Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death

Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death
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Famous last words

I keep this one in arms reach

Odd and enchanting

we slip the inkstone this last time

Could have been better

Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death

Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0804831793

Book Description

Although the consciousness of death is in most cultures very much a part of life, this is perhaps nowhere more true than in Japan, where the approach of death has given rise to a centuries-old tradition of writing jisei, or the "death poem" written in the very last moments of the poet's life. From passionate samurai writins and meditative Zen haiku to the satirical poems of later centuries, Hundreds of jisei have been translated into English here, many for the first time. The result is a moving, powerful collection whose philosophical and aethetic profundity will give readers pause.

Customer Reviews:

Famous last words.......2007-02-25

The jisei, known in English as a Death Poem, was an ancient custom in Japan, where literate people supposedly extemporaneously composed a poem in the few seconds before their deaths, revealing their last thoughts and incites in that profound moment. Sometimes bitter, sometimes funny, sometimes profound and sometimes simply serving as a final will or testimony, they were almost a requirement for people of note. Of course, in reality the poems were usually composed well in advance of death, and only written from memory when the time came, they are still a unique and interesting expression of mortality.

"Japanese Death Poems" presents a massive collection of jisei, from people famous and infamous, from monks to authors to samurai to merchants and all walks of life. Most of the poems are accompanied by a short biography of the author, and sometimes with an interpretation of the poem. Most of them take the haiku format, although some are in the longer waka form. The selections are organized alphabetically by the author's name.

An excellent and rare collection, this book is probably best browsed rather than read straight through. There are so many poems that it gets a bit redundant reading them all in a row, and it is better experienced just opening to a page and random, and enjoying the specific poems. Because of this, "Japanese Death Poems" is a book that can often be revisited. I have found many poems that I have read several times, and find a deeper meaning each time.

It is a huge flaw that the book is not bilingual, and only includes the romanized version of the Japanese script. Due to the nature of the Japanese language, with kanji carrying inherent meaning, it is difficult to interpret the author's true intent without it. One is forced to rely on the English translations, or to hunt down the original poem in order to see what kanji was used. This is especially true of Japanese poetry, as the authors could get very creative with the kanji, creating their own words and combinations in order to add meaning to the limited characters allowed by the haiku format.

I keep this one in arms reach.......2006-09-01

This is a great book for those who like poetry and are becoming interested in Zen Buddhism. The book opens with plenty of background material that is broad enough in scope for an introduction but still deep enough to properly motivate the topic. The zen monks section is seperate from the haiku poets, I seemed to enjoy the haiku poets poems much more. I found this to be a very nice angle to read into the complexities of Japanese culture, Buddhism, and human nature's view of the ultimate reality. I find this to have a great mixture of academic and leasure reading at least for my (a scientist's) taste.

Odd and enchanting.......2006-01-08

An odd little book - kind of a Zen Goth collection - that ultimately makes me want to live better and more thoughtfully. Along with the poems are reflections and explanations and some history of the author. This isn't a book that I would read straight through but something to have nearby for frequent foraging. There are pages of great stuff here that will provoke new thoughts and insights.

we slip the inkstone this last time.......2005-11-07

This is a curious, moving, particular, and well-chosen selection of poems in translation. Many capture arresting imagery and contain a compression of significance not found in the western tradition of longer narrative. While this is a collection of differing authors and voices and perspectives, none fails to be very human and to say something for which we can identify. Situational poetry, and this distinctive selection from those on the point of death, is a difficult field, and this edition brings welcome engagement with both eastern modes of poetic imagination and this elusive art form.

The introduction alone is worth the volume, but afterwards the poetry draws you in. This is a volume to return to.

Could have been better.......2005-01-02

I think that this book had the potential to be better than it is. Many of the poems are amazing. Of particular interest were the poems of the Zen masters. Their death poems show a lifelong dedication to searching for enlightenment and the final fruition of a philosophy where the difference between life and death is meaningless. The summaries of the lives and deaths of many of the poets provide an interesting illustration of the culture of the Japanese poets. However, I was less impressed by the work of the so called "haiku poets" many of these men were not masters of their craft and it is obvious in their death poems. Also the introduction is full of interesting information, but is quite dry considering the unusual subject matter of the book would seem to offer endless possibilities for an interesting commentary.

Taking the Path of Zen (Taking the Path of Zen Ppr)

Average customer rating:

Dated, vague--not the best choice for an introduction to Zen
very good book on zen ! ! ! ! !
if you've set foot on the path ...
Not as good as it may seem...
Excellent book on getting started with Zen

Taking the Path of Zen (Taking the Path of Zen Ppr)
Robert Aitken
Manufacturer: North Point Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment
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ASIN: 0865470804

Book Description

There is a fine art to presenting complex ideas with simplicity and insight, in a manner that both guides and inspires. In Taking the Path of Zen Robert Aitken presents the practice, lifestyle, rationale, and ideology of Zen Buddhism with remarkable clarity.

