Skip to content
Home/ Music: Selected Poems
Music: Selected Poems

Music: Selected Poems

by Naka, Taro
No customer reviews yet ISBN 9784907359232

Taro Naka (1922-2014) is one of the most respected poets in post-war Japan, having won several major Japanese poetry prizes. His poetry reflects his life-long exploration of Buddhism, traditional and modern literature, language, art, and philosophy. He developed a poetics that paid attention to what he describes as the visual, phonetic, and historical aspects of words and how each word is a unique combination of these. The poems in this volume are selected from across his poetic output of some seventy years, ranging from his stark, uncompromising depictions of the war and its immediate aftermath to the formal experimentation of the 1965 collection often considered his magnum opus, Music - from which this book takes its title - and The First Emperor, his 2003 nō play. Music, consisting of strong translations by Andrew Houwen and Chikako Nihei, and including an illuminating introduction, is the first book-length collection of Naka's work in English.

About the author

Product details

Pub dateJul 17, 2018
ISBN-104907359233
ISBN-139784907359232
LanguageEnglish
Last updated 2026-03-12 22:30
$14.16 $15.00 5% off
You save $0.84 · list price $15.00
In stock — ships in 24 hours with free tracking
Delivery by Monday, September 14, 2026
Qty
Sign in to Add to Saved list
Free delivery on orders over $35.
15-day returns. Any reason.
Secure checkout. We never store card details.

Readers who bought this also bought

More from Asian - Japanese
See all
Penguin Book of Haiku
<b>First Penguin volume</b><br> <b>Of best Japanese haiku</b><br> <b>Vivid translations</b> <p/>Now a global poetry, the haiku was originally a Japanese verse form that flourished from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Although renowned for its minimalism and brevity, usually running three lines in seventeen syllables, and by its use of natural imagery to make Zen-like observations about reality, in fact the haiku is much more: it can be erotic, funny, crude and mischievous. Presenting over a thousand exemplars in vivid and engaging translations by Adam L. Kern, this anthology offers an illuminating introduction to this widely celebrated, if misunderstood, art form.
$13.47
Tales of Ise
<b>One of the three seminal works of Japanese literature--a beautiful collection of poems and tales that offers an unparalleled insight into ancient Japan<br></b><br>Along with the <i>Tale of Genji</i> and <i>One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each, </i>the <i>Tales of Ise</i> is considered one of the three most important works of Japanese literature. A poem-tale collection from the early Heian period, it contains many stories of amorous adventures, faithful friendship, and travels in exile, framing the exquisite poems at the work's heart. <p/>The <i>Tales of Ise</i> has influenced <i>waka</i>, Noh, tales, and diaries since the time it was written, and is still the source of endless inspiration in novels, poetry, <i>manga, </i>and cartoons. This volume has been translated by Peter MacMillan and includes a preface by the renowned Japanologist Donald Keene. <p/>For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
$12.78
One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each
One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each
$9.31
Angel at the Earth's Extreme: Collected Poems
Chuya, Nakahara
$13.47
Ryōkan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan
Ryōkan
$33.80
Modern Japanese Tanka: An Anthology
Ueda, Makoto
$41.88