#update bumping this a year later 2015 cos its "seasonal" late autumn / winter my time zone / hemisphere #autumn #waka #noin #japanesepoetry #poetry
Okay here's a waka by Nooin 11th century AD
( My arm has finally improved enuff to allow typing with BOTH hands instead of ONE finger!)
Arashi fuku / mimuro no yama no / momiji ba wa /
tatsuta no kawa no / nishiki narikeri
This is another of those waka that seem deceptively simple but when you contemplate it realise each syllable works in exquisite harmony with others.
Arashi fuku a fierce wind blowing down off the mountains
Mimuro yama is an area south east of Kyoto
Momiji ba wa maple leaves
Tatsuta is a river which currently has a special riverside path and park
nishiki narikeri brocade become like
the wind has scattered the leaves all over the river's surface
so prosaic a statement in English and yet poetic in Japanese !
