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JAPANESE LITERATURE
known and most universally studied of all the numerous anthologies of Japanese poetry.
SOME TANKA FROM THE "KOKINSHIU"
"Who could it have beenThat first gave loveThis name?'Dying' is the plain wordHe might well have used."
Neatly rendered by Mr. Chamberlain:—
"O love! who gave thee thy superfluous name?Loving and dying—is it not the same?"
The personification of love, however, is hardly in the Japanese style.
"Do I forget theeEven for so brief a spaceAs the ears of grainOn the fields of autumnAre lit up by the lightning's glare?"
"I fell asleep while thinking of thee;Perchance for this reasonI saw thee in a dream!Had I only known it to be oneI would not have awaked."
"Shall we call that only a dreamWhich we seeWhile asleep:This vain world itselfI cannot regard as a reality."
"I know that my lifeHas no assurance of to-morrow;But to-day,So long as darkness has not yet fallen,I will grieve for him who has passed away."
