A Poetry Collection

All 795 waka from GENJI MONOGATARI are translated

桐壺

Kiritsubo

Kagiri to te

かきりとて
わかるゝ道の
かなしきに
いかまほしきは
いのちなりけり

Now the parting comes,
this road of farewell
heavy with sorrow:
what I would walk toward,
what I long for, is life.

In preparation for our two-volume set of GENJI MONOGATARI, Castalia Library has translated all 795 waka, which play a key role in Lady Murasaki’s great work since the poems are the primary way in which the various characters communicate with each other.

We’ve taken an unusual approach in translating the poems with different levels of proficiency and elegance, to reflect the abilities of the character writing the poem. This will further set the Castalia translation apart from the previous translations of GENJI.

However, it occurred to us that a book of the waka alone, in both the original classic kanji as well as English translation, would make for a truly beautiful book. We’ll be publishing this in conventional hardcover, but we will consider doing a special limited edition for collectors who might be interested in acquiring one.

Since we’ll be doing at least one leatherbound edition for the translator, anyhow…

椎本

Shii ga Moto

Yamakaze ni

山風に
かすみふきとく
こゑはあれと
へたてゝみゆる
をちのしら浪

The mountain wind
scatters the haze,
and we hear its voice;
yet between us
lie the white waves of the far shore.