Role of Poetry in Heian Narrative Prose

1132 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Writing heian era poem

The Heian Period (794—1185 A.D.) is remembered as a period of great creativity and literary innovation by the Japanese court—waka, true Japanese poetry, became established as an art form of its own, independent of Chinese poetry, and Ki no Tsurayuki compiled Japanese poems written by the aristocracy into the famous Kokinwakashū in 905 A.D. Although literature continued to thrive and new forms that were written mainly in prose developed under the court as well, poetry was never forgotten and was constantly included in these narratives. The role of poetry in narrative prose was to express emotions and describe scenery that were perhaps too intense to be restricted to prose, serve as a guideline for poem-writing, and give insight into the method of communication between men and women. Tsurayuki wrote in the preface of the Kokinshū, Kanajō, that poetry was a blend and balance of kotoba (words), kokoro (heart, emotion) and sama (style). It is naturally a very suitable medium for expressing those very emotions that one may feel incapable of putting into words, those majestic or delicate or fleeting sceneries that one may feel even a picture could not capture the true essence of. In 936 A.D., Tsurayuki wrote the Tosa Nikki (Tosa Diary), a record of his return to the capital after serving as the governor of Tosa. Under the guise of a lady attendant, he wrote of the journey’s hardships, and to fully capture the feelings of his fellow travelers, he recorded poems that they supposedly wrote whenever they were overwhelmed by the sorrow of Tsurayuki’s daughter who passed away while he was in Tosa, or saw a particularly moving scene. One such poem expressed the elegant confusion and anguish of one traveler who could not bear the pain of reme... ... middle of paper ... ...Japanese Heian-era romantic relationships (Senior honors thesis). Retrieved Feb. 9, 2011 from https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/ handle/1811/25243/jThesisFinal.pdf. Hooker, R. (1999). The flowering of Japanese literature. Retrieved Feb. 10, 2011 from http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/LIT.HTM. Japanese literature. (2011) In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2011, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/301194/Japanese-literature. Kawabata, Y., & Keene, D. (Tr.) (1998). The tale of the bamboo cutter. New York: Kodansha America Inc. McCullough, H. (1968). Tales of Ise: lyrical episodes from tenth-century Japan. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Sargent, G. W. (Tr.) (1955). Tosa diary. In D. Keene (Ed.), Anthology of Japanese literature from the earliest era to the mid-nineteenth century. New York: Grove Press, Inc.

Show More
Related

  • The Drought Year By Hugh Wright

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities; it is solely used to evoke emotive feelings in the reader in which to convey a message or story. This form of literature has a long history dating back thousands of years and is considered a literacy art form as it uses forms and conventions to evoke differentiating interpretations of words, though the use of poetic devices. Devices such as assonance, figurative language, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve a musical and memorable aspect to the poem. Poems are usually written based on the past experiences of the poet and are greatly influenced by the writer’s morals values and beliefs. Poetry regularly demonstrates and emphasises on the

    Read More

  • Tales of Ise and The Tosa Diary

    1768 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Lanston hughes comparison of two poems

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”

    Read More

  • The Tale of the Heike

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Tale of the Heike is a collection of tales that depict the livelihood of warriors during the Heian and Kamakura period. These tales illustrate that warriors during this period spent their existence dedicated to their duty to the Buddhist Law and that the growing contention arose from each warrior’s devotion and loyalty to the Buddhist Law.

    Read More

  • Racism In 'I Not Racist But' By Anita Heiss

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    ,“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity" as William Wordsworth, the English Romantic poet, stated. Poetry is a way to express vast emotions and feelings in a way which is unique to the poet. Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive responses.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of White Lies By Natasha Trethewey

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poetry is literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feeling and ideas, by the distinctive style and myth. It relies on different devices such as assonance, themes and even the tone to be successful. Even though many poems seems to be different, in some way they have similarities.

    Read More

  • Is there Discrimination against Asian Americans in the Workplace?

