Face at the Bottom of the World and Other Poems (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works: Japanese Series)

81 pp. Translated by Graeme Wilson. Paintings by York Wilson. Hagiwara Sakutaro (1886-1942) is generally recognized in Japan as the best poet to have emerged since contact was re-established with the outside world. His work represents the astonishing achievement in the poetic field of General Meiji endeavor to blend "Western learning with the Japanese spirit." He and perhaps he alone, have successfully combined the lyric intensity characteristic of the short forms of traditional Japanese poetry with the freedom of length, form and rhythm which characterizes the poetry of the West. In him East and West, despite Kipling's dictum, have indeed met; and from him the future poets of both traditions have much to learn.