The foundation of Zen is the practice of zazen, or mediation, and Aitken Roshi insists that everything flows from the center. He discusses correct breathing, posture, routine, teacher-student relations, and koan study, as well as common problems and milestones encountered in the process. Throughout the book the author returns to zazen, offering further advice and more advanced techniques. The orientation extends to various religious attitudes and includes detailed discussions of the Three Treasures and the Ten Precepts of Zen Buddhism.
Taking the Path of Zen will serve as orientation and guide for anyone who is drawn to the ways of Zen, from the simply curious to the serious Zen student.

Customer Reviews:

Dated, vague--not the best choice for an introduction to Zen.......2007-02-09

This book has some valuable basic stuff on zazen, and the prose is clear and pleasant to read, but I was a bit disappointed. Too much of the book is filled with vague, New Age-sounding assertions like "there is no death" or "all things are one," which are not fully supported or explained by the author (by, e.g., reference to the Nikayas or to Nagarjuna). Buddhism, Zen or not, should never be vague in this way.
In addition, Aitken does little to describe why Zen in particular makes sense as a way to approach the world. It is just assumed that Western dualism is a bad thing, that meditation is an excellent way to spend your time, and so on. Aitken's plainspokenness is wonderful, but the book suffers from the lack of any discussion of the underlying rationale (if you can call it that) behind Zen.
On the plus side, some nice stuff about zazen and koan basics, some good discussions of famous stories from the zen tradition. Overall, however, the reader would be much better served by the following:
1) Sekida's book Zen Training (even better than this one for many aspects of sitting meditation and koan study, especially the importance of the tanden);
2) Shunryu Suzuki's book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (for the overall feel of Zen).

Best of luck!

very good book on zen ! ! ! ! !.......2007-01-03

i have to say this is a very good book a joy to read but it does have a few dry points in the book but this is very need info so all in all great book so i gave it a 5 out of 5 joy

if you've set foot on the path ..........2004-07-11

This is a Zen book for the beginning Zen practitioner, by which I mean someone who has already decided to try zazen meditation practice and may have been practicing for a few weeks or months. Note I do not say it is for the Zen scholar or the Zen wannabe, but for the person who plants their rear on the cushion every day and wants to know what to do if their feet are falling asleep or who's noticing background noise in the mind. If you want to be hip and know "about" Zen, there are flashier books. But as one who had finally tired of reading cookbooks and hungered for the meal, this book pointed me in the right direction (or, at least, ONE right direction) and helps me actually "cook," so to speak.

Like the saying goes, "Meditation: it's not what you think," so if you are attracted to Zen but aren't actually sitting zazen, give up the critiquing and dabbling, find a teacher, and get to work. This book helps both in choosing a teacher and in addressing random questions and common pitfalls for the beginning meditator.

Not as good as it may seem..........2001-12-23

"Taking the Path of Zen" offers very little information on actual Zen Buddhism. Instead, Robert Aitken tries to make Zen appeal to the average American who wants to call themselves a Zen student wihout actually knowing what they are practicing.

There are two ways to read "Taking the Path of Zen": with a scholarly approach or as an instructional manual. If you read Aitken's book with a scholarly frame of mind I regrett to inform you that you will be dissapointed. Aitken transforms Zen Buddhism into an American cultural phenomenon. At times Aitken attacks people in his book who do not believe the same principles as himself, which in my opinion is not the true way of Zen.

As an instructional manual, "Taking the Path of Zen" offers minimal instruction in the practice of Zen, either philosophically of religiously. Aitken focuses on zazen, meditaion, which indeed is very important to any Zen study. However, Aitken does not describe the beliefs of Zen Buddhism in a clear manner which leads to an incomplete education.

Overall, "Taking the Path of Zen" should be read with other materials in order to see the discrepancies between Aitken and other Zen practitioners. When reading this book keep in mind that this is Americanized Zen and not original Zen Buddhism.

Excellent book on getting started with Zen.......2001-06-30

This book is the written form of the introductory speeches given at Aitken's Zendo. It is an excellent book on getting started in Zen. If you haven't yet decided to visit a Zen center or other place where you get instruction, but you want to start sitting and want to kind of know what to expect, this is a great book. It was a welcome change from many books that are a collection of koans, and from the books that are a collection of inspirational stories. This one is very much a how to do it.

Crow With No Mouth : Ikkyu : Fifteenth Century Zen Master

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desert island read
Zen poetry like a sword stroke
Something to crow about.
Zen poetry as a beatnik would want it translated
haiku with an attitude

Crow With No Mouth : Ikkyu : Fifteenth Century Zen Master

Manufacturer: Copper Canyon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1556591527

Book Description

When Zen master Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481) was appointed headmaster of the great temple at Kyoto, he lasted nine days before denouncing the rampant hypocrisy he saw among the monks there. He in turn invited them to look for him in the sake parlors of the Pleasure Quarters. A Zen monk-poet-calligrapher-musician, he dared to write about the joys of erotic love, along with more traditional Zen themes. He was an eccentric and genius who dared to defy authority and despised corruption. Although he lived during times plagued by war, famine, rioting, and religious upheaval, his writing and music prevailed, influencing Japanese culture to this day.

Stephen Berg is the Editor and founder of American Poetry Review.

