One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (Paperback)

~ Kenneth Rexroth (Author) "I passed by the beach At Tago and saw The snow falling, pure white, High on the peak of Fuji..." (more)
Key Phrases: naga uta, pillow word, Kokin Shú

Editorial Reviews

Review

I Should Not Have Waited by Akazome Emon
Even In The Age by Ariwara No Narihira
I Have Always Known by Ariwara No Narihira
This Is Not The Moon by Ariwara No Narihira
I Must Leave You, But by Ariwara No Yukihira
Autumn Has Come by Eikei
I Think Of The Days by Fujiwara No Atsutada
The Cricket Cries by Fujiwara No Go-kyogoku
The River Izumi by Fujiwara No Kanesuke
The Flowers Whirl Away by Fujiwara No Kintsune
I May Love On Until by Fujiwara No Kiyosuke
From Yoshino by Fujiwara No Masatsune
In The Dawn, Although I Know by Fujiwara No Michinobu
Your Fine Promises by Fujiwara No Mototoshi
As The Mists Rise In The Dawn by Fujiwara No Sadayori
A Cuckoo Calls by Fujiwara No Sanesada
As I Row Over The Plain by Fujiwara No Tadamichi
You Do Not Come, And I Wait by Fujiwara No Teika
In All The World by Fujiwara No Toshinara
Autumn Has Come Invisibly by Fujiwara No Toshiyuki
In The Bay Of Sumi by Fujiwara No Toshiyuki
In A Gust Of Wind The White Dew by Fumiya No Yasuhide
The Wind Has Stopped by Harumichi No Tsuraki
If The Winds Of Heaven by Henjo
Is It Your Command by Ise
I Go Out Of The Darkness by Izumi Shikibu
Will I Cease To Be by Izumi Shikibu
The Hanging Raindrops by Jakuren
Haiku by Joso
The Colored Leaves by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
Gossip Grows Like Weeds by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
I Sit At Home by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
I Waited For My by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
In The Autumn Mountains by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
In The Empty Mountains by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
May Those Who Are Born After Me by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
My Girl Is Waiting For Me by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
On The Shingle by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
The Pheasant Of The Mountain by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
A Strange Old Man by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
This Morning I Will Not by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
Three Naga Uta: 1 by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
Three Naga Uta: 2 by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
Three Naga Uta: 3 by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
When I Left My Girl by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
Your Hair Has Turned White by Kakinomoto Hitomaro
I Dreamed I Held by Kasa
I Love And Fear Him by Kasa
In The Eternal by Ki No Tomonori
No, The Human Heart by Ki No Tsurayuki
Out In The Marsh Reeds by Ki No Tsurayuki
Haiku by Kikaku
Haiku by Kobayashi Issa
Haiku by Kobayashi Issa
For The Sake Of A Night by Koka Monin No Betto
When I Went Out In by Koko Tenno
Haiku by Matsuo Munefusa
Haiku by Matsuo Munefusa
Haiku by Matsuo Munefusa
Haiku by Matsuo Munefusa
Haiku by Matsuo Munefusa
Yes, I Am In Love by Mibu No Tadami
Since I Left Her by Mibu No Tadamine
Guardian Of The Gate by Minamoto No Kanemasa
In The Mountain Village by Minamoto No Morotada
I Can Feel The Loneliness by Minamoto No Muneyuki
Like Michinoku by Minamoto No Toru
In The Evening by Minamoto No Tsunenobu
If Only The World by Minamoto Sanetomo
I Am Unhappy by Motoyoshi Shinno
Someone Passes by Murasaki Shikibu
After The Storm by Noin
As I Approach by Noin
Haiku by Nozawa Boncho
As I Watch The Moon by Oe No Chisato
The Deer On Pine Mountain by Onakatomi No Yoshinobu Ason
As Certain As Color by Ono No Komachi
Imperceptible by Ono No Komachi
The White Chrysanthemum by Oshikochi No Mitsune
Haiku by Oshima Ryota
The Cry Of The Stag by Otomo No Yakamochi
The Frost Lies White by Otomo No Yakamochi
I Lie Long Abed by Otomo No Yakamochi
I Send You A Box by Otomo No Yakamochi
I Will Come To You by Otomo No Yakamochi
In The Spring Garden by Otomo No Yakamochi
Mist Floats On The Spring Meadow by Otomo No Yakamochi
Now To Meet Only In Dreams by Otomo No Yakamochi
We Were Together by Otomo No Yakamochi
When I See The First by Otomo No Yakamochi
The Wind Rustles The Bamboos by Otomo No Yakamochi
Do Not Smile To Yourself by Otomo Of Sakanoe
You Say, 'i Will Come' by Otomo Of Sakanoe
When I Am Lonely by Ryozen Hoshi
Involuntary, I May Live On by Sanjo In
Deep In The Mountain by Saru Maru
Though You Can Tell Me by Sei Shonagon
All During The Night by Shune
That Spring Night I Spent by Suo No Naishi
Will He Always Love Me? by Taiken Monin Horikawa
Although I Hide It by Taira No Kanemori
Like A Wave Crest by Uda
Have You Any Idea by Udaisho Michitsuna No Haha
It Does Not Matter by Ukon
The Cicada Sings by Anonymous
The Purity Of The Moonlight by Anonymous
Though The Purity by Anonymous
I Passed By The Beach by Yamabe No Akahito
I Wish I Were Close by Yamabe No Akahito
The Mists Rise Over by Yamabe No Akahito
On Fujiyama by Yamabe No Akahito
Tomorrow I Was by Yamabe No Akahito
When I Went Out by Yamabe No Akahito
Others May Forget You, But Not I by Yamatohime
Haiku by Yosa Buson
She Said She Would Come by Yoshimine No Harutoshi
Falling From The Ridge by Yozei In
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Rexroth's classic best-selling anthology

