Nature and Emotions in Japanese Love Poetry: A Study of the Select Poets

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the representation of nature in the selected Haiku love poetry.  Two poets have been used namely; Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828) and Ryōkan (1758–1831), two famous writers of late Edo-period Japanese poetry. Both poets employed the haiku and waka forms to weave human emotions into the natural world, however, they differed in their tone and perspective. In his work Issa infused with human warmth, humor, and empathy for everyday life, while Ryōkan, expresses love as spiritual communion, usually employing natural imagery as a metaphor for both impermanence and enlightenment. By exploring selected poems, the study shows how nature workout as both metaphor and medium for expressing love, illuminating the Japanese poetic tradition in which human emotion and nature environment are inseparably bound.