Munemitsu Mutsu · Kishu
Original
春愁
Munemitsu Mutsu's Chinese-style poem, "春愁幽人無物遣閑愁春色傷情卻似秋鳥且". Read the original Japanese, translation, meaning, and historical background. The young Mutsu Munemitsu's political setback emerges through spring in prison.
Person
A Kishu-born figure connected with Sakamoto Ryoma in the Bakumatsu, later a major diplomat of the Meiji era. His poems carry the restlessness of a young activist and the later gaze of a man who would read Japan through the world.
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Translation
In prison I have nothing to dispel spring sorrow; birds and flowers move the heart, and in evening rain I read of separation and grief.
Poetic Shape Kanshi draws on a classical Chinese poetic tradition, where restraint, allusion, and moral tension carry much of the weight. The poem sounds formal, but the pressure beneath it is personal.
Reading
The young Mutsu Munemitsu's political setback emerges through spring in prison. It is not flashy, but it stays with the reader.
Background
A Chinese poem from the time when Mutsu was imprisoned for his involvement in the Tosa Risshisha Incident. It shows a Bakumatsu activist stumbling once in the Meiji period. A Kishu-born figure connected with Sakamoto Ryoma in the Bakumatsu, later a major diplomat of the Meiji era.
Source / Transmission Wording and readings may differ by transmission; this page treats the text as one circulated form.
Further Reading
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