Also available by Stephen Berg
Steel Cricket
PB $16.00, 1-55659-075-X CUSA
New & Selected Poems
PB $12.00, 1-55659-043-1 CUSA

Customer Reviews:

desert island read.......2006-07-30

hands down one of my top 3 "desert island" books. i don't even know what the other two would be, but berg's translations - ikkyu's work - man...these can - without fail - render the reader speechless, at least one or two times in a reading...easily.

Zen poetry like a sword stroke.......2006-02-24

Ikkyu is perhaps the most like "normal" humans by any accounting of a Zen master I've encountered in print. One can relate to this guy. Some of his poems are like Michael Jordan putting up a final second shot and touching nothing but net. I wasn't sure I would like his poetry since I'm not that big a poetry fan but this is the kind of book to take on a long run down the Grand Canyon or somewhere you might crave inspiration when space is at a premium.

Something to crow about........2001-02-19

"Only one koan matters," Ikkyu writes, "you" (p. 67). "Believe in the man facing you now" (p. 21). While meditating on a boat when he was 27, Ikkyu Sojun--also known as "Crazy Cloud" (1394-1482), was enlightened when he heard a crow call (p. 9). As a Zen Master, he was considered sort of an eccentric rake (p. 13), and he never pretended to be much else. He loved sake. He loved women. "The crow's caw was ok," he writes (p. 58), but "a woman is enlightenment" (p. 64). Ikkyu scandalized his Zen community, and his poetry will offend many readers today as well. "Look me up if you want to," he writes, "in the bar whorehouse fish market" (p. 40).

These poems are "frank, naked, sincere" (p. 15), and full of vivid imagery of "erotic renewal" (p. 13). It's enough to say for purposes of this review, Ikkyu lives "in a shack on the edge of whorehouse row" (p. 40). These are the poems of a poet who is "all there" (p. 15), and fully present on his "long pure beautiful road of pain/ and the beauty of death and no pain" (p. 24), whether he is watching his four-year-old daughter dance--"I can't break free of her" (p. 60), watching the "snow moon tangled among black flowers" (p. 39), or "shuttling between whorehouse and bar" (p. 47). Question "flattery success money," he writes (p. 22). "This city these people where I live still are impossible" (p. 30). "Sing until you have no throat then words come by themselves" (p. 55).

I'm not qualified to comment on Stephen Berg's translation of Ikkyu's poems, but I can tell you this book is certainly something to crow about!

G. Merritt

Zen poetry as a beatnik would want it translated.......2000-10-24

Ikkyu wrote his verses in a four line form which has been reworked into couplets by Stephen Berg. It is important to remember that these are version by Stephen Berg not careful translations from the original - as reworkings often are the most accessible translations.

Ikkyu was not a typical Zen master - the monkish disciplines of celebacy and sobriety were not in his repetoire. While this makes him an oddity, it reinforces the ideal that one who is enlightened is one who is free. This freedom (often seen as indifference or non-clinging) is voiced in this poem "Ikkyu this body isn't yours I say to myself / wherever I am I'm there". His freedom from the disciplines is shown in poems that are explicitly sexual not merely erotic. A very tame example: "don't hesitate get laid thaat's wisdom / sitting around chanting what crap".

Ikkyu is definately a poet that students or would-be students of Zen should read ... in fact, we all should read it for the sheer fun and beauty of it.

haiku with an attitude.......2000-05-04

This is classic haiku from the 15th century zen master Ikkyu. Ikkyu was a headmaster at Daitokuji before renouncing the hipocritical attitudes of the monks. Ikkyu was far too hearty and robust to endure that fate. He was not afraid to toss a few obscenities into his writing. This is not your Mothers haiku. Ikkyu cussed and swore and ignored the authorities. This collection gives one a generous sampling of his haiku. This is a neglected genius that often is overlooked in favor of Basho and Ryokan. Those two are also brilliant but Ikkyu is the wild man of the group. He is Rimbaud blaspheming, Whitman yowling a barbaric yawp and Bukowksi drunk on the floor in one package. Its a great introductory collection to haiku and japanese poetry in general.

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You may already have this

Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter
Lucien Stryk , and Takashi Ikemoto
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802134076

Book Description

This anthology, jointly translated by a Japanese scholar and an American poet, is the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind to appear in English. Their collaboration has rendered translations both precise and sublime, and their selection, which span 1,500 years, from the early T’ang dynasty to the present day, includes many poems that have never before been translated into English. Stryk and Ikemoto offer us Zen poetry in all its diversity: Chinese poems of enlightenment and death, poems of the Japanese masters, many haiku — the quintessential Zen art — and an impressive selection of poems by Shinkichi Takahashi, Japan’s greatest contemporary Zen poet. With Zen Poetry, Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto have graced us with a compellingly beautiful collection, which in their translations is pure literary pleasure, illuminating the world vision to which these poems give permanent expression.

Customer Reviews:

You may already have this.......2006-04-17

If you loved Lucien Stryk's 'Penguin Book of Zen Poetry' then you'll definately love this book, because they are the exact same book! Don't make the same mistake I did, thinking it was a new book, its not, just the old book renamed and packaged as new. When I read reviews about this book elsewhere, its said this was Stryk's latest book on Zen poetry, his best poetry book on Zen poems to date. I agree though, it is his best, again!

Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms

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Thoughtful, beautiful.
Interesting interfaith exercise
The most ancient western devotional poetry made fresh

Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms
Anonymous
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Thirst: Poems

ASIN: 0142196134
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Book Description

A week with the Trappist monks of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky left Norman Fischer feeling inspired by the uplifting, soaring verses chanted each day, but he was also astonished by the violence, passion, and bitterness they expressed. This experience started him on a journey through eastern and western spirituality and his own Jewish roots, resulting in these moving and intimate translations of the Psalms. Fischer's aim was to translate the Psalms in a way that would convey their beauty and power in accessible English for readers of every spiritual path or religious background. In ninety-three poems of praise, celebration, suffering, and lamentation, he brings the Psalms alive for today's readers, revealing an interfaith aspect to these sacred songs that is completely contemporary.

Customer Reviews:

Thoughtful, beautiful........2007-09-22

Norman Fischer has given great thought and deep contemplation to this Zen-inspired translation of many of the Psalms. This book broadened my understanding of ways in which Zen might encounter a Western God. In such an encounter, both East and West might be enlightened. It is beautiful and I highly recommend it.

Interesting interfaith exercise.......2002-04-08

There was a period in China when monasteries switched between Nestorian Christianity and Chan (Zen) Buddhism based on which was the most persecuted at the time. It is therefore appropriate, I suspose, to translate the Judeo-Christian prayer book, i.e. the Psalms, into a Zen Buddhist conceptual world.

In his search for why the Psalms have retained their value as a prayer book over 3000 years, the Buddhist monk Norman Fischer finds a translation of ideas that works for him. For example, he sees the Psalms' concept of the sovereignty of God as a particular kind of consciousness, related to the mindfulness of Buddhism. In this scheme wickedness is unmindfulness and hence alienation; enemies are internal as much as external.

Many of these translations work in that they make one see the Psalm in a new way ... they serve as a catalysis for a new understanding. Their translation is poetic ... the volume is worth reading simply as poetry. However, the volume is not appropriate either in style or in content, to serve as a Psalter for daily prayer.

Place this volume in the same category as The Psalms in Haiku - a useful and thought-provoking version of the Psalms to turn to when the Psalter is growing old ... to return to for renewing the freshness of your understanding of the psalms.

The most ancient western devotional poetry made fresh.......2002-03-11

Fischer has reclaimed the essence of these ancient, passionate songs of suffering and praise. In clear, almost transparent language, he reveals the timeless human longing to *be heard* by a presence that transcends suffering. By stripping away exhausted and loaded language imposed by previous English translations, Fischer shows how language itself can be the tool with which we can forge an intimate relationship with the sacred. As he says in his introduction, "Prayer is not some specialized religious exercise, it is just what comes out of our mouths if we truly pay attention. To pray is to form language, and to form language is to be human." As a Jew who has often turned to poets like Rumi and Rilke for spiritual inspiration, I am delighted to rediscover, thanks to Norman, the treasures within my own heritage.

Narrow Road to the Interior: And Other Writings (Shambhala Classics)

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A trip to the past
*The Great Matsuo Basho Leads Us INWARD*
nice of Hamill to try
The Definitive Source
Clouds of Cherry Blossoms

Narrow Road to the Interior: And Other Writings (Shambhala Classics)
Matsuo Basho
Manufacturer: Shambhala
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1570627169
Release Date: 2000-09-26

Book Description

Here is the most complete single-volume collection of the writings of one of the great luminaries of Asian literature. Basho (1644-1694)âwho elevated the haiku to an art form of utter simplicity and intense spiritual beautyâis best known in the West as the author of Narrow Road to the Interior, a travel diary of linked prose and haiku that recounts his journey through the far northern provinces of Japan. This volume includes a masterful translation of this celebrated work along with three other less well-known but important works by Basho: Travelogue of Weather-Beaten Bones, The Knapsack Notebook, and Sarashina Travelogue. There is also a selection of over two hundred fifty of Basho's finest haiku. In addition, the translator has provided an introduction detailing Basho's life and work and an essay on the art of haiku.

Customer Reviews:

A trip to the past.......2006-11-06

I am not a scholar or a critic, I am just a person who really enjoys haiku and as such am familiar with Basho's poetry. I bought this book because it was cited in so many other books that I have read that I just had to read it for myself. I am very glad I did.

A good portion, but not all, of the haiku contained in this book you have read countless times before, though they are translated slightly differently here. To me the real value of this book is that the poems are put in context of Basho's larger world by the prose that surrounds them. Basho's haibun tells of his various journeys around Japan, the people he meets, the sites he sees and how this all affects him.

I love history as much as haiku, and this book is a real window on the past through the eyes of a man who could relate his world in a way that is both clear and yet filled with beautiful imagery, so that 17th century Japan comes alive for you.

If you like haiku and are interested in what goes into a great poet's creative process, I feel you will enjoy this book, I know I did.