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation (June 1955)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811201813
• ISBN-13: 978-0811201810
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,002 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( R ) > Rexroth, Kenneth
  #3 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Asian
  #7 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Japanese & Haiku

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful collection of quiet intensity, June 23, 1999

By A Customer

He has gathered a wonderful collection of quiet often powerful poems. I used to always keep a copy at my desk at work when I needed a break from programming. I think everyone who loves poetry should have a copy.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FIRST RATE INITIATION TO JAPANESE POETRY, June 18, 2002

By	Luciano Lupini (Caracas Venezuela) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of the greatest "small" books I have ever read. Rexroth conveys a good bird's eye view of classical japanese poetry, with poems selected and translated by him, mostly from the Manyoshu (A.D. 759) and Kokinshu (A.D. 905)compilations.
You will be surprised by the intensity and sensibility that these short poems reflect. Also you will be delighted to read the different depictions of states of mind and heart in this poetry which will eerely convey the atemporal dimension of sorrow, pain, joy and appeasement to the contemporary human being.
An example of what to expect:
The flowers whirl away
In the wind like snow.
The thing that falls away
Is myself.....(Prime Minister Kintsune)

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And Now For Something Completely Different, August 4, 2008

By	Karen Shaub "Nickname: Queen B" (the inner reaches of the outer limits) - See all my reviews

Many decades ago as I was standing in a seemingly endless line at the college bookstore waiting to pay for my texts, I happened to pick up a copy of Kenneth Rexroth's 100 POEMS FROM THE JAPANESE and started thumbing through it in order to kill some time while I waited...and waited...and waited for my turn at the register. By the time I finally made it up there I couldn't have cared less, I was totally engrossed in the small volume that had been meant merely to keep me from thoughts of violence as I continued to wait...and wait...and wait. I knew that I had to have this book, I had fallen in love with Japanese poetry. Since that day I've had 3 copies of the book in all. The first was stolen by a "friend", the second died from over-work, and the third is sitting in front of me as I try to cobble together this review.

I had long hated poetry since its writers tended to exhume every archaic word they knew and went on for as long as they possibly could until they had finally beaten what ever sentiment, or thought they had tried to express into into a gelatinous pulp and left it and the reader whimpering on the floor in helpless submision. Writers of Western and European poetry that is. For when I openned Rexroth's book I learned there was an alternative to the pompous florid verbosity of Western poets and it could be found in the powerful, exquisitely crafted yet extremely economical poetry of Japan.

There are several different poetic forms and a great many shadings and other things to be concerned with, as in the works of all poets, and Rexroth deals with these things both in his introduction as well as in individual notes in the back of the book. He explains everything you need to know in order to understand these poems if you're interested in going beneath their surface beauty. Each poem is presented in romanized Japanese as well as English, which is a nice bonus, and each poet has his own little section. Every poet's name is presented in calligraphy down the side of each page.

This is an extraordinary collection of poems translated by a man who himself is an extraordinary poet. Perhaps the best way to convice you might be to offer one or two of my favorites and let you see for yourself what treasures this book has to offer.

A strange old man
Stops me,
Looking out of my deep mirror. HITOMARO

Although I hide it
My love shows in my face
So plainly that he asks me,
"Are you thinking of something?" TAIRA NO KANEMORI


l