#169 Whenever anything happens in the world,…
| Size： | about 33×24 cm |
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| Dressing： | scrolling |
What kind of verse?
| verse: | Yo no naka ni, koto aru toki ha, mina bito mo, makoto no uta wo, yomi ide ni keri |
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| (imho): | Whenever anything happens in the world, people start composing poems of truth. |
| poet: | the Emperor Meiji |
| in: | 1904 |
Note
This poem was created when the Emperor Meiji was 52 years old.
In February of that year, Japan declared war on Russia and the Russo-Japanese War broke out. Did the “anything happens” mean this event?
What kind of the “poem of truth” did the people compose at this time?
For example, in September of the same year, Akiko Yosano published her famous long poem, “Kimi shini tamafu koto nakare”. It is a strong plea for the return to life of her younger brother who was serving in the army.
I tried to find out which was published first, the Emperor’s or the Akiko’s, but it was unknown. However, in an era when people were willing to sacrifice precious lives for the sake of the nation under the slogan of “wealthy nation, strong army,” I still hope that the Meiji Emperor would have regarded such the poem as “poems of truth”.