100 Poems from the Japanese Paperback – June 17, 1955

My oldest son, during his spare time from being a researcher at MIT, has taught himself to read and write Japanese. Not bad for a kid who struggled with 8th grade English. This book of poems appealed to me and since we have similar reading habits, I thought he would enjoy it and he does. He seems to understand some of their philosophy on life, which is apparent in the sparceness of his apartment furnishings. He dislikes clutter and only keeps that which is useful, with the exception of books. In that respect, he is more like my husband and I who rarely throw out books. We donate them but almost never throw them away. He says he is enjoying the poems and artwork and coming from him that is a rare statement. I think this is a book that would appeal to many readers as it covers many aspects of life, not just a Japanese one.

As Rexroth notes in his introduction, Japanese poets concentrate almost exclusively on the intensity of the human experience. It is thus the most poetic of poetry. Even in translation, the rhythm and cadence and often aching beauty of the poetry survives. As Rexroth wished, it is also English language poetry in its own right. Some was even translated from the translations into other languages such as French. As such, the poetry of three rich cultures sometimes intermingle. But it is always intensely Japanese, melancholy, regretful, astonished by the beauty of nature and the fallen nature of humans. For those of us bound by a single language or even one or more European tongues, this is probably the closest we can come to the richness of Japanese poetry and its very rich indeed.

Rexroth uncovers poems powerful in their concise beauty and intensity for English readers. Helpful notes as well.

A good sample of Japanese poems, though the notes at the end could have been better integrated and detailed. They were also riddled with typos as of posting.

The poems are brief, only a few lines. The language is subtle and restrained and the works are concise, intense and moving. "Out in the marsh reeds a bird cries out in sorrow, as though it had recalled something better forgotten." I have both the print and the Kindle versions. The print version is nicer for its artful page layouts.

I bought this for my granddaughter who has been in the Japanese program at school for many years. I think she liked it because she read a poem immediately when she got it.

These are some of the most beautiful poems. I found it in high school and have given copies to my nieces. Classic.

What can I say...I LOVE this book! It's jammed packed with broken hearted sad love poems, and also up lifting joyful poetry.It rests on my night stand, and even though I've read it cover to cover several times already I always pick it up and read it again...each time it feels like new! LOVE IT!