Miki Rofû's first collection of verses for children, containing 75 pieces written from 1918 to 1921. Most of them first appeared in magazines like Akai Tori [Red Bird], Shônen Kurabu [Boys' Club], Ryôyû [Good Friends], Kashi no Mi [An Acorn], and so on. When Akai Tori was founded in 1918, Miki was asked to write verses for it, and to be a judge for the verses sent from child readers. Miki refused, but he wrote several verses for Akai Tori. From 1919, he became a judge for Kodomo Zasshi [A Magazine for Children] and Ryôyû, and wrote verses for these two magazines.
The most popular of the 75 is a lyrical piece, "Akatombo" ["A Red Dragonfly"]. With music by Yamada Kôsaku, it is still sung by children today. However, Miki, who began his career as a symbolist poet, created many verses with a vivid sense and imagination: "Ôgon no Izumi" ["A Golden Fountain"], "Shinju Jima," "Fuyu no Hanakago" ["A Flower Basket in Winter"], and so on. Illustrations by Hatsuyama Shigeru add a charm to the verses and invite readers to the world of these verses.
Miki writes in the preface that dôyô is a verse composed in the simple language of a child with the quality of a true poem. He pursued dôyô as poetry; however, as his verses were modest and quiet without a musical aspect, few of them except "Akatombo" were sung by children. A reprint of the original edition was published by Holp Shuppan in 1974. |
