several difficulties reading an extract about Kobayashi Issa's works

Question

I'm still reading "小林{こばやし}一茶{いっさ}" (a book written by 宗左近/Sō Sakon about the famous poet).

I'm facing several difficulties with the following extract :

愛｛あい｝の歌｛うた｝　怒｛いか｝りの歌｛うた｝

作品｛さくひん｝の特色｛とくしょく｝は、極｛きわ｝めてはっきりしている。冒頭｛ぼうとう｝にあげた六｛ろっ｝句｛く｝に難｛むずか｝しさはない。弱｛よわ｝い 生命｛せいめい｝への愛｛あい｝の歌｛うた｝です。その愛｛あい｝をもたない存在｛もの｝への怒｛いか｝りの歌｛うた｝です。 曖昧｛あいまい｝さはない。 明快｛めいかい｝です。誰｛だれ｝にでも伝｛つた｝わる。

My translation (disclaimer : I'm not fluent at all in English, please feel free to correct me).

a poetry about love, a poetry about anger

The characteristic of his production is to be utterly exact. At the beginning of the 6 elevated parts(?) , there is nothing difficult. It's a poetry about love that refers to a delicate life. It's a poetry about anger that refers to an existence deprived(?) of this love. No ambiguity. Clarity. Anyone gets the message.

There are several parts I don't understand :

(1) What are the あげた六｛ろっ｝句｛く｝? Is it something related to Issa's works ?

(2) What's the grammar behind もたない in その愛｛あい｝をもたない存在｛もの｝?

(3) 存在 should be read そんざい (according to WWWJDIC). But my edition adds the "もの" furiganas. What's the difference between these two readings ?

Answer 1

1. I think the meaning of あげる here is "bring up", as in "bring up a topic". So he is probably talking about some things he brought up earlier.

2. その愛をもたない存在ー＞その愛を持たない存在。「愛を持たない」 modifies 「存在」. This is called a subordinate verb clause.

3. Sometimes writers like to play around with furigana to create special meanings of their own. They want you to read that word a certain way so that you will associate that reading with the kanji. I guess the writer just wanted you to associate もの with 存在. You could probably spend hours discussing the possible meanings and nuances behind this, which is probably what he was going for :-)

There was a question about this type of furigana before.

Answer 2

Regarding your questions (1),(2),(3),

(1) “挙げた六句” means six haikus of 一茶 the writer quoted in the beginning of his article.

(2）”弱い生命への愛の歌です。その愛をもたない存在(もの)への怒りの歌です” can be translated as;

It’s the poem of love to be dedicated to the feeble and transient life. It is a poem expressing the anger directed to the soul who doesn’t have love and sympathy for the feeble life.

“もたない” of ”その愛をもたない” modifies “存在” as a qualifier.

(3) “存在” is usually translated as “existence” or “being” in English, and we don’t pronounce 存在 as “もの,” which is the one-off usage coined by the writer. I interpret “存在(もの)” here means (heartless and insensitive) people.