*The Great Matsuo Basho Leads Us INWARD*.......2006-09-11

Matsuo Basho's "Narrow Road to the Interior" is translated by Sam Hamill, an accomplished poet who also translated the haiku of ISSA in "The Spring of my Life" (isbn # 1570621446) As B. Watson, professor at Columbia University has said, "Hamill achieves a kind of luminosity of language that I find unparalleled in other translations of the work."

Basho lived from 1644-1694 and achieved acclaim as the greatest writer of haiku and.this book of his last travels is a classic in Asian literature. His stature must have made the task of translating more difficult, even intimidating. The title is of course a metaphor for traversing life to find one's spiritual center or soul.

Amateur western writers who become enamored of writing haiku soon realize there are depths to which their studies may never take them. The sounds, the Zen way of thinking --bring much more to the equation than mere playfulness (as in senryu), or a built-in sense of syllables, and fondness for epigrams.

Basho set off on his long journey & early in his travels was loaned a horse because "it is easy to get lost." The horse carried the poet, then stopped, and returned home without the rider but carrying Basho's gift tied to the saddle. The route of Basho's travels is printed inside the covers -- he describes "pines shaped by salty winds, trained into sea-wind bonsai." In other centuries men walked hundreds of miles, giving & receiving haiku as gifts - many about history, and some memorials. His lodgings were often noted, probably because they were more often miserable than not. His writings often included geographical 'markers' -- these speak of much more than PLACE to Japanese readers. One who had been a companion on the road wrote:
"All night long
listening to the autumn winds
wandering in the mountain"
Basho himself wrote for another companion as he turned back:
"Written on my summer fan
torn in half
in autumn"
And so he gave his thanks to those who shared his journeys and the quest for answers each of us asks on our own "narrow road."

nice of Hamill to try.......2004-11-30

There is only one other book where you can find these four of Basho's "travel diaries" in one volume and that is Nobuyuki Yuasa's. This compilation also includes a generous selection of Basho's hokku. These are the book's pluses. Unfortunately though, Hamill is much too intent on presenting you with Basho as a sort of haiku-zen master, an identity that Basho himself created as a voice through which to narrate. Mr Hamill would have us believe that Basho wrote poetry for the sake of zen, but the truth is that Basho studied zen for the sake of poetry. Also, Hamill's insistence upon translating in the 5-7-5 form ruins quite a few poems: you get sort of overexplanatory, prosaic verses much of the time. It is almost as if he were translating the explanations you will find in Japanese collections of Basho's verse. For example:

Hamill translates "fuyu no hi ya bajou ni kooru kageboushi" as

Crossing long fields,
frozen in its saddle,
my shadow creeps by

though it should probably (more accurately) be rendered:

winter sun...
on horse's back
a frozen shadow

Hamill dropped the phrase "fuyu no hi ya" entirely and replaced it with "Crossing long fields." I don't know why Hamill rids Basho of suggestion and nuance. Maybe he doesn't think the western reader can find poetry in hokku/haiku as they truly are.

The verse quoted by another reviewer

Your song caresses
the depths of loneliness,
high mountain bird.

might as well not be considered a translation at all. There is almost nothing of the original poem remaining except for the notion of loneliness and the kankodori, which is translated as "high mountain bird." "uki ware o sabishi-garase yo kankodori" would be translated literally as

make this sorrowful self feel lonely, cuckoo!

sabishi-garase is the imperative form of the verb that means "to cause to feel lonely." As a translator one of the worst things you can do is to try to improve upon a poem, though, personally, I don't think Hamill's versions actually do. If you don't trust the poet you're translating, then why are you doing it at all?

At the moment I am in the middle of translating Basho's "Oi no Kobumi" ("Backpack Notes") into English, and when I get stuck on an obscure phrase it helps to consult other translations to see how that translator interpreted it, but oftentimes Hamill (Yuasa is guilty of this too) just glosses over a phrase, which in the end robs the text of any of the interesting quirks in Basho's prose. I wonder if Hamill hit the same tough spots as I and just decided to gloss rather than really try to understand it.

I do not mean to be overly critical of Hamill. It is obvious that he is a good writer and some of his translations are successful but I wonder how much he really considered his renderings. In the end we are reading Hamill, not Basho.

Unfortunately, there are not many alternative translations of Basho's other haibun, but there are plenty of his "Oku no Hosomichi." Hiroaki Sato's is probably the best, since it is very faithful and it gives the most background info (including linked-verse sequences written during the journey), but Cid Corman's is nice too because he does a pretty good job at reproducing Basho's prose style. Also, if you're looking for a good collection of Basho's hokku, check out Makoto Ueda's work. For a good critical study of Basho look at Haruo Shirane's Traces of Dreams. A good internet analysis of Oku no Hosomichi: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~kohl/basho/

The Definitive Source.......2003-12-02

Perhaps the most brilliant offering of Basho's beloved poetry. Excellent in composition, translation, as well as the breadth of Basho's work presented.

Clouds of Cherry Blossoms.......2002-08-01

Narrow Road to the Interior and other writings
by Matsuo Basho
translated by Sam Hamill

This is the most complete collection of Basho's writings translated into English available in a single volume. Aficionados of Japanese culture keen on exploring the haiku literature would be hard-pressed to find a better book to start with.

