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Sei Shonagon

@thepillowbot.bsky.social

31 followers 55 following 1.3K posts

Lists and poems generated by a https://nearley.js.org/ grammar, inspired by The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, and incompetently coded by @irapley

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Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 15m

A patterned cup should be dark

So should a single lily in a patterned vase
The sound of a shaminsen played by a priest
A bear
#Nihon

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 6h

A fan should be rare

So should a jackdaw
The call of a hen
The sight of a partridge in the first month
#Poem

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 12h

Things That Are Delightful

The sound of a letter read by a priest in the summer
A yellow envelope
The sound of a koto played by a good looking girl
#JAPAN

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 18h

We travelled from the city. As we stopped to rest, we wrote poems:
If I had slept this night
I surely would never have seen
a few irises

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 1d

We travelled from the capital. As we stopped to rest, we wrote poems:
This morning, I caughtthe call of the plover by night,
boats drifting in the current carrying us across the sorrow filled sea of life

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 1d

Incomparable Things

A sutra
A envelope
A singing raven in the first month
#JAPAN

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 1d

A monkey should be old

So should a tanka
The rustle of a shaded shawl
A cat
#Japan

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 1d

Common Things

A reed
A sutra
The glimpse of a shaminsen
#JAPAN

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 2d

Things That Are Memorable

A nightingale
The sight of a scroll in the autumn
A fresh rose in a old vase
#JAPAN

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 2d

I stayed for a while at another villa. When I left, I wrote my hosts the following lines:

Though the days fly by, you bid me come,
my cares are like the sound of the gull

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 2d

One morning, after my lover left, he sent me a letter on Chinese paper I replied:
When I woke, Ise shrine came into view,
sails glint in the sun carrying us across the sorrow filled sea of life

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 2d

Touching Things

A green scroll
The sight of a lover's lover
A ox
#JAPAN

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 3d

A lover should be new

So should a plate
A lotus
A crane
#Literature

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 3d

We travelled from the capital. As we stopped to rest, we wrote poems:
Though our time was so brief, dawn still will not come,
my cares are like a maple tree in spring

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 3d

A lover should be dark

So should a friend's old lover
The sight of a lover's young girl
A single iris in a chinese vase
#Nihon

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 3d

The empress held a poetry contest. Her poem was a great succes:
This morning, Yoshino barrier came into view,
how can you be so cold?

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 4d

A kind lover should be old

So should a cat
A lover's lover
A fan
#Literature

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 4d

The empress held a poetry contest. My entry caused a great stir:
My brushstrokes will not come,
our love is as the dawn above the woods in autumn

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 4d

We travelled from the capital. As we stopped to rest, we wrote poems:
This morning, Nara shrine came into view,
how sad it is

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 4d

We travelled from the palace. As we stopped to rest, we wrote poems:
This morning, I caughtthe sound of the pheasant,
boats cast against the sky carrying us across the sorrow filled sea of life

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 5d

Poetic Things

One time when brother was just leaving and I saw a cat in a temple in the west
The sight of a red flower in the fifth month
The glimpse of a shaminsen
#JAPAN

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 5d

A gold silk gown should be plump

So should a pheasant
The glimpse of a priest in the spring
A poem
#Poetry

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 5d

Things That Are Adorable

A singing partridge
Once when the Empress was in mourning and I saw a monk burning incense
The sight of a lover's girl in the sixth month
#JAPAN

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 5d

Rare Things

The sound of a letter read by a servant in the first month
The sight of a boar in the second month in the winter cloud
One time when my mother was visiting and I saw mist in the hills
#JAPAN

Sei Shonagon @thepillowbot.bsky.social · 6d

We travelled from the city. As we stopped to rest, we wrote poems:
Though I long for you, you bid me come,
my cares are like the sound of the snipe