Minase Sangin by Sogi

1. Why has the poet written this poem?
I think the poets intention in writing thiss poem is to portray the view of Japan's landscapes over the four seasons. The poet describes the seasons changing from spring, to autumn and winter. Because the poem is translated from Japanese there may be some errors in translation and thus gives the poem a different meaning. But thep oet is trying to make the reader grasp an understanding of the atmosphere and whats occuring. "At early dawn every push of the oar is audible from a passing boat." The poet allows the reader to picture the scene and even the sound and show how serene and quite the atmosphere is. Another reason why the poem may be viewed differently from a non-japanese perspective is the meaning as the poets intention may be much different to how we would view the poem.

2. What can you learn about the landscape from the poem?
From the poem, the reader is able to grasp a very detailed and intracate understanding of the landscape. The poet describes different times of the day throughout spring, winter and autumn. In each stanza, the audience is able to picture a different time, season and surrounding. "In a soft river breeze stands a single willow tree fresh in spring colour." This allows the audience to understand the weather, the landscape and what time of day. "The river descends far and distant, plum-fragrance filling the village." The poet allows the audience to utilise all their senses so their are able to get an even more detailed understanding of the landscape.

3. What can you learn about the poet from the poem?
From the poem I am able to understand that the poet is quite spiritual and somewhat fragile. I believe that the poet is a female beacause the way the poem is written allows feels like it is from the perspective of a female. But because it is Japanese and I don't much cultural understanding, it could be either genders. Also you can learn about the poet that they prefer much isolation and quite as it is describe about very calm and quiet places rather than dark places with an eery feel.