New Interpretations of Old Poems and Other Essays

What does it mean to understand a poem? Orikuchi Shinobu begins by challenging explanations that merely gloss its words, then follows the uncertain emotions, sound associations, and formal choices that make its meaning. His close readings of waka reveal both the pleasures and difficulties of interpretation.

These six complete essays, first published between 1909 and 1929, extend that inquiry across old vocabulary, ritual prayers, literary origins, and criticism. An argument for reviving obsolete words sits beside a theory of divine speech and narrative poetry. The longer discussion of poetic categories examines thought, emotion, form, and the additional meanings generated by language itself.

The final essay turns to likes and dislikes, weighing writers such as Ōgai, Shōyō, Sōseki, Bashō, and the author of The Tale of Genji against an intensely personal idea of literature’s power to shape the future.