Poem

Author

Interpretation

RL Author Credits

Grown from simple earth,

Shapely tree kindles a blaze

Forging hard metal

But when flame turns to ashes,

The still cool pond will remain

Lady Chifuru, cs. 698 IE

You came from nothing, a peasant

Now you are beautiful

Making men desire you

But when their passion cools,

The constant, virtuous woman will win

Also a surface interpretation of the interconnectedness of the five elements

Mithaine

Outside my window,

A magpie sings its song

Among the branches

Will it take me on its flight,

Or perch at my windowsill?

Matsui Nobuko, ca. 673 IE

Interpretation here is aided by the realization that the magpie is a symbol of marriage.

Mithaine

In the mind there lies

A tiger, bound by the heart

Where the heart shall fail

The tiger leaps to the kill;

And so the weak life shall end

Yufura Bido

Tamaterelian

The wind's soft whisper

Hides the silent cries of Death

The soil is watered

With the great ending of lives

At last there is victory

Tamaterelian

The end of all things

Brings quiet to the soul's ear

And with the silence

Arrives the eternal truth

I am all things: they are me

Tamaterelian

In battle life fades

Time slows, a moment stretches

Warrior and blade

Both fused as one entity

The true battle is within

Barastol

Snow falls gracefully

Dancing spirits dressed in white

They wear winter robes.

A thousand court ladies walk

From afar, none seems unique.

-- Otohikokyo Gousuke

    ca. 405 IE

Rhiannon

Spooled around a thumb, 

Pressed between white fingertips, 

The will of woman, 

Though its strand be delicate,

Can drag mountains in its wake.

-- Daisune Netsuiko ca. 203 IE

Viz Eidson

Thunder churns pale sky,

Shining whips crack sturdy grounds,

Gales rush fowardly,

Pacified choas reigns still,

Wounded earth weeps rain softly

Sengu Nobutaka, after the

War of Peace

ca. 2 IE

Tina Sparettie