This poem about #cicadas is from a sequence of #waka written by #MinamotoNoAkinaka (1064-1135)
Yamakawa no
Iwa kosu nami ni
Uchisoete
Tani hibiku nari
Semi no morogoe
mountain yama river kawa of no
reef iwa as jagged peaks of rocks sticking up thru waves nami in a rapid kosu straining or crossing over ni - locative
uchi intensifier prefix "VERY" little / great soete sou following accompanying running along
tani valley hibiku echo sound nari verb to be archaic
semi - cicada no - of morogoe compound noun moro together goe voice voices sounds in unison
My notes I hope show why learning even just a little bungo deepens one's appreciation of waka.
Translated directly one loses most of the assonance ?
I will try though to give you something not too prosaic !
in a mountain valley
waves break over rapids
following so closely
the valley fills with echos of both
the chorus of cicadas
A Gwailo's View of Han Zi ! A Blog featuring my experiments with Han Zi and digital typographic art and articles on Chinese derived characters. Also some articles on Chinese characters in general and their use of multiple Asian languages.
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