Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan [Paperback]

Ryokan (Author), John Stevens (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 1996

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.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An Abandoned Hut
After Gathering Firewood In The Mountains
Along The Hedge A Few Branches Of Golden Mums
The Ancient Buddhas Taught The Dharma
At Dusk
At Night, Deep In The Mountains
The Autumn Moon
Bamboo
Blending With The Wind
Brush And Inkstone
Buddha Proclaimed Countless Teachings
Buddha's Path
Buddhist Begging
Caged Birds
Chanting Old Poems
The Courtesans Are Turned Out In Their Best
The Districts Of Echigo Are Full Of Beauties
Dreaming Of Saichi, My Long-deceased Disciple
An Easterly Wind Brought Needed Rain
Enjoying Rice Wine With My Younger Brother Yoshiyuki
Even If You Consume As Many Books
Exchange Of Poems On Ryokan's Deathbed
The Flower Invites The Butterfly With No-mind
For Children Killed In A Smallpox Epidemic
For Hachisuke, An Untouchable
For Keizan, Abbot Of Ganjo-ji
For My Visitors
For Our Sakes
A Gift Of Seven Pomegranates
The Great Way Leads Nowhere
Haiku
How Can I Possibly Sleep
The I Ching States Happiness Lies In The Proper Blend Of
I Climb To Great Compassion Hall
I Descended To The Valley To Gather Orchids
I Have An Old Staff
I Sat Facing You For Hours But You Didn't Speak
I Took My Staff And Slowly Made My Way
I Watch People In The World
If Someone Asks
If You Are Not Put Off
In A Dilapidated Three-room Hut
In My Garden
In My Hermitage A Volume Of Cold Mountain Poems
In My Little Begging Bowl
In My Youth I Put Aside My Studies
In Otogo Forest Beneath Mount Kugami
In The Stillness By The Empty Window
In This World
Inscription On My Painting Of A Scull
It's A Pity, A Gentleman In Refined Retirement
Keep Your Heart Clear And Transparent
Late At Night I Draw My Inkstone Close
Leave Off Your Mad Rush For Gold And Jewels
Li Po
Long Ago A Pretty Girl Lived Next Door
The Lotus
Love Poems Between Ryokan And Teishin
Midsummer %i Walk About With My Staff
My Cracked Wooden Bowl
My Daily Fare: Playing With The Village Children
My Hermitage Is Home To A Cat And A Mouse
My Legacy
My Precepts
No Luck Today On My Mendicant Rounds
Noisy Crickets Now Own The Harvested Fields
On A Bitterly Cold November Night
On The Slope Of %kugami
Orchid
The Plants And Flowers
Poem Composed Following A Terrible Earthquake
Poems Exchanged Between Ryokan And His Brother Yoshiyuki
Priest Senkei, A True Man Of The Way
Reply To A Friend's Letter
Returning To My Native Village After Many Years' Absence
Shut Up Among The Solitary Peaks
A Single Path Among Ten Thousand Trees
Someday I'll Be A Weather-beaten Skull Resting
Sometimes I Sit Quietly
Spring Rains
Spring Sunset, A Willowy Miss Of Sixteen
Summer Evening
Thinking Back, I Recall My Days At Entsu-ji
This World
Time Passes
To A Visitor
To My New Vase
To My Teacher
Torn And Tattered, Torn And Tattered
Tu Fu
Two Poem-letters
Two Poems For My Friend Bosai
A Visit To Mr. Fuji's Villa
Visiting Cloud Peak With Priest Tenge In Fall
We Meet Only To Part
What Is This Life Of Mine
What Luck! I Found A Coin In My Bag
When All Thoughts
When I See Learned Priests Lecturing On The Sutras
When I Think
When I Was A Lad
Who Says My Poems Are Poems
Wild Peonies
The Wind Has Settled, The Blossoms Have Fallen
The Year Will Be Over Soon
Zen Dialogue In A Dream
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (October 29, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570622612
• ISBN-13: 978-1570622618
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,983,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mad Wisdom and Compassion on a Lotus Leaf, January 15, 2005

By 

Hortensia Anderson "Hortensia Anderson" (nyc, ny, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan (Paperback)

These are fresh and spare and unforgettable poems, reproduced by John Stevens with directness and fidelity to the original (or so I have been told by my multilingual friends.)

Ryokan was a nature poet but fully in touch with humanity and he had this touch in his poems such that each poem has many levels and can be appreciated through any or all.

"At night I got drunk on peach blossoms by the river.
I never cared about returning home,..."

How can you not love it? I can taste the dewdrops already...

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Japanese Zen poetry with little haiku!, September 18, 1998

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan (Paperback)

This book is an extremely well balanced collection of poetry and drawings by Ryokan. I know no Japanese to assess the "accuracy" of the translation, but the poems all stand as poetry in their own right in English. Many poems are similar to the Chinese Zen (Chan) poetry - drawing on keen observation rather than metaphor. Others are delightful pieces in which the poet gently laughs at himself. A few poems have a didactic intent but Ryokan's understanding of Buddhism leaves little room for the Buddhist scholastics. This small book should be on the "must read" list for anyone interested in religious poetry.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Pleasing Translation, November 28, 2003

By 

David P Oller (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan (Paperback)

I like the way Stephens includes enough information about Ryokan to help understand the poetry. As Ryokan notes himself, outside his Zen, he has no Poetry to offer.

Ryokan refusing to take a position of a Zen Abbot, instead goes back to the place of his youth and takes hermitage. "The cold wind gathers enough fallen leaves to build my fire."

His code of living avoids flattery as much as objuragation, he teaches with a tear, plays with children, and falls in love with a young nun. All of this brings forward our own starkling humanity!

Stephens does a master presentation in bringing this material together in such an artful way as to illuminate all sides of Ryokan with that of the reader themselves. And with that the poetry comes alive.