Izumi Shikibu

Here is a collection of sexy, brief, fleeting poems about love, lust and longing. They originate from a time in Japanese history where aristocratic women of the Heian court were free to marry and conduct love affairs according to their desires. Education and refinement were so highly valued that the courtly manner of expressing oneself, whether to give condolences for a death, to send back a forgotten fan, or to heighten the anticipation of a lover's visit, was with a poem of just five lines. A convention of secrecy surrounding love affairs fills these verses with palpable emotion. These vivid and erotic poems express love in all its forms, and do so with amazing economy of words, unforgettable imagery and breath-taking modernity. INTRODUCED BY NIKITA GILL'They are full of dreams, of autumns, of lovers known or not yet met, of desire, wonderment, loneliness' Irish Times Translated by Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratani, this is an edition that brings the story of the poems to life with a detailed introduction and notes on the translation.

Izumi Shikibu (978- ), author, femme fatale, and prominent member of the Heian court, was first and foremost a poet--the greatest of her time, perhaps the greatest her country has ever known. Incorporated in numerous imperial anthologies, Izumi Shikibu's work has been admired through the ages. In this richly poetic diary Izumi Shikibu shares with us each and every turn in her tempestuous relationship with Prince Atsumichi, a relationship that began with the casual exchange of poems, deepened in the course of numerous setbacks, and culminated in her joining the prince at the imperial court. The Izumi Shikibu nikki is not only a literary giant's account of her most intimate thoughts; it is an unforgettable glimpse into an utterly enchanting word--a world 'dowered with a rare and exquisite taste, ' a world filled with color and fragrance, but above all a word in which 'everywhere, everywhere, there is poetry.'

The Heian period (794-1186AD) of Japanese history - the setting of The Tale of Genji - was an era of unsurpassed refinement in art and literature, in which women played a unique role. Dominated by the mighty Fujiwara clan, the Japanese court was the bright centre of a world in which rare and exquisite taste in poetry, art, calligraphy, dress, incense, colour, even the selection of gifts, was cultivated to an amazing degree. This gossamer veil of beauty masked another reality of political intrigue and passionate rivalries which intensified the heady atmosphere of a court in which flirtations and love affairs were endemic. Cultivated and artistic women held a privileged position at court, and they perfected the literary genre of diaries that combined subtlety, strength and starkness in their depictions of life in this enclosed and dream-like world. These diaries are among the jewels of Japanese literature and three are presented here - The Sarashina Diary, the Diary of Izumi Shikibu and the Diary of Murasaki Shikibu - with an introduction by the poet Amy Lowell, an early admirer of Japanese literature.

First published in 2005. The Heian period (794-1186AD) of Japanese history - the setting of The Tale of Genji - was an era of unsurpassed refinement in art and literature, in which women played a unique role. Dominated by the mighty Fujiwara clan, the Japanese court was the bright centre of a world in which rare and exquisite taste in poetry, art, calligraphy, dress, incense, colour, even the selection of gifts, was cultivated to an amazing degree. This gossamer veil of beauty masked another reality of political intrigue and passionate rivalries which intensified the heady atmosphere of a court in which flirtations and love affairs were endemic. Cultivated and artistic women held a privileged position at court, and they perfected the literary genre of diaries that combined subtlety, strength and starkness in their depictions of life in this enclosed and dream-like world. These diaries are among the jewels of Japanese literature and three are presented here - The Sarashina Diary, the Diary of Izumi Shikibu and the Diary of Murasaki Shikibu - with an introduction by the poet Amy Lowell, an early admirer of Japanese literature.

These translated poems were written by 2 ladies of the Heian court of Japan between the ninth and eleventh centuries A. D. The poems speak intimately of their authors' sexual longing, fulfillment and disillusionment.