Japan poetry and the female poet Komachi: Heartfelt passion from the distant past
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The Japanese female poet, Ono no Komachi, was born in the ninth century. It is widely reported that she was born in 825 and passed away from this cold earth in the year 900. However, the real dates are debated but the same debate doesn’t apply to the adorable and intriguing waka poetry that she produced.
In the poem titled Without End, her words are full of passion and greater meanings. Hence, one can imagine the same passion that is disapproved in the modern period based on countless factors under various constraints. Yet, like Komachi stresses, in dreams based on the heart then the hidden and unknown remains just that.
Komachi wrote:
Without end
Do I think of you and so
Come to me at night.
For on the path of dreams at least,
There’s no one to disapprove!
In the poem titled The Colour of this Flower, you can feel both yearning and melancholy – and how the clock keeps on ticking for all souls born in this world. Komachi writes, pointedly:
The colour of this flower
Has already faded away,
While in idle thoughts
My life goes by,
As I watch the long rains fall.
It is known that Komachi was known for her stunning beauty and high passion. Indeed, this high passion wasn’t always seen in positive ways. However, in the passages of time, it appears that she was before her time.
Overall, her poetry espouses a mixture of foreboding, detachment, and intense emotions based on love. Hence, the passion of Komachi meant that she would be depicted by future generations through the medium of art, noh plays, and literature.
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-colour-of-this-flower/
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/without-end-2/#content
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