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thompson, Krissah. “Author, N. Va. Native Helen Wan on the ‘bamboo ceiling’”. Washingtonpost.com. 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 2 Apr.

    Read More

  • Noh Drama

    1631 Words  | 4 Pages

    Narihira, Ariwara. “The Tales of Ise.” Anthology of Japanese Literature. Ed. Donald Keene. New York: Grove Press, 1955. 67-71.

    Read More

  • Ideal Man and Woman in The Tale of Genji

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Heian period was a peaceful era that is highly regarded in Japan’s history. At this time Japan was beginning to break away from Chinese influence, thus the culture of Japan was morphing into something unique and independent from that of China. An example of resulting change was Japan’s further development of their writing system known as kana, which allowed authors to express their feelings in a more Japanese way. The Japanese court also progressed independently from China and created unique concepts and values such as miyabi “courtliness,” makoto “sincerity,” and aware “sadness of impermanence” (Hooker). The expectations put on men and women in the court during the Heian period must have been concurrent with such values.

    Read More

  • Poetry Compare And Contrast Essay

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Kokinshū was the first imperially commissioned anthology of Waka poetry. The order came from Emperor Daigo and the completion came about the year 905. In the book Early Modern Japanese Literature, authors Haruo and James describe Waka as follows, “Waka, the thirty-one syllable classical poem, generally excluded all forms of language not found in the refined, aristocratic dictation of the Heian classics particularly the Kokinshū, The subject matter was likewise confined to a cluster of highly elegant topics pertaining to love and the four seasons” (171). As the Man’yōshū was written with Chinese ideographs that represented the Japanese phonics sounds, many of the people of that era found it to be too complicated writing system that made it difficult for reading great works of art. The Kokinshū was written in kana making it more accessible and setting the standard for Japanese poetry for years to come.

    Read More

  • I am a rock

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    When reading or listening to poetry, the main objective for me is to feel moved. Happiness, longing, sadness are some of the feelings that can be achieved just by listening to others’ words. It is within these words that creates another world, or separates us from our own. Words all have a certain kind of attachment to them, so if used properly an author can stimulate a reader beyond belief.

    Read More

  • Gender Ideals in Heian Society

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Young Warrior Poem

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    Language has always been the key to how humankind has interacted with each other, so it is only fitting that one of the oldest forms of expression is making written language an art form. Poetry is known to conjure images within our minds and speak to our soul in a profound way. The best poets can use a few lines to make one think and feel something inside on anything such as a political statement, or of the beauty of nature. An excellent example of a poet who made art out of written word is Poṉmuṭiyār in his A Young Warrior. The poem uses its content and form to provide the overall meaning that one should live in peace because life is short.

    Read More

  • Poetry: Rhyme, Rhythm, And Mood

    128 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are an assorted of various characteristics included in poetry including Rhyme, Rhythm, and Mood. Some poems use rhyming words to create a certain effect but not all poems rhyme, poetry that doesn’t rhyme is called “free verse poetry”. Sometimes poets use repetition of sounds or patterns to create a musical effect in their poems, rhythm can be created by using the same number of words or syllables in each line of a poem. Rhythm can be described as the beat of the poem. The mood of a poem is the feeling that it has. A poem can be sad, gloomy, humorous, happy, etc. There are many more various characteristics in poetry including shape, figurative language, descriptive imagery, punctuation and format, sound and tone, and choice of

    Read More

  • What is Poetry?

    327 Words  | 1 Pages

    According to Webster's Dictionary, poetry is defined as "writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm." While this is the technical definition of poetry many writers attempted to further describe what poetry is. There are many contradicting views and no one can agree what is the essence of poetry. Some poets think that poetry is the expression of emotions and rules do not matter, while other poets suggest the poetry is all about the rules and the rhythm that must be followed. The perfect mix to define poetry is somewhere in between.

    Read More

More about Role of Poetry in Heian Narrative Prose

Open Document