Edith Marcombe Shiffert (1916–2017)

This anthology was first published in 1972. It contains mostly free-verse poetry from the 20th century, though it also has haiku, and I think the section of tanka is by far the best selection within the book. No original Japanese is included. An appendix gives brief biographies of each writer, and an introduction puts it all into a jumbled framework. I have to assume the selection of free-verse poets represents important notables in Japanese poetry, but something was lacking, whether it was the selection of poems or weak translations, I can't say. The tanka section has crisp, pertinent poems with strong, clear imagery -- it may be worth picking the book up in the bookstore or library and browsing through the tanka.… (meer)