Leaves: tanka anthology of Nature - Paperback

by Amelia Fielden (Editor)

The tanka form, in which these short lyrics on nature were composed, is that of traditional Japanese poetry. In classical Japanese, the expression meaning 'leaves', kotonoha, is a homonym for 'words'. Both are also written identically, in Kanji characters which join 'say' with 'leaf/leaves'. Kotonoha can also refer to waka, the pre-modern designation for tanka poems.