The Ink Dark Moon

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 Editor Jane Hirschfield and translator Mariko Aratani have created an edition that brings the story of the poems to life with a detailed introduction and notes on the translation.

Report

These poems take us to the back corridors of Heian Period life and reveal the sexual intrigues that so often occurred under the cover of darkness... the seductive, free-spirited erotic environment unfolds through these sensuous poems Japan Times

Product details

• Authors: Ono no Komachi, Izumi Shikibu
• Assisted by: Nikita Gill (Introduction), Mariko Aratani (Translation), Jane Hirshfield (Translation), Hirshfield Jane (Translation)
• Publisher: Vintage UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 19.01.2023
• EAN: 9781784878245
• ISBN: 978-1-78487-824-5
• No. of pages: 240
• Dimensions: 129 mm x 178 mm x 15 mm
• Series: Vintage Classics Love Poems
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Japan, POETRY / Ancient & Classical, POETRY / Women Authors, POETRY / Subjects & Themes / Love & Erotica, POETRY / Asian / Japanese, Of specific Gay & Lesbian interest, Poetry by individual poets, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Relating to LGBTQ+ people, 10th century, c 900 to c 999