the tales of ise
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The poem expresses the poet’s delight at a scene so wonderful that even the gods of old could not have imagined it.
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since ancient times the god of Sumiyoshi has been revered as the deity of Japanese poetry
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In Japan, it was common to compose ‘death poems’ (jisei no uta); most have a Buddhist flavour and speak of the emptiness of the world, often as though composed from the standpoint of someone who has achieved enlightenment.
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