Masaoka Shiki: Selected Poems
Here are graceful and timeless poems by one of Japan's greatest modern writers, rendered by a master translator. Masaoka Shiki (1867--1902) is credited with modernizing Japan's two traditional verse forms, haiku and tanka. Born at a time of social and cultural change in Japan, Shiki welcomed the new influences from the West and responded to them by reinvigorating the native haiku and tanka forms. He freed them from outdated conventions, made them viable for artistic expression in modern...
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These poems — more than a hundred haiku, several tanka, and three kanshi — are arranged chronologically within each genre, revealing the development of Masaoka Shiki's (1867-1902) art and the seamless way in which he wove his life and illness into his poetry. Watson's introduction deftly explores the course of Shiki's life and places him in relation to Japanese history, literature and thought.Japan TimesThis new selection of [Shiki's] poems, from the hand of a distinguished scholar and translator, is particularly welcome. . . . It was Shiki, the short-lived critic, essayist and poet, who launched a major reform of haiku in the Meiji Era and revitalized the miniature poem for the century ahead. In place of the word-games and imitation to which haiku practice had by then descended, Shiki suggested the 'shasei' or 'sketch from life.
\ Japan TimesThis new selection of [Shiki's] poems, from the hand of a distinguished scholar and translator, is particularly welcome.... It was Shiki, the short-lived critic, essayist and poet, who launched a major reform of haiku in the Meiji Era and revitalized the miniature poem for the century ahead. In place of the word-games and imitation to which haiku practice had by then descended, Shiki suggested the 'shasei' or 'sketch from life.'\ \ \ \ \ \ Japan TimesThis new selection of [Shiki's] poems, from the hand of a distinguished scholar and translator, is particularly welcome. . . . It was Shiki, the short-lived critic, essayist and poet, who launched a major reform of haiku in the Meiji Era and revitalized the miniature poem for the century ahead. In place of the word-games and imitation to which haiku practice had by then descended, Shiki suggested the 'shasei' or 'sketch from life.\ \ \ BooknewsA collection of poems from the prolific Japanese poet Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902). There are 144 haiku, 34 tanka, and 4 (a classical Chinese poem form). Known for being influenced by the West before such influence was popular, Shiki wrote over 2,000 poems in tanka form and 25,000 haiku. Those selected here are a mix of famous works and those that the translator found appealing. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.\ \
