The three "essays" in this book draw on the translator's work on love poetry--classical waka and the tanka of Yosano Akiko (1878-1942)--but also introduce the prose poems and free verse of a contemporary surrealist poet, Mizuno Ruriko, whose themes are childhood and the loss of innocence. "The Secret Island and the Enticing Flame" shows the translator of poetry experimenting with three different ways to present the results of his craft. "In the...