What are traditional Japanese expressions used in romantic poetry or songs

Traditional Japanese romantic poetry and songs use a variety of expressions that often draw on classical imagery, nature metaphors, and cultural aesthetics. Some common traditional expressions include:

• Use of natural imagery such as cherry blossoms (sakura), moon (tsuki), and flowing water to symbolize beauty, fleeting moments, and emotional depth.
• Emphasis on “mono no aware” もののあわれ, the awareness of the impermanence of things and the gentle sadness or wistfulness it evokes.
• References to seasonal changes to reflect the phases of love and life.
• Fixed poetic forms like tanka (31 syllables) and haiku (17 syllables) traditionally used for romantic themes.
• Use of classical Japanese words and expressions that evoke subtlety and emotional nuance.

These expressions are often found in classical genres such as waka, tanka, and later in enka songs, where poetic diction and metaphorical language play crucial roles in expressing love and longing. ^{1, 15}

Examples of expressions in romantic poetry and songs may include:

• 花の色は移りにけりないたづらに (The colors of the flowers have already faded in vain) symbolizing ephemeral beauty.
• 君に逢えたから (Because I met you), a common lyrical phrase in songs conveying love and fate.
• The concept of こよいの月 (tonight’s moon) often represents a cherished moment or emotional connection.

In summary, romantic Japanese poetry and songs traditionally blend natural symbolism, seasonal references, and culturally rich concepts like もののあわれ to convey love with a deep emotional and aesthetic sensitivity. These forms retain their beauty through subtlety and timeless imagery. ^{15, 1}

References

• X-Rated and Excessively Long: Ji-Amari in Hayashi Amari’s Tanka

• Fragrant Spaces between Words: Prolonging Shōjo Liminality into Adulthood in the Poetry of Yonezawa Nobuko

• Koan of Himself: Finding Ikkyū’s fūryū in Whitman’s “Song of Myself”

• Aesthetic politics and literary history: Shinkokinshū and Kazamaki Keijirō

• The concept of kotodama as a fragment of Japanese linguocultural code

• Syllables to Scenes: Literary-Guided Free-Viewpoint 3D Scene Synthesis from Japanese Haiku

• Features of the Japanese genre of hokku in the works by K. Utkin

• METAPHOR ON JAPANESE SONG LYRIC BY MIWA: A STYLISTIC STUDY

• “The Fear of Deer…”

• The Beauty of Wabi Sabi as the Spirit of Life of the Oldman in Japanese Fairytale

• Adaptation as a Strategy for Participation: The Chikusai Storyworld in Early Modern Japanese Literature

• The Travels and Poems of Matsuo Bashô

• A Song of Fallen Flowers: Miyazaki Tōten and the making of naniwabushi as a mode of popular dissent in transwar Japan, 1902–1909

• Script and Language as Semiotic Media in Japanese Storytelling: A Theoretical Approach through Haruki Murakami’s Noruwei no mori

• Analysis of the portrayal of women in “Snow Country” through the lens of Mono-no-Aware: Taking the Youko as an Example

• The Contextual Meaning of Japanese Setsuzokushi