Full name: Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan

Authors: Ryokan, John Stevens Year: 1835 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Politics, Poetry, Religion Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9781590301081 1590301080

The Japanese poet-recluse Ryokan (1758-1831) is one of the most beloved figures of Asian literature, renowned for his beautiful verse, exquisite calligraphy, and eccentric character. Deceptively simple, Ryokan's poems transcend artifice, presenting spontaneous expressions of pure Zen spirit. Like his contemporary Thoreau, Ryokan celebrates nature and the natural life, but his poems touch the whole range of human experience: joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, enlightenment and illusion, love and loneliness. This collection of translations reflects the full spectrum of Ryokan's spiritual and poetic vision, including Japanese haiku, longer folk songs, and Chinese-style verse. Fifteen ink paintings by Koshi no Sengai (1895-1958) complement these translations and beautifully depict the spirit of this famous poet. Similar books: One Robe, One Bowl by Ryokan Call Me By My True Names by Thich Nhat Hanh Japanese Death Poems by Yoel Hoffmann The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain by Han-Shan One Hundred Poems from the Japanese by Kenneth Rexroth A Zen Wave by Robert Aitken The Art of Blessing the Day by Marge Piercy A Cry Like a Bell by Madeleine L'Engle In the Eyes of the Cat by Tze-Si Huang The Far Field by Theodore Roethke Garbage by A. R. Ammons Lighthead by Terrance Hayes The Bridge by Hart Crane Actual Air by David Berman Spring and All by William Carlos Williams Words Under the Words by Naomi Shihab Nye The Lives of the Heart by Jane Hirshfield Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God by Rainer Maria Rilke Dream Work by Mary Oliver Red Bird by Mary Oliver