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) lived during the Genroku period in Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate had unified the country and it was a time of relative peace, which allowed those so inclined a freedom of travel not usual in many periods of Japanese history. Basho was so inclined. At the age of forty his restless feet led him on several walking tours of Japan, and he left behind collected impressions of these journeys in both prose and haiku.

Thoroughly versed in the Chinese and Japanese poetic traditions prevalent among the literati of his time, Basho was also an ardent disciple of Zen. He devoted his life to refining, clarifying, and simplifying his poetry. In the brief haiku form he found the perfect vehicle through which to realize his poetic ideals, and the poems he wrote have inspired and captivated readers and poets throughout the world with their elegance, insight, and simple brilliance.

This volume collects together four travelogues (Narrow Road to the Interior, Travelogue of Weather-Beaten Bones, The Knapsack Notebook, and Sarashina Travelogue) and over 250 of Basho's haiku. The translator has provided an introductory essay and an afterward revealing many aspects of Basho's life, work, and the haiku form itself. Also included are a chronology of Basho's life, a map detailing his journeys, and a bibliography.

Sam Hamill's translation is marvelously clear and uncluttered, and allows the glow of Basho's awareness to somehow peek through the words in his poems. The book itself is a Shambala edition, and so quite beautiful: printed on high-quality paper in a gorgeous typeface with lovely endpapers. This book is a gem.

Book Description

A Zen poem is nothing other than an expression of the enlightened mind, a handful of simple words that disappear beneath the moment of insight to which it bears witness. Poetry has been an essential aid to Zen Buddhist practice from the dawn of Zen—and Zen has also had a profound influence on the secular poetry of the countries in which it has flourished. Here, two of America’s most renowned poets and translators provide an overview of Zen poetry from China and Japan in all its rich variety, from the earliest days to the twentieth century. Included are works by Lao Tzu, Han Shan, Li Po, Dogen Kigen, Saigyo, Basho, Chiao Jan, Yuan Mei, Ryokan, and many others. Hamill and Seaton provide illuminating introductions to the Chinese and Japanese sections that set the poets and their work in historical and philosophical context. Short biographies of the poets are also included.

Customer Reviews:

Skillfully translated and edited .......2007-06-10

Skillfully translated and edited by award-winning poet Sam Hamill and Professor of Chinese J.P. Seaton, The Poetry of Zen is an anthology of the poetic Buddhist expressions of enlightened minds. Collecting works by a wide variety of great authors, including Lao Tzu, Han Shan, Li Po, Dogen Kigen, Saigyo, and many more, The Poetry of Zen offers a cross-section of historical classics that all have in common a resonating theme conducive to meditation, reflection, and self-transformation. Highly recommended. "Everything must end. / Thus the day tries to begin / with the morning bell. / But the long night remains, / empty moon still in the sky."

Poems about no-thing.......2007-05-09

This was my fantasy: it would arrive in the mail, and I'd sit at the table, put on my glasses, open the box, admire the cover (a few persimmons floating at the ends of tiny branches), and then randomly turn to a page. That page would be blank, and so would the next. They'd all be blank. The book would there, but contain nothing. I'd laugh, with nothing to do but just sit. But no. That would be too much like the joke about the final exam to the college course in eastern religion, the one where the only question is "What is Zen?" The clever student writes "There is no Zen." And the instructor replies, in red pen, "There is no grade." The Poetry of Zen has poems in it, although, as Hamill discusses in the introduction, the relationship between poetry and Zen is paradoxical. How can one express no-thing in writing? As a re-presentation of experience, the Zen poem is at best an intellectual tool, and not a substitute for just sitting. The better poems in this collection are things about no-thing that point the way toward the simultaneous presence and absence at the heart of Zen. The lesser poems (if you need to think about it like that) aren't poems at all but instructions in verse. One quibble: The book is split into Chinese and Japanese poets. The Chinese section goes up to Po Ching (1884-1918), and the Japanese section, which is dominated by haiku, ends with Kobayshi Issa (1763-1827), so a more accurate title for the collection might be "Pre-Modern Zen Poetry in the Japanese and Chinese Tradition." Although this book is an essential collection, read it alongside American Zen: A Gathering of Poets, or The Wisdom Anthology of North American Buddhist Poetry, for a more contemporary feel.

Thoughtful volume.......2007-02-26

This collection is very satisfying. There are useful and short essays on zen poetry, and the poetry is kernel sized but with outsized messages. And, like all good poetry, lets you gap fill and extrapolate. Pick up a copy of "Japanese Death Poems" to compliment this collection.

Excellent.......2007-02-16

This is a wonderfully diverse collection of poetry. I've since purchased books by many of the featured poets, finding each a worthy read. The one aspect I didn't find all that interesting was the last few pages of haiku.

The Zen Poetry of Dogen: Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace

Average customer rating:

pleasant
The first ever book in English of Dogen's poems.

The Zen Poetry of Dogen: Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace
Eihei Dogen
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0804831076

Product Description

Japanese Master Eihei Dogen was not only one of the most remarkable teachers in the history of Zen, he was also an outstanding poet. This collection of Dogen's poems translated by scholar Steven Heine offers a beautifully personal reflection of Dogen's clarity of understanding and his poetic genius.

