has a set number of syllables divided into units, though the English translation we read does not conform to the original tanka structure anymore (Tanka Booklet).
Since the poems found in the Man’Yoshu were written by a variety of people ranging from unknown commoners to the emperors it provides us with a glimpse of life during the early Nara Era in Japan. It is quite apparent that these poems weren't written for some king's pleasure. They were expressions of the broken hearted: non-fictional tragedies. Or even excerpts from diaries people kept and logged their emotions in.
Most of the poems were based on themes of separation and death, hence contain sorrowful emotions. Kakinomoto Hitomaro, one of the prominent authors in the compilation, is a good example in how his poems were about separation from his wife, or of him seeing a corpse. "Does she not wait for you; worrying and longing; your beloved wife?" (page 2155). Kakinomoto's concern for the man's wife shows how much his own wife means to him. Which is quite unique since this is probably an actual man, unlike the other fictional characters we have read about, who truly holds the relationship of husband and wife as something irreplaceable.
All the Man’Yoshu poems contain beautiful imagery. Mostly of nature such as the beauty of mountains, streams and plants, specially the bamboo trees.
"O scarlet leave; falling on autumn mountainside; stop, for a while, the storm; your strewing makes; that I might glimpse; the place where my wife dwells"(page 2154). This sentence brings forth an array of different colors and textures to our mind prodding our memories, hence leaving us feeling somewhat like the author who is longing for his wife.
The story told in each poem can probably be summarized in just one word, hence I believe it was the imagery and the depth of emotion used in these ancient poems that sets them apart.
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Man’Yoshu is a compilation of ancient Japanese poems from the Nara Era. Most of the poems originally are written in “tanka”, which means “short poem/song” and has a set number of syllables divided into units, though the English translation we read does not conform to the original tanka structure anymore (Tanka Booklet). The poems found in the Man’Yoshu were written by a variety of people ranging from unknown commoners to the emperors. The Man’Yoshu provide us with a glimpse of life during the early Nara Era in Japan. Most of the poems were based on themes of separation and death, hence contain sorrowful emotions. Kakimoto Hitomaro, one of the prominent authors in the compilation, is a good example in how his poems were about separation from his wife, the death of his wife, and of him seeing a corpse and ultimately himself approaching death. All the Man’Yoshu poems contain beautiful imagery. Mostly of nature such as the beauty of mountains, streams and plants, specially the bamboo trees. The story told in each poem can probably be summarized in just one word, hence I believe it was the imagery and the depth of emotion used in these ancient poems that sets them apart.
Nakamura, Hishashi. Ten Thousand Leaves : Tanka Booklet. 2009. Print.
Since the poems found in the Man’Yoshu were written by a variety of people ranging from unknown commoners to the emperors it provides us with a glimpse of life during the early Nara Era in Japan. It is quite apparent that these poems weren't written for some king's pleasure. They were expressions of the broken hearted: non-fictional tragedies. Or even excerpts from diaries people kept and logged their emotions in.
Most of the poems were based on themes of separation and death, hence contain sorrowful emotions. Kakinomoto Hitomaro, one of the prominent authors in the compilation, is a good example in how his poems were about separation from his wife, or of him seeing a corpse. "Does she not wait for you; worrying and longing; your beloved wife?" (page 2155). Kakinomoto's concern for the man's wife shows how much his own wife means to him. Which is quite unique since this is probably an actual man, unlike the other fictional characters we have read about, who truly holds the relationship of husband and wife as something irreplaceable.
All the Man’Yoshu poems contain beautiful imagery. Mostly of nature such as the beauty of mountains, streams and plants, specially the bamboo trees.
"O scarlet leave; falling on autumn mountainside; stop, for a while, the storm; your strewing makes; that I might glimpse; the place where my wife dwells"(page 2154). This sentence brings forth an array of different colors and textures to our mind prodding our memories, hence leaving us feeling somewhat like the author who is longing for his wife.
The story told in each poem can probably be summarized in just one word, hence I believe it was the imagery and the depth of emotion used in these ancient poems that sets them apart.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Man’Yoshu is a compilation of ancient Japanese poems from the Nara Era. Most of the poems originally are written in “tanka”, which means “short poem/song” and has a set number of syllables divided into units, though the English translation we read does not conform to the original tanka structure anymore (Tanka Booklet). The poems found in the Man’Yoshu were written by a variety of people ranging from unknown commoners to the emperors. The Man’Yoshu provide us with a glimpse of life during the early Nara Era in Japan. Most of the poems were based on themes of separation and death, hence contain sorrowful emotions. Kakimoto Hitomaro, one of the prominent authors in the compilation, is a good example in how his poems were about separation from his wife, the death of his wife, and of him seeing a corpse and ultimately himself approaching death. All the Man’Yoshu poems contain beautiful imagery. Mostly of nature such as the beauty of mountains, streams and plants, specially the bamboo trees. The story told in each poem can probably be summarized in just one word, hence I believe it was the imagery and the depth of emotion used in these ancient poems that sets them apart.
Nakamura, Hishashi. Ten Thousand Leaves : Tanka Booklet. 2009. Print.
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