Born in 1903, Shimpei Kusano has long been among Japanās best-loved poets.Ā
Asking Myself/ Answering MyselfĀ introduces him to a wide American audience, with selections from over half a century of his work, in translation by Cid Corman. There is scarcely a child (or an adult) in Japan unfamiliar with Kusanoās frogs. Their trills, transcribed and fancifully translated by the poet into frog soliloquies, dirges (āLululuās Funeralā to be accompanied by Chopinās āFuneral Marchā), and celebrations are, says Corman, āfigures of natureāāin its largest senseāāand of absolute innocence ā¦ . They mock our pretentions but share them tooāāgently.ā Witty, lyrical, vigorous, Kusano is a poet of praiseāāfor the savor of snake-liver sake or crunchy raw potatoes, the hissing night sea, a changing sky: āO half a sun now./ mightiest member of the universe./blind my two upstanding eyes with a whack of light.ā Kusano has traveled widely, and Cantonese as well as the English he studied during his years in China still find their way into his poems. In 1935, he and friends founded Rekitei (āHistorical Processā), a monthly magazine out of which grew a poetry group with over a thousand membersāānow the largest in Japan. Head and heart of the Rekitei group, Shimpei Kusano is still writing, giving readings, and promoting other poets as well as haunting Gaku (āSchoolā), his famous little bar in downtown Tokyo.
This book title, Asking Myself, Answering Myself (Poems by Shimpei Kusano), ISBN: 9780811208871, by Shimpei Kusano, published by New Directions (March 17, 1984) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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