The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse: From the Earliest Times to the Present (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works Japanese Series)

I have loved all kinds of poetry most of my life, but my favorite kinds of poetry have always been poetry from Japan, China and other Asian countries. Over the years I have read numerous books on Asian poetry and when I saw this 285 page soft cover book (The Penguin book of Japanese Verse: from the earliest times to the present, translated and with an introduction by Geoffrey Bownas and Anthony Thwaite) on Amazon for a bargain price I had to have it.This is truly an amazing book containing more than 700 Japanese poems. There are Tanka poems, Haiku poems and Senryu poems with numerous poets throughout the ages. This book also explains in great detail in the front section Japanese poetry and Japan’s poets. This book is organized by various periods in Japan. It begins with primitive poetry and the Nara period (to AD 794) and moves on to poems written in the Heian period (794-1185) – Kamakura and Muromachi periods (1185-1603) – Edo period (1603-1868) and ends up in the modern period (1868).If you are seeking a very detailed presentation of Japanese poetry of all kinds throughout history, this is a must book for your personal library. I loved it. This is a book you can also use as an excellent reference source on Japanese poetry.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Martial Art and Warrior Haiku and Senryu)

...As I tend to do on the kindle. Japanese verse shares with its Chinese progenitors a calm, evocative, meditative beauty. Had i wanted to become more expert, this book has the resources for a good start. In depth introductory materials and extensive notes are all there but unobtrusive. I plan to reread my favorites soon and do some memorization.

The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse travelled with me last fall, when I walked (more or less) in Basho's foot-steps as he described "The Narrow Road to the Far North." Where possible, his verses were read aloud in the places where he wrote them. This book is broader than Basho, covering at least 500 years and maybe longer from the earliest Japanese verse to contemporary verse. It is a splendid background for Basho (or another poet ofr your choice) giving a sweep of change in form, in style, in language, in sensibility as well as a river of continuity in sensitivity to nature and seeing the large in the small. The oldest poetry is delicate, attuned like an autumn leaf to the winds. The newest is edgy, even angry, and seemingly aimed at being those autumn winds blowing in social changes.As such, the Peguin Book of Japanese Verse deserves a home on your shelf, if Japanese verse & sensibilities speak to you at all.Why then, four stars rather than five? Because the translations may be an excellent compromise between literal and literate (not speaking Japanese, I can't say) but compared to other translations of the same poems, it seems heavy, Consider the frog who jumped into water: in one of the best translations (from the point of view of beauty and resonances), we hear first the sound, then learn of the source. It's an old frog, evoking the changing seasons and autumn-winter, and it is jumping into a well, evoking a depth, the underworld, not a pond. Makes no difference one might say? But it does, I think.So by all means, read and enjoy this book including the excellent & erudite essays, then read some other translations too.

pleasant to read, helpful in this pandemic.

Nice selection of poetry.

If you are interested in Japanese poetry, this is a MUST own book. The introduction runs the reader through the history of Japanese poetry, including its place in the history and culture of Japan. There are also extensive notes on the types and styles, the meanings and themes, traditions and impact - as well as the grammar and translations. As for the poems themselves, one can never really definitively judge a poem for its emotional impact. Poems can be judged on adherence to form, word choice, imagery, and other technical aspects - but "good" or "bad" is in the hands of the reader, and changes from person to person, and era to era. That being said, this is a fine collection, meant to introduce the Western Reader to the fine, delicate, and extensive art of poetry in Japan, of which the Japanese have shown themselves to be Masters.

This is a presant thank you.

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Compehensive anthology throughout history by Bownas and Thwaite and you cant get more sympathetic teatment or translation ability than that.Thoroghly recommended.