You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
RE: Still Alive :: Haiku of Japan #86
We would be mistaken to think Japanese men are without emotional depths, because they seldom express their emotions (in public). Thanks to these posts on Japanese poets we are learning how full of emotion and very socially orientated the Japanese can be; they just concentrate this into words of great beauty (alternating weight and lightness). There is no overflowing Keats or highflown Blake or stilted Larkin. Something very rich, which a western eye might easily overlook without your help. Not that I personally have .... a great fan of haiku already, and can't wait to read the new Murakami....
Yes, exactly. There is just as much emotion in Japanese poetry, it is just not as straightforward as we are used to in the West. Famously, Soseki was once asked by a student how to translate "I love you" into Japanese. Soseki remarked that the Japanese would never be so direct, but would instead say something liketsuki ga tottemo aoi naa—The moon is so blue tonight.