Poetry in Konjaku monogatari-shu

The paper describes three main forms of poems integrated into Konjaku Monogatari-shū of the XIIth century, among which are poems from Buddhist canon ( ge ), poems in Chinese ( shi ) and Japanese poems ( waka ). Most of setsuwa tales are devoted to waka , which, according to the authors, are considered as a universal language suitable for an expression of every human feeling in any life situations. This universality of waka reflects the perception of a poetic word as having a special weight and effectiveness that is customary for Japanese culture.