Synopses & Reviews
The definitive anthology-unrivalled in scope and content A millennium and a half old, Japan's poetry is widely known and loved around the world. Covering the earliest primitive period through the Nara, Heian, Kamakura, Muramachi, and Edo periods, right up to the modern day, The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse contains more than 700 poems, including short forms such as tanka and haiku, as well as folk-poetry, and more complex verse with which Western readers may be less familiar. Whether read for pleasure or scholarship, this accessible translation displays the full wit, sorrow, and subtlety of Japanese poetry and will remain the authoritative volume for years to come.
Review
Synopsis
Poetry remains a living part of the culture of Japan today. The cliches of everyday speech are often to be traced to famous ancient poems, and the traditional forms of poetry are widely known and loved. The congenial attitude comes from a poetical history of about a millennium and a half. This classic collection of verse therefore contains poetry from the earliest, primitive period, through the Nara, Heian, Kamakura, Muromachi and Edo periods, ending with modern poetry from 1868 onwards, including the rising poets Tamura Ryuichi and Tanikawa Shuntaro.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
About the Author
Geoffrey Bownas is a scholar and the author of several books about Japanese culture and literature.
Anthony Thwaite is an award-winning poet.