/lit/ - Literature

>>23309015

>Down to this generation
>It has constantly been told
>Of how the emperors of long ago
>Ruled all the underheaven
>From Naniwa shining afar.
>To speak of it is awesome beyond words.
>When in lithe spring
>Bright with eight thousand kinds of flowers,
>Our godlike sovereign looked upon the mountains,
>The view was wondrous,
>When he looked upon the rivers
>The scene was good.
>Delighting to see that all was prospering,
>He built a palace here
>And here resided.
>Barges bearing tribute
>From the four directions of the realm
>Are pulled through the canal;
>Boats row upstream in the morning calm,
>Pole downstream on the evening tide,
>Thronging to be first
>Like flocking waterfowl.
>As I look out upon the sea plain from the shore,
>Small boats are scattered everywhere
>Over the eightfold whitecapped waves,
>Fishing for food to offer to our lord.
>How wide the land,
>How vast the scene—
>Truly it is fit to have made a palace here
>From ages past.
This poem, a chōka, is written in the old palace praising form, but is entitled, "Expressing My Own Humble Thoughts."

And I'll stop with a long time favorite of mine by Ōshikōchi no Mitsune (898-922).

>Yuki furite
>hito mo kayowanu
>michi nare ya
>ato haku mo naku
>omoikiyu ran
trans.
>The snow falls on
>the road where
>not a person comes to see me
>and will I melt in lonely grief
>leaving no trace of my transitory life?
I forget who the translation is by, sadly.

I'm glad you enjoyed, anon. I would love to discuss more, but thoughts of tomorrow's labors are knocking on my thoughts. I must off to bed. If the thread is still up tomorrow, maybe we can chat then.