known and most universally studied of all the numerous anthologies of Japanese poetry.
SOME TANKA FROM THE "KOKINSHIU"
"Who could it have been
That first gave love
This name?
'Dying' is the plain word
He 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 thee
Even for so brief a space
As the ears of grain
On the fields of autumn
Are lit up by the lightning's glare?"
"I fell asleep while thinking of thee;
Perchance for this reason
I saw thee in a dream!
Had I only known it to be one
I would not have awaked."
"Shall we call that only a dream
Which we see
While asleep:
This vain world itself
I cannot regard as a reality."
"I know that my life
Has 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."
