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.
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Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese
Original Language: Japanese
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Seed of Japanese Poetry Sprouts into 10,000 English Words,
By Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (C & T Asian Languages Series.) (Paperback)
It is very apparent that a lot of hard work and dedication have gone into the making of this book, the first complete translation of this truly seminal work in Japanese literary history. First of all, it was a great idea to include the original poems (written in romanji) side by side with the English translations. Then each poem is extensively annotated, with the poetic conventions utilized in each fully explained. The introduction does a great job of contextualizing the "Kokinshu" and aiding in its overall appreciation, and the appendices help anyone who wants to go into more detail do so, with an index of first lines, a biographical index of the poets, a list of secondary works, and a discussion of the variant manuscripts.
The poems themselves are graceful and elegant, sometimes melancholy and sometimes witty, usually understated in a refined way. Not too deep, usually, and it is sometimes annoyingly apparent that most of the poems were written within the hot-house atmosphere of courtier society in Kyoto in the early Heian heydays. But they never pretend to be anything else (why would they? They were at the top, after all). Now, poetry is the hardest kind of literature to translate, especially Japanese poetry, but at times the translation here is a bit straightforward and literal, and the poem comes out sounding, well, prosaic in English. For instance, poem 1030 by Ono no Komachi is rendered "no moon lights the night/nor can I meet my lover/my blazing passion/wakens me my pounding heart/shoots flame then turns to cinders"-accurate perhaps, and yet Donald Keene's translation of the same poem in his "Anthology of Japanese Literature, Earliest Times to Mid-Nineteenth Century" while also true to the original manages at the same time to sound literary in its new language: "This night of no moon/There is no way to meet him./I rise in longing--/My breast pounds, a leaping flame,/My heart is consumed in fire" Of course, he only presents a small sampling and can afford to be picky, while this edition gives you each and every poem in the order the original editors meant them to be read. But I rather feel like this book may be more useful overall to the Japanese Literature student than to someone who just wants to savor and enjoy some good poetry.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A remarkable achievement,
By An avid reader (Earls Ct, London UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (C & T Asian Languages Series.) (Paperback)
This is the complete translation of the Kokinshu that actually reads like poetry - a fact that may confuse readers trying to use it to help in reading the original text. With poetry, even more than with other kinds of translation, one is especially caught in the tension between implied meaning and surface form. Bold and inspired translators go more for meaning, but as I often heard students complain during many years of teaching Classical Japanese, a translation like this one is often less helpful in construing the grammar of the original (if you're looking for a 'pony') than a more plodding version. But thankfully it is *poetry* - both a pleasure to read and true to the spirit of the original (though less often to the letter of the original). A remarkable achievement.
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
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This review is from: Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (C & T Asian Languages Series.) (Paperback)
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