Analysis of Ode To Murasaki Shikibu
Ode to Milady:
Compelled I am by your shade.
To write about you.
Murasaki Shikibu.
About your “Tale of Genji.”
Your “Tale of Genji.”
Prosaic — with much beauty.
Compelling the lines.
Lyrically waka style.
The plot intriguingly made.
Your style, your art craft.
Of eleventh century.
Is strikingly rich.
Depicting life and manners.
Of Japanese courtiers.
While there are several.
Genji is protagonist.
He is leading star.
His dalliances many.
His appetite no limits.
How banal is it.
That he should fall, and yet rise.
Again and again.
Certainly a masterpiece.
And with brilliance driven!
Written as novel.
This masterpiece is novel.
A tale of intrigue.
A psychological tale.
It holds its readers breathless.
Tale of Emperors.
And a tale of Empresses.
Tale of courtiers.
An old tale that remains fresh.
That’s sustained with mysteries.
“The Tale of Genji.”
Its ending, too, is mystery.
How Fate intervenes.
But this is a Buddhist tale.
And all actions are karmic.
Dear Murasaki.
I’ve tried to write a poem.
As an ode to you.
Composing it waka style.
The style you popularized.
With karmic message.
Your shade compelled me to write.
And so I’ve answered.
Delivering this poem.
And to put your shade to rest.
Scheme | AABXC CADEA AFXGG HAXFX AXXXX HHIJX GDGXX CFXJI IKBEA CAAKA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) |
Metre | 111 0111111 11011 11 011111 1111 0101110 01001 10011 0101001 11111 1010100 11001 0101010 101100 11110 110100 11101 1110 110110 10111 1111011 01001 100010 011010 10110 110110 01101 001001 1111010 11100 00111 11100 1111011 1011100 0111 11011100 1101 1110101 011011 11 1111010 11111 010111 011100 1110 1101111 01110 0100110 0111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,234 |
Words | 261 |
Sentences | 49 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 50 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 94 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
About this poem
This 5-line, 10-stanza Waka poem is written as a companion poem to another poem of mine, “A Senryu Tale of Genji,” to honor the legacy of Murasaki Shikibu, a Japanese poet of the early eleventh century who, as a Lady-in-Attendance at the Japanese Court, wrote an imaginative lengthy fiction , “A Tale of Genji (circa 1010), that incorporates some 800 Waka courtly poems, and is recognized worldwide as a masterpiece psychological novel of creative art, the first of its kind in all times. This poem combines ten waka poems to constitute a whole, and to pay tribute to the lasting legacy of Murasaki Shikibu. more »
Written on February 02, 2022
Submitted by karlcfolkes on February 02, 2022
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:18 min read
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"Ode To Murasaki Shikibu" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/119013/ode-to-murasaki-shikibu>.
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