Katana no Uta

Ray et al-
This first is the only one I know about forging swords, the second was
written by Meiji Tenno, the third and fourth from the Bakumatsu and the
last is more typical of earlier poems where flowers, love and longing
are more common than swords and armour. There are tanka too but they
are too long to memorize. I am sure there are others out there, as well
as songs or verses of songs that speak of swords. Sorry but I do not
know of any easy source for these, could be a life study really,
-T

Sakurada no na mo omoshiroshi uchidachi no hibana ni majiru haru no
awayuki
Uchidachi with the joyous name of sakurada, a sprinkling of Spring
snow mingling with the sparks�

Magokoro wo komete kitaeshi tachi koso wa midarenu kuni no
mamorinarikere
�A tachi forged with sincere heart, becomes protector for the land
without turmoil�


Nukeba mazu isshi hokoku omounari nihon katanani komoru tamashi
�When drawn, one thinks of repaying the land with one�s own life, the
spirit within the nihonto�


Kuni o omoi nerarezaru yo no shimo no iro tsuki sasu mado ni miru
tsurugi kana
The color of frost on a sleepless night
troubled over the fate of the land,
sword glimpsed in the window by moonlight�



Hiodoshi no yoroi wo tsukete tachi hakite mibayatozo omou yamazakura
�Donning a scarlet odoshi-yoroi, wearing a tachi,
I venture to gaze upon the wild cherry blossoms�

and then there are the haiku;

Muzanyana
kabuto no shita
kirigirisu

How forlorn
the Katydid
beneath the Kabuto

(however this isn't about swords...)

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