Customer Reviews:

pleasant.......2002-09-07

Firstly, I must forewarn that my fivestar rating may be an overly biased praise of this book because I have never read any other books about Dogen, yet for this reason I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. But it was undoubtedly well written and explained.
In Dogen I'm left with different impressions than I am with the "stereotypical" Zen Masters (if there is such a thing) who retain an apparent lack of emotion and a "white foam at the mouth" (silence) other than when spouting seemingly paradoxical koans. In these poetry collections the reader senses his deep and genuine humanity. He is more open to verbal expression of the Truth (which would make sense for a poet) than the aforementioned Zen Masters. (the wall-gazing Brahmin's "A special transmission outside the teachings/No reliance on words and letters") He does not disagree on the ultimately inexpressability of Truth with ideas, but, as he himself puts it,
"The Dharma, like an oyster
Washed atop a high cliff:
Even waves crashing against
The reefy coast, like words,
May reach but cannot wash it away."
He asserts that complementary creative resource of verbal expression "can display but not exhaust it."

Emotionally, nearly all of the poems convey his unfathomably deep relations and extensions to the natural universe. These are the most awe-inspiring and mystical feelings one can possess, and certainly something overlooked by much of the modern world. Whether or not a Buddhist is to consider Dogen as bona fide as any other Zen Master, I would find it hard to believe that one would not find life in the devotion of his poetry.

The first ever book in English of Dogen's poems........2001-07-07

THE ZEN POETRY OF DOGEN : Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace. Translated by Steven Heine. 183 pp. Boston, Mass.: Tuttle Publishing, 1997. ISBN 0-8048-3107-6 (pbk.)

Dogen Zenji (1200-1253), founder of the Soto Zen sect, is not only one of Japan's greatest Zen Masters, but he is thought by some to have been the most brilliant writer Japan has ever produced. Although he is better known in the West for his more purely philosophic writings, most especially for his magnum opus, the 'Shobogenzo' or 'Treasury of the True Dharma Eye,' few of his poems have appeared in English before.

Happily the present book now remedies this lack. Besides containing a complete translation of Dogen's Japanese poetry, it also contains a representative selection of his Chinese poems. Alongside the Japanese poems, Steven Heine has thoughtfully provided romanized Japanese transcriptions. The book, which is well-printed on excellent paper (although the font used for the poems might have been bolder), also includes nine interesting halftone illustrations of Dogen, his calligraphy, Eiheiji Temple, etc.

Most of the poems were composed on the mountain peak of Eiheiji Temple or the 'Temple of Eternal Peace,' the temple Dogen himself founded. They are of many types (Lyrical, Doctrinal, Devotional, Personal) and cover a wide range of themes (Impermanence, Emotions, Nature, Illusion, Language, China, etc.). Here is a brief example, with my obliques to indicate line breaks:

"To what shall / I liken the world? / Moonlight, reflected / In dewdrops, / Shaken from a crane's bill" (p.69).

Book Description

Ikkyu, who lived from 1394â€“1481, was known as one of Japan's most irreverent and iconoclastic Zen masters. He spent much of his life as a vagrant monk, wandering here and there, and mingling with people both high- and low-born. On occasion, Ikkyu played Robin Hood, taking money given by the rich and spending it on the homeless. Interspersing his travels with retreats deep in the mountains, he eventually became head abbot at the most important Zen temple in Japan. Much of his verse rants against the pervasive hypocrisy of the Buddhist establishment and the corruption of the imperial court, but his writing is at its finest when centering around what he loved most: the unfettered Zen life and the joys of sexual intimacy.

Customer Reviews:

a work of art.......2000-04-07

This is my favorite Ikkyu translation and collection. John Stevens captures Ikkyu's wry wit and his earthy sensibilities, his concurrent plunges into deep despair, and his profound spirituality. The presentation of the book is delightful as well. This is a tiny book. You can carry it in your pocket. It has lovely artwork intermingled with the poetry. I read this in one sitting, and then over and over.

The Wild Ways of Crazy Cloud.......2000-04-07

Ikkyu's poetry is extremely wide in scope, ranging from poems expressing his understanding and experiences of love and sex, to poems which express "standard" Mahayana/Zen doctrine, to poems which protest the way in which society treats the poor and vulnerable. Mr. Stevens does an admirable job of selecting poems for this volume which are representative of this range. He provides a brief but useful introduction, which gives enough information to understand the cultural setting of Ikkyu and his poetry, without intruding upon the reader's own appreciation and enjoyment of Ikkyu's work. "Skeletons", which Mr. Stevens renders accurately into a combined prose/poetry piece, is particulary interesting, as it is in this work that we see Ikkyu teach his form of Zen in a way that is both instructive in content and beautiful in form.

The Zen Works of Stonehouse: Poems and Talks of a Fourteenth-Century Chinese Hermit

Average customer rating:

Great Book, misleading delivery by Amazon
The book that started my infatuation with the Ch'an poets of old
Careful, Carefee & Paradoxical
Very nice book of poems.
not a review but a correction request

The Zen Works of Stonehouse: Poems and Talks of a Fourteenth-Century Chinese Hermit
Stonehouse
Manufacturer: Mercury House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 156279101X

Book Description

One of the classic texts of Zen, essential for anyone interested in Zen practice and tradition.

