During the Heian period, waka (Japanese poetry) was very prominent in society especially among women of the court. Most were written in kana (language used by women). Waka during this period often used the tanka style which is 5-7-5-7-7 syllables per line totaling 31 syllables for the whole poem. The tanka form was popular for people of every social class but it was especially popular among aristocrats and people of the court. In the courts, poems were used politically to increase one’s status or in competition with a rival from court. It was also commonly used as a form of courtship where you would try to win a girl over with a poem rather than by looks and appearance such as in today’s society. Therefore love poems were especially common during this period where lovers would send poems back and forth to each as a form of communication. Poetry can also be seen in a lot of works during this period such as in monogatari and nikki bungaku. Although many poems and stories during this period deal with love, among other things, very few of them deal with hope or end in happiness. The role that poetry served in these works was to serve as a way to express unhappiness and unfulfilled desires during the period which could be attributed to the strong and constant rivalry in the courts. For the purposes of this paper, I will only go over the monogatari and nikki bungaku found during the Heian period.
In monogatari, we see poetry used in a lot of the stories as well as the themes of love and unhappiness. Monogatari translates into “talk of things” which basically describes the storytelling of the ladies of the court during the Heian period. Some examples of poetry in monogatari can be found in Uta monogatari Tsukuri monogatari, g...
... middle of paper ...
...es anger and more sadness. Throughout the diary the poems are written back and forth between the prince to Shikibu and every one of them expresses unhappiness, misery, loneliness and such.
In monogatari and nikki bungaku written during the Heian period, many poems were incorporated into narrative prose to tell a story. There is a lack of positivity in the works and poems and almost all of them seem to be negative. This could be attributed to court life where there is constant rivalry, turmoil, and competition among the aristocracy (the writers of the poems)
Works Cited
Anthology of Japanese Literature, compiled and edited by Donald Keene
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/japan/heian/heian-p.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_poetry#Waka_in_the_early_Heian_period
Encyclopedia of Japan (available through Japan knowledge)
Izumi Shikibu Diary
Personification: 'When Fortune frowns her blackest' is the only example of a personification in this poem. Fortune, which is an inanimate concept, is given the human ability of frowning in this poem. This poetic device is used to capture the attention of the reader and enhance
The speaker’s rocky encounter with her ex-lover is captured through personification, diction, and tone. Overall, the poem recaps the inner conflicts that the speak endures while speaking to her ex-lover. She ponders through stages of the past and present. Memories of how they were together and the present and how she feels about him. Never once did she broadcast her emotions towards him, demonstrating the strong facade on the outside, but the crumbling structure on the inside.
Mimi Khalvati explores the theme of longing in her ten stanza Ghazal, ‘Ghazal.’ Semantic fields of nature and constant refrain help express out the central themes of the poem. Likewise, ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ by Charlotte Mew uses structure and natural imagery to explore the theme of wanting and imbalance in the relationship she presents in her poem.
Literature shows us the changes of our society from time to time. It also gives us an idea about people, culture, politics, gender traditions, as well as an overall view of previous civilizations. As a part of literature, poetry introduces us to different cultures with different perspectives. Ancient Egypt and ancient China may differ in terms of culture, politics, economic stability, tradition, or even in religious belief. However, in poetry, especially in love lyrics both Egyptian and Chinese poems portray common area of describing women, social attitudes toward love, sexuality and the existence of romance or selfishness in relationships. . If we look at the Egyptian poem “My god, my Lotus” and the Chinese poem “Fishhawk”, we will see both poems have similarities in describing relationships. Also, they have the similarity of imagining the lovers and their expression of love toward each other. However, both poems have some significant differences in terms of representing female sexuality, gender disparity and the display of love.
As seen in examples of monogatari such as Tales of Ise or nikki with The Tosa Diary, poetry is a very much used tool in the writings. While other examples of the two writing styles use poetry, these two examples best demonstrate the breaks in the writing style changes from a narrative and turns into something that takes on a more personal voice when it clearly goes into its poetic style. These poems are made to compliment the setting, such as in a poem credited to the former governor in The Tosa Diary where there is a description of the waves as they illustrate the governor’s sadness as he leaves Kyoto (83). Another point seen from this poem is that the governor is meant to be very good at constructing his poems and with it comes an example of a good poem as opposed to something that a commoner would have to write. Likewise, in the tenth of the Tales of Ise there are poems describing the love a man has for a woman while he is also comparing the physical setting, such as the mountains. There are comparisons to Mt. Fuji and Mt. Utsu while they represent the waiting for his love or the beautiful vision that the man sees in his dreams with his love respectively (75-6). Such images of the scenery as seen alongside the desires or longing of those who write the poems are examples of how the poems are used to strengthen the narrative prose. Without the poems, the narrative prose in either the monogatari or the nikki would simply be a story and the significance would be lessened as there would not be the personal impact emanating from the characters and their feelings since a reader would only be able to read the description of the events and not get a feel of the thoughts from any of the characters.
