Manyoshu and Kokinshu Interpretive Essay Essays

Manyoshu and Kokinshu Interpretive Essay Essays Manyoshu and Kokinshu Interpretive Essay Paper Manyoshu and Kokinshu Interpretive Essay Paper Essay Topic: Poetry In his famous Kana Preface to the Kokinshu, Ki no Tsurayuki, one of the editors of the anthology, introduces the aesthetic value and core functions of Japanese poetry. As the seed that grows into a flower, Japanese songs, or waka, take human heart and flourish as myriad leaves of words. (Shirane 148) As the master poet, Tsurayuki advises his successors to appreciate the beauty of life, rather than understanding it. One of the functions of waka, Tsurayuki asserts, lies in consoling the hearts of the departed and the living, as the beauty of the song has the mysterious power to assuage even the troubled souls of fierce warriors. Despite the lexical parsimony of waka, the master poets of ancient Japan have honored this legacy and strived to bestow poetic beauty even upon the topic of death. In the Manyoshu and Kokinshu, parting with the loved ones is juxtaposed with mysterious cycles of nature to mediate the emotional burden of loss. Nonetheless, the poeticization of death in two anthologies contrasts in poetic deliverance as well as in narrative structure, as the Manyoshu poet focuses on the poetic deliverance of the protagonist’s emotions, while the Kokishu poem respectively focuses on the transience and emptiness of life. The poeticization of death in Manyoshu is characterized by the protagonist’s emotional confession of continued longing and inability to let go the departed. Upon his wife’s death, the master poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro composes the following poem, â€Å"crying tears of blood in his grief.† After recollecting his nostalgic romance with his wife in the openning lines, Hitomaro sings, Like the sky-crossing sun sets in the evening Like the light of the moon is obscured by the clouds, My girl, who like the deep seaweed had slept beside me, Had passed away like the autumn leaves†¦ †¦and all I could do was call out her name As I waved my sleeves. I searched for my girl who has lost her way In the thick yellow leaves of the autumn hill But do not know the mountain path. (84-85) By imbuing his wife’s â€Å"passing away† with the rich imageries of cyclical nature, Hitomaro avoids the crude proclamation of death and elevates their parting with elegance and beauty. Never do words meaning death, such as shinu, appear in the original text or the translation of the poem. Like the sun, the moon, and the seasons, his wife, who has now become a fabric of nature, passes away (sugite) from him. Consequent lines with makurakotoba, catalpa gem and catalpa bow, allow the readers to further relate to and vicariously experience his emotions, amplifying the conveyance of grief. It is also important to note that juxtaposition of the loss and imageries of cyclical nature reflects Hitomaro’s hope for his wife to return, as sun rises again and the autumn returns every year. Later in his short poem, the wife is described as having â€Å"lost her way† in the mountain. Despite the mountain symbolizing the insurmountable and unfathomable divide between the two lovers, Hitomaro still yearns for her return believing that he can bring her back if only he had known the mountain path (yamaji shirazu mo). Yet as he cannot venture across the mountain into the forbidden realm, he laments that he can only call out her name and wave his sleeves (sode so furitsuru), a ritual to summon the departed back to life. An unknown poet of Kokinshu also uses nature as a medium for poeticizing death and conveying emotions of loss. After the Horikawa chancellor died and his remains were interred near Mount Fukakusa, the poet composes in Heian style of lexical parsimony, Poem #832 If cherry trees indeed Have feelings, may those Of the fields of Fukakusa This year, at least, Shround themselves in black blossoms. (162) Unlike Hitomaro, the Kokinshu poet neither confesses his lingering feelings nor hopes for the departed to return. However, through a simple imagery of black, mourning blossoms, instead of an emotional narrative, the poet elegantly conveys the burden of his grief. The waka is almost addressed to the cherry blossoms, as the last line ends in volitional form. Furthermore, the essence of the poem is encapsulated in the word sumizome of the cherry blossoms. As if to prepare them for the burial, the poet invokes the cherry blossoms to bloom in â€Å"dyed black (sumizome ni sake).† The word also reminds the reader the word sumu, meaning â€Å"to live.† The prosopopoeia is further intensified by the use of the word, kokoro. Although it is translated as â€Å"feelings† in the text, it may also be read as â€Å"heart†or â€Å"soul.† The poet’s impossible demand for the cherry blossoms not only reflects his remorse, but also informs the reader of the tr ansience and emptiness of life. As one cannot suppress the promised beauty of the cherry blossoms, one can never escape the passing of life. As Tsurayuki opined in his Kana Preface, the cares and deeds of men and women are endless. Yet there is an end to each and every man and woman and the ancient Japanese poets continued to find beauty in death through their myriad leaves of words. Though the autumn leaves will surely fall, the promised mists of spring will come and the fair hills of Yoshino will be adorned, once again, with cherry blossoms. Likewise, though the departed will go across the â€Å"mountain path† and the living will be in â€Å"dyed black,† the songs will live on until the end of time, shedding light into the Japanese heart of kokoro.