Stonehouse has been called "the greatest of all Zen monks who made poetry their medium of instruction." Until now his works have rarely been available in English. Now all of the hermit monk's poetry, including the major poetic works, "Mountain Poems" and "Gathas," as well as his most illuminating instructional talks, can be read in Pine's superb translations.

According to Nelson Foster and Jack Shoemaker in The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader, "The ancient Taoist themes of simplicity, naturalness, and ease resound in Shih-wu's [Stonehouse's] writing, ringing out clearly within the Ch'an [Zen] setting. Everything in his mountain life that might seem a hardship to others-very plain food, crude and cramped quarters, dearth of human contact-Shih-wu celebrates as an outright virtue or at least preferable to what a city dweller can know.... Shih-wu packed his verses with practice pointers and encouragements, enticements and goads, allusions to sutras and Ch'an stories."

With Red Pine's personal discovery in 1991 of the site of Stonehouse's former hut, this edition provides rare first-hand understanding of the spiritual and physical realm of Stonehouse's era.

"Every Zen student will wish to own a copy."-Jim Harrison

"An admirable achievement!"-Burton Watson

Red Pine is the pen name of Bill Porter. Translator of numerous classical Chinese texts, he lives in Port Townsend, Washington.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book, misleading delivery by Amazon.......2006-06-20

Each poem of Stonehouse is a meditation in itself, each seeming as lines written after a satori while sitting on his mountain-side. Here was a true Nirmanakaya of Zen, no attachment, all needs provided by chance.

Red Pine's notes can be helpful, but don't worry about them unless you have a question about what you just read. Otherwise, reading the poem then referring to the notes may cause you to be distracted from the insight Stonehouse is attempting to relay to you.

I finally have my copy of this wonderful volume. Why do I say that? I first ordered the book new on Amazon in August 2005, with a note saying 2-4 week delivery. After monthly alterations in delivery dates, Amazon unilaterally cancelled the order in January 2006. So I ordered again. Again, monthy alterations in projected delivery date. So I looked into the matter. Turns out other companies cannot supply the book. Even the publisher has no copies. This realized, I ordered a used book from an individual listing on Amazon, at a reasonable price, and finally have this valuable document in June 2006.

The book that started my infatuation with the Ch'an poets of old.......2005-07-25

I don't think I can adequately express my love for this book, so I will just tell a little about the contents. Stonehouse is the English translated name of the Chinese Ch'an (Zen) poet Ch'ing-hung who retired early from being a temple abbot (he pleaded old age) so he could return to his beloved mountain retreat and live a peaceful, reflective life in nature. This great Zen monk whose medium of instruction was poetry also gave brief but potent Zen talks which are included here. Burton Watson's commendation on the back cover is correct about Pine's translation of the poems, noting that "...Red Pine has devised and unusual translation style that not only captures much of the flavor of the Chinese originals, but at the same time works splendidly as English." Yes, so splendidly that in reading a few to a friend, she began weeping. As if Red Pine carries in his chest the heart of the original poet, he expresses each poem sensitively and perfectly into English for us.

Here's what else I love about Red Pine's works: he has thoughtfully accompanied every poem with notes explaining contexts, references, and doctrinal backgrounds. The poetry carries you back to a beautiful wilderness in fourteenth century China and awakening a love for simplicity, return to nature, and Zen mind. Six pages of introduction to the monk provide very good backdrop for his poems. This volume contains three parts:
Book One: Mountain Poems
Book Two: Gathas
Book Three: Zen Talks
I read excerpts of Stonehouse for an incense game called Kodo, and a Zen monk attending exclaimed, each one is like a meditation!

Careful, Carefee & Paradoxical.......2004-09-14

Another great treasure of poems translated by Bill Porter. I believe this could be the best of the lot. These poems are tough, gentle & uncomprimising. I've gone through them several times always at ease and also alert.They truly come from the void, the Tao, whatever that is or isn't. Like notes from shakuhachi: soft ,dim slow quick, sloping, climbing. This man was a teacher of many and yet also a true recluse shutting or opening his brushwood door. I wish as many people were interested in such things as the usual pop culture non-sense. Oh well this stuff is not called esoteric for nothing.

Very nice book of poems........2004-09-01

I have owned this book for about five years and I still enjoy reading from it. Stonehouse was a Buddhist hermit who lived in solitude up on a mountain. Most of the poems he wrote are simply about his day to day life;

A winding muddy trail
an immense hibiscus hedge
a paper-window bamboo hut
stove-blackened pines
a humble place free from care
quiet untroubled days
who can do as well
nothing to do or change

Stonehouse was a deeply peaceful man and it seams his contentment rubs off onto us as we read.

not a review but a correction request.......2003-08-06

This is not a review, just wanted you to know that the Editorial Review listed for this book "The Zen Works of Stonehouse: Poems and Talks of a Fourteenth-Century Chinese Hermit",
is for a completely different book... thought you'd want to know & couldn't find any other way to tell you.

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