The 5th Selected Works
TITLE
The Naif
(Seken Shirazu)
(Seken Shirazu)
AUTHOR
Translator
FRENCH / Dominique Palmé
Originally Published by:
Shichosha (1993)
KEY POINTS
- Life and death, words and lives, oneself and others, terrestrial and cosmic: Poetry, which is a question, is born from such disparities.
- This is a masterpiece collection of poems, beginning with the death of the poet's father, making poetic assessment of the naked existence and the depth of solitude.
- Written by one of Japan's leading poets of the day.
SYNOPSIS
A series of poems on the theme of naked existence and the depth of solitude is included in this book published in 1993. The gifted poet tries to probe into such questions regarding the theme as "what is poetry?" "who is a poet?" and "who am I?" using the power of language. Beginning with "My Father's Death," Tanikawa, both as the son and poet, fixed his eyes upon the death of his father, a well-known philosopher, who had passed away at the age of 94 years and four months, and cast his straight gaze at death itself in writing the series of poems in the book, as a result of which the readers' hearts are deeply stirred by his philosophical contemplations. Following quotation is from the book:
Not only when eating or chatting with other people, but also even when thinking about poetry, a poet is away from poetry "A Rudimentary Explanation of an Ideal Poem(Risouteki na Shi no Shohoteki na Setsumei)"
What on earth is poetry then? Looking back on our everyday life, we find that all we do is just stand riveted to a spot and unable to move forward. Life and death, words and lives, oneself and others, terrestrial and cosmic... Born spontaneously in those disparities and dilemma, poetry is an eternal and mysterious question.