In the poems “The Wanderer”, “The Wife’s Lament”, and “Cuchilainn's Boyhood Deeds” there are journeys that each of the characters go through in the poems. In The Wanderer and “The Wife's Lament” the characters are dealing with the lose of a what they called life. In “Cuchilainn's Boyhood Deeds” the young man in the poem is seeking glory and honor. The poem dapple in both a physical journey and a mental or emotional dilemma. In “The Wanderer” the warrior is sent off in exile and he dreams of finding a new lord and a new hall to become apart of. In “The Wifes Lament”, the wife is also living in exile because he husband family has separated them; she images a life where she isnt so lonely anymore. “Cuchulainn's Boyhood Deeds” is about a boy who imagines himself doing heroic deed to gain favor, honor, and to become a legend. Each of the characters has a physical journey that are in the mist of, but while in the middle of those trial they are also faced with emotional pain and longing for a better life.
Being a student interested in the field of biology, one knows that studying life in the past plays an important role in the history of organisms that lived on this earth. Similarly, being Japanese, studying the past of how Japanese were plays an important role in Japanese history. Despite all the general aspects of life that have changed from the Heian period, the one idea that has definitely not changed is the romantic relationships between a man and woman. Though the general concept is the same, from reading The Tale of Genji, it is what was considered the ideal woman and ideal man that were both surprising and thus worth discussing.
Short stories like Hisaye Yamamoto’s Seventeen Syllables, reveals something about the time period and how the author lived; we recognize these connotations in her essay “Seventeen Syllables” -- A Symbolic Haiku, through her logical outlook of everything. Yamamoto wants to educate American readers of the multicultural struggles that are brought upon by the immigrated, (mostly women), to America for freedom. She shows her purpose of everything through her special attention, the roles in woman, both Japanese and American, the metaphorical meaning of haikus, the seasons figurative meanings, the number three and seventeen and finally, the social obstacles between both the West and eastern hemispheres.
The poets integrated ?metaphysical conceits? as focal parts of these poems. Along with these, they used effective language as a basis for their convincing arguments, they included subjects of periodical importance (e.g. ?courtship? and ?religion?), and use very clever structures that are manipulated in order to make the poem read in the desired way. The very clear indication of the theme in question was strongly aided by the way in which the personas portrayed the emotions they felt and the way they showed their attitudes towards the subject. Considering all these factors, the poets made critical arguments to the mistresses in order to alter their views, thus changing their minds, on denying the poets the sex that they desired so strongly.
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
The Tale of Murasaki, by Liza Dalby, is about Murasaki, a young woman who lived in the Heian period (794-1185) of Japan. She writes a story called The Tale of Genji, and earns so much recognition for it that she is invited to court to attend the empress. Not only was she known for her writing, but she drew attention by learning Chinese. In the story, a Chinese education is essential for a man hoping to be a high-ranked member of society. Because the Japanese considered Chinese culture as superior, waka, a popular form of Japanese poetry, carries less cultural value in the novel. Therefore, both high-class women and men have to learn about wakas and use them daily. A woman who can compose good wakas and is beautiful would have the best chances of going to court, which is the best way to guarantee a comfortable life. Liza Dalby’s The Tale of Murasaki accurately portrays the abilities of each sex, the importance of Chinese learning, and the role of Japanese poetry in the Heian period of Japan.
Despite the differences between the characters in the poems, I will also go on to say how the preoccupation with death and violence all seem to stem from the apparently unstable minds of the characters; from the instability brought on by varying emotions such as grief, jealousy, resentment, guilt and madness, and the fact that these emotions may lead to paranoia.
Pain can be expressed in both sorrow and anger. Sappho creates great imagery in this fragmented poem by taking pain into natural, moving actions. She expresses how her feelings change from hurt to anger and how heavy pain can really be. Sappho uses physical movement to express her emotions in different directions. She also emphasizes how she sees revenge as the ultimate goal in order to recover from that pain.
Poetry is the most compressed form of literature, which should be read slowly and savored attentively. Poets employ different poetic techniques to convey their ideas, opinions, and express their feelings. Some poems can be understood easily while others seam vague. But whatever they are, they all contain some common elements of poetry such as theme, figurative language, and tone, etc. ¡§Constantly risking absurdity and death¡¨ and ¡§betting on the muse¡¨ are two poems which are written by two different poets. By comparing and contrasting these two poems, the full beauty of the poems can be greatly appreciated and their theme can be deeply explored.
Baugh et al (2006 p57 to p60) give 9 rules of haiku, which I shall use to compare the two poems. I shall then use the study diamond to comment on the effects the poems have on me, the techniques used, the contexts of the two poems and their meanings.