SOURCE: “Problems in Translating the Manyoshu,” in Literature East and West, Vol. IX, No. 3, September, 1965, pp. 188-98.

In the following essay, Teele critiques assorted translations of the Manyoshu, using many different verses to illustrate his conclusions.

The Manyo Anthology or Anthology for a Thousand Ages is not a “new” book to Asian specialists, but it is unknown to many general readers who have some association with a term like “noh play.” Yet it is a magnificent work, and continued study and teaching of it have convinced me that it is one of the supreme collections of lyric poems in all world literature, with a range of expression quite unparalleled elsewhere. Why is it so little known? One reason is the fact that Ernest Fenollosa did not discover it, but instead divided his literary attention between Chinese lyric poetry and Japanese noh plays. As a result, his literary executor...