Tr.
Keene, Donald 1995. Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest
Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Henry Holt & Company,
Inc.: 246
“Japanese
poetry has its seeds in the human heart and burgeons into many different kinds
of leaves of words. We who live in this world are constantly affected by
different experiences, and we express our thoughts in words, in terms of what
we have seen and heard. When we hear the warbler that sings among the blossoms
or the voice of the frog that lives in the water, we may ask ourselves, “Which
of all the creatures of this world does not sing?” Poetry moves without effort
heaven and earth, stirs the invisible gods and demons to pity, makes sweet the
ties between men and women, and brings comfort to the fierce heart of the
warrior.”