The Kokinshu: Weekly Reading
Each time the idle year
comes to another end
the snow falls ever more deeply
while the number of
my days piles still higher
~ Ariwara no Motokata
The Kokinshu is a compilation of well over a thousand short poems composed by Japanese poets in the Heian period (as ordered by Emperer Uda). It dates all the way back roughly to the year 905. I have fallen in love with these poems! The book I'm pulling these poems from deserve the following credits: John Timothy Wixted (Author), Leonard Grzanka (Author), Laurel Rasplica Rodd (Translator), Mary Catherine Henkenius (Translator) The book itself can be purchased on Amazon if you follow this link. Please keep in mind that The Kokinshu has been published by many different publishers and translated by many different people over time. I'm simply sharing with you the translations from one book.