Like Underground Water: The Poetry of Mid-Twentieth Century Japan Review

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(More customer reviews)Here is one of the most beautiful, evocative anthologies of poetry that I've come across in a long time. Poetry is always difficult to describe & review -- but think of the qualities you'd associate with the Japanese worldview, in its exquisite detail & color, its understated yet passionate expression -- and then stir in Surrealism, symbolism, the Beats, Existentialism, the haunting presence of the Second World War, the awareness of 20th Century absurdity & meaningless deaths, the rise of the female voice, and the countless beauties of Nature.
80 poets are represented in these pages, their work spanning most of the 20th Century. Each has a distinctive style & tone, which we're allowed to sample in 2 or 3 poems from each poet. The overall effect is that of an ever-unrolling scroll, one that changes with time, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes abruptly & shockingly. These poems are always engaged with the world, while exploring the inner universe of each poet, so that we see everything with new eyes as we go from poet to poet.
None of this work is impossibly esoteric or academic, although the erudition of the poets is obvious. Yet while some of it is deceptively simple on the outside, it's the simplicity of a koan, one of those Zen questions intended to cut through everyday patterns of thought. This is one of the few poetry anthologies I return to again & again -- most highly recommended!

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