I Loved Her Like the Leaves

1
I Loved Her Like the Leaves

• By
• Kakinomoto Hitomaro

2
Significant Simile

• I loved her like the leaves, The lush leaves
  of spring That weighed the branches of
  the willows Standing on the jutting
  bank Where we two walked together While she
  was of this world. (1-6)

3
Significant Simile

• Comparing his love for his wife to the heavy
  lush leaves of spring
• Notice the use of the past tense loved
• Suggests he no longer has the same feelings
• Why?
• Death?
• Separation?

4
Significant Simile

• His comparison is to healthy things
• We can conclude these feelings are no longer
  alive
• Spring has passed

5
RESULTS OF HER DEATH

• My life was built on her But man cannot
  flout The laws of this world. (7-9)
• Suggests he no longer has a foundation
• Admits that human are mortal

6
HER JOURNEY AFTER DEATH

• To the wide fields where the heat
  haze shimmers, Hidden in a white
  cloud, White as white mulberry scarf, She
  soared like the morning bird Hidden from our
  world like the setting sun. (10-14)

7
THEIR SON

• The child she left as token Whimpers, begs
  for food but always Finding nothing that I might
  give, Like birds that gather rice-heads in
  their beaks, I pick him up and clasp him
  in my arms. (15-19)

8
THEIR SON

• as token
• A symbol of her?
• The narrator unsuccessfully tries to comfort the
  hungry boy
• He can only hold the boy
• His role as father does not satisfy the childs
  need for a mother

9
THE PRESENT LIFE OF THE NARRATOR

• A passive observer of life
• The daylight I pass lonely till the dusk, The
  black night I lie sighing till the dawn. I
  grieve, yet know no remedy I pine, yet have no
  way to meet her. (22-25)
• No relief from his pain

10
DECISION TO ACT

• Travels to the hills of Hagai
• Believes this is where the dead reside
• The journey is painful and unsatisfying
• For, as I knew her in this world, I find not
  the dimmest trace. (31-32)

11
ENVOYS

• The autumn moon We saw last year Shines
  again but she Who was with me then The
  years separate forever. (33-37)
• Autumndeath
• Immortality of nature
• Mortality of humans

12
ENVOYS

• Questions Am I living still?
• Tone of Envoys
• Depressing
• Hopeless
• Unsuccessful