Two Poems Dedicated to Emperor Tenchi in His Sickbed(<Special Issue>Representations of "Illness" in Ancient Times)

Abstract

In "Elegies" of the second volume of Manyo-shu there are two poems dedicated to Emperor Tenchi who was then seriously sick in bed. The poems are extremely stylized, and in this sense they are definitely different from the earlier elegies, most of which are crudely rendered in hackneyed phrases. This essay will first make clear the reason the poems were included in "Elegies" and then consider their place and meaning in the formalistic development of elegies.