Izumi Shikibu

Japanese poetry is a favorite of mine, and so it is no surprised that I adored this collection. The introduction gives a short biography of the two women – short because little is known about either. From there, the introduction moves into the culture and tradition of poetry writing in the era when these women lived (800 AD – 1100?AD). In the court of Japan, writing poetry was considered an essential skill, on that could bring fame or censure. To write poetry well was considered the show more height of good breeding and intelligence. These two women, Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu are considered two of the best female poets to ever live, both in Japan and in the world, and are part of the Thirty-Six Female Immortals of Poetry. After reading this collection, it is obvious why they are considered the greats. With economy of words, with striking imagery and subtly, both women express emotions from deep within the human experience. While it would be impossible to include all the ones that I loved, I have offered a small sample below.

I thought to pick
the flower of forgetting
for myself,
but I found it
already growing in his heart


My longing for you –
Too strong to keep within bounds.
At least no one can blame me
When I go to you at night
Along the Road of Dreams

The Hunting Lanterns
On Mount Ogura have gone,
The deer are calling for their mates….
How easily I might sleep,
If only I didn’t share their fears.

In this world
Love has no color –
Yet how deeply
My body
Is stained by yours.


When the water-freezing
Winter arrives
The floating reds look rooted,
As if stillness
Were their own desire.

As for the collection, this is perfect. Editor Jane Hirschfield and translator Mariko Aratani bring to life these women, and let their words and hearts and experiences live again. At the end of the collection is a find explanation of how the word were translated, part of what makes this collection so worthwhile. Perfect for the lover of poetry, or the student of Japan. show less

‘’On a night
when the moon
shines as brightly as this,
the unspoken thoughts
of even the most discreet heart might
be seen.’’
(Izumi Shikibu)

Ono Komachi and Izumi Shikibu are the two leading figures of Japanese poetry during the Heian era. In a period when men were obliged to write in Chinese, women were exempt from this rule, and this independence led to the flourishing of poetry that moves the modern reader, giving voice to feelings we are all destined to suffer.

Yes. Emphasis on show more ‘suffer’ because love, especially the ‘unsafe’ kind of love (‘illicit’ or unrequited), is the worst emotional torture.There is a bitter truth here that anyone who has loved 'unsafely' will instantly recognize…

*Why do we use the word ‘illicit’? I will never understand. We turn love and desire into something sordid, almost criminal. I find the hypocrisy exhausting; these poems prove that such 'forbidden' longing is the most honest state of being.*

‘’You ask my thoughts
through the long night?
I spent it listening
to the heavy rain
beating against the window.’’
(Izumi Shikibu)

The two ladies welcome the reader into a world of longing, desire, elegant eroticism, meditation. But there is also loss, despair, uncertainty, pain. The arrival of the autumnal days and the spring blossoms that eventually wither and are scattered by the blowing wind. Komachi is the autumn, Shikibu is the spring. They sing of the desire for the one who may or may not come, the one who leaves you in limbo because this is what happens when you are stupid enough to let your guard down. The world’s eternal lie…

‘’This abandoned house
shining
in the mountain village -
how many nights
has the autumn moon spent here?’’
(Ono Komachi)

All the while, the one witness, the comforter, the sole companion that reminds us we are not as alone as we may feel, is the moon. The ink dark moon that watches the longing, the silver moonlight which lightens the path of the lovers, the twilight that encompasses every ache in a heart numb with hunger. Even the principles of Buddhism and the interconnected courses of the material and the incorporeal become a step to ascend the climax of an existence that is hungry for love. At least, it makes us feel alive…If broken…

This edition includes a fascinating Appendix on the impossible task of translating poetry and an insightful Notes on the Poems section.

Poetry written ages ago. Fully relatable. Fully sensitive. Fully human.

‘’What is it
about this twilight hour?
Even the sound
of a barely perceptible breeze
pierces the heart’’
(Izumi Shikibu)

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ show less

It took me a while to get beneath the surface of these poems, perseverance being rewarded. Of the two poets, I preferred Shikibu to Komachi; she seems to touch in a broader range of topics, though this could be due to fewer of her poems having survived, the smaller collection of her works in this volume, the editor's selection, or a combination of the three.

In addition to, and often at the same time as, writing about love, Shikibu talks of the transient and impermanent nature of existence; show more bereavement, loss and grief; enlightenment, acceptance and contentment.

The introduction, appendix and notes were very welcome to this Westerner with little (that is, zero) knowledge of the cultural context and literary antecedents upon which the poems are founded. With that help, I was able to appreciate some of the subtleties of the verses, which I'm sure we'll reward rereading.

The phrase "ink dark moon" is not used by either poet (unless I missed it), although the individual words appear many times thought the collection. The introduction mentions the ancient Greek use of standard poetic descriptions, citing Homer's "wine dark sea" as an example, and I think that's the allusion made in the title.

Beautiful and poignant verses. show less

“The autumn night
Is long only in name—
We’ve done no more
Than gaze at each other
And it’s already dawn.”

I love love poems

“The bamboo’s
old root
hasn’t changed at all—
Is there even one night
he sleeps at home? No.

3.5