Between the Floating Mist
Poems of Ryokan
“Just as Ryokan’s life is inseparable from his poetry, the translation’s clarity of diction is inseparable from the sensitive brushwork on each page. A book to be gazed into again and again.”—Charlotte Mandel, Small Press
What shall remain
as my legacy?
The spring flowers
the cuckoo in summer,
the autumn leaves.
Ryokan (1758–1831) was a poet, master calligrapher, Zen hermit, and is one of the most beloved poets of Japan. Instead of becoming the head of a Zen temple, he preferred the simple and independent life of a hermit. Ryokan’s poetry is simple, direct, and colloquial in expression.
Ryokan (1758-1831) was a poet, master calligrapher, zen hermit, and is one of the most beloved poets of Japan. Taking the name of Daigo or "Great Fool:, he was often seen playing games with the village children or begging for food. Instead of becoming the head of a zen temple he preferred the simple and independent life of a hermit. Dennis Maloney is a poet, translator,and landscape architect. His books of translation include The House In the Sand and Isla Negra by pablo Neruda, The Naked Women by Juan Ramon Jimenez, and There is No Road: Proverbs of Antonio Machado. Hide Oshiro is a Japanese visual artist living in the U.S. He has illustrated Basho's travel journal, Back Roads to Far Towns, and Tangled Hair: Poems of Yosano Akiko.
