River of Stars Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko

by Hamill, Sam

• ISBN13: 9781570621468
• ISBN10: 1570621462
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-03-18
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

Yosano Akiko (1878-942) is one of the most famous Japanese writers of the twentieth century. She is the author of more than seventy-five books, including twenty volumes of original poetry and the definitive translation into modern Japanese of theTale of the Genji.Although probably best known for her exquisite erotic poetry, Akiko's work also championed the causes of feminism, pacifism, and social reform. Akiko's poetry is profoundly direct, often passionate, exposing the complexity of everyday emotions in poetic language stripped of artifice and presenting the full breadth of her poetic vision. Included are ninety-one of Akiko's tanka (a traditional five-line form of verse) and a dozen of her longer poems written in the modern style.

Author Biography

Keiko Matsui Gibson is a poet and translator who teaches literature at Kanda University of International Studies in Chiba, Japan.

Sam Hamill has translated more than two dozen books from ancient Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Latin, and Estonian. He has published fourteen volumes of original poetry. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the Mellon Fund. He was awarded the Decoración de la Universidad de Carabobo in Venezuela, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Poetry from Washington Poets Association, and the PEN American Freedom to Write Award. He cofounded and served as Editor at Copper Canyon Press for thirty-two years and is the Director of Poets Against War.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Tanka	1	(102)
Modern---Style Poems	103	(28)
Mountain Moving Day	105	(1)
The Only Question	106	(1)
A Wish about Poetry	107	(2)
The Universe and Myself	109	(1)
Self-Awareness	110	(1)
Women Are Plunder	111	(5)
The Town of Amazement	116	(3)
Cold Supper	119	(3)
You Shall Not Be Killed, Brother!	122	(3)
Love	125	(1)
First Labor Pains	126	(2)
A Blow from My Son August	128	(3)
Index of First Lines	131	(3)
About the Translators and the Artist	134