Nothosaurus - Facts and Figures

Nothosaurus - Facts and Figures Name: Nothosaurus (Greek for false lizard); pronounced NO-tho-SORE-us Habitat: Oceans worldwide Historical Period: Triassic (250-200 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and 150-200 pounds Diet: Fish and crustaceans Distinguishing Characteristics: Long, tapered body; narrow head with numerous teeth; semi-aquatic lifestyle About Nothosaurus With its webbed front and back feet, flexible knees and ankles, and long neck and tapered bodynot to mention its numerous teethNothosaurus was a formidable marine reptile that prospered across the nearly 50 million years of the Triassic period. Because it bears a superficial resemblance to modern seals, paleontologists speculate that Nothosaurus may have spent at least some of its time on land; its clear that this vertebrate breathed air, as evidenced by the two nostrils on the top end of its snout, and although it was undoubtedly a sleek swimmer, it wasnt as well adapted to a full-time aquatic lifestyle as later pliosaurs and plesiosaurs like Cryptoclidus and Elasmosaurus. (Nothosaurus is the best known of the family of marine reptiles known as nothosaurs; another well-attested genus is Lariosaurus.) Although its not widely known to the general public, Nothosaurus is one of the most important marine reptiles in the fossil record. There are over a dozen named species of this deep-sea predator, ranging from the type species (N. mirabilis, erected in 1834) to N. zhangi, erected in 2014, and it apparently had a worldwide distribution during the Triassic period, with fossil specimens discovered as far afield as western Europe, northern Africa and eastern Asia. There is also speculation that Nothosaurus, or a closely related genus of nothosaur, was the distant ancestor of the giant plesiosaurs Liopleurodon and Cryptoclidus, which were an order of magnitude bigger and more dangerous!

Memorandum of Law Paper - Should men get paternity leave from work Essay

Memorandum of Law Paper - Should men get paternity leave from work - Essay Example Nonetheless, the giving men paternity leave should be considered necessary and healthy for the growth of the child at his or her earlier stages of growth as well as for the wife. Different nations often have different laws and regulations managing the paternity leave. Most countries offer paid parental leave that is immensely considered maternity leave. However, this kind of leave is only for employees who have worked in their current job or with their current employers for a certain period of time that is either specified by different labour laws or different company policies and regulations. The national laws usually vary significantly depending on the politics governing each jurisdiction. Before analysing the benefits of paternity leave either to the mother or the father, it is vital to analyse the existing child care policies (Einarsdo?ttir 85). Constitutionally, there are three vital child care policies that include the parental leave policies, child care policies, and early chi ldhood policies. The parental leave policies often assist the employed parents prior to giving birth. These policies require that the parents remain home for a period that they are able to take good care for the child once he or she is born. The main advantage of these policies is that they allow parents (who in most cases, is the mother) to prepare psychologically and materially for the coming of the child. Otherwise, they may be caught unaware, and such may lead to complications in many different ways. The child care policies targets at assisting parents in the non parental child care (Valdimarsdo?ttir 55). These policies are vital in subsidizing any type of care the parent may be will to select or rather public parenting programs. However, it should be noted that the child care programs serve the working and the non working parents. Finally, there are the early childhood benefits (English 23). These are new policies that have been initiated to support parents in all their day to day child care. In the United States, the government offers the early childhood benefits in the form of cash grants that aim at covering the costs for caring for infants and or toddlers. The United States among other countries including Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea are the only states in the entire globe that do not have national laws mandating paid time off for the parents expecting or having new born. However, in the United States, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provides up to twelve weeks of potentially unpaid but job protected leave. This kind of leave also engulfs the parental leave, and it is usually provided to all American workers (Einarsdo?ttir 57). Therefore, provided that the provides unpaid leaves, men should be allowed parental leave to help in early childhood caring since the employer is not bound to any liability of time wastage or paying an employee for the time he never worked. It should be noted that the state of California never mandat es paid family leaves including parental leave for the same sex partners. Except of the above tensioned countries, many countries often offer more than ten paid weeks of maternity leave. Nearly 163 countries constitutionally give women paid maternity leave and the same leave should be given to men. It is necessary to note that parental leave is essential for both parents