Anacreon をdodoitsu に

Abstract

Yamamura Bocho (1884-1924), Japanese poet of high renown, translated in the 1920's forty-five fragments of Anacreon into Japanese, of which six or nine are in the form of dodoitsu (popular verse consisting of 7+7+7+5 morae and characterised by the use of archaico-colloquial expression). His translation is from the English version (Boston 1918) by Walter Petersen, and, regrettably, for the most part full of inaccuracies or deliberate distortions, which lead to the ‘Japanisation' of Anacreon's poetry. The dodoitsu version is no exception (for example, Anacreon throws away his shield, frightened at a ‘ghost-like' reed on the riverbank. Cf. 36b Page). However, Yamamura Bocho's attempt should be highly appreciated, because that was probably the very first time Anacreon, Greek poet of love and wine, duly met dodoitsu, Japanese verse of love and sake.