East Window: Poems from Asia [Paperback]

W.S. Merwin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1556590911 | ISBN-13: 978-1556590917 | Publication Date: October 1, 1998 | Edition: 1st

Gathered in this volume are translations and versions of poems and aphorisms from Asian languages as varied as Urdu, Chinese, Sanskrit, Japanese, Persian, and Vietnamese. Included are poems by some of the world's greatest writers, deeply influential poets such as Rumi, Tu Fu, Li Po, and Muso Soseki, beautifully brought forward by one of the century's most celebrated poets.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I Have Had A Companion On The Road
Ghazal V
Ghazal Xii
Ghazal Xv
Ghazal Xxi
Ghazal Xxv
Ghazal Xxxiv
If You're Not Going To Sleep
Love You Alone Have Been With Us
That Moon Which The Sky Never Saw
When The Heart Bursts Into Flame
Wise Teacher Tell Me
Even The Man Who Is Happy
The Ideal Retreat
From Kavikanthabharana
Quiet Night Thoughts
Oh The Sound Of Her Silk Sleeves
Rebirth
The Lake Of The Ten Thousand Mountains
Abiding Mountain
All On My Own I'm Happy
All Worries And Troubles
Among Rocks And Valleys
Ancient Origin
Another Summit
Ashikaga Tadayoshi's Palace
At Gen's Embarkation For Yuan China
At Iku's Embarkation For Yuan China
At The Nachi Kannon Hall
At Whole-world-in-view Hut
Bamboo Garden
Beyond Light
Beyond The World
The Bridge Where The Moon Crosses
Buddha's Satori
By The Sea
Cave Of The Thousand Pines
Chick Feed Is What I Eat
Clear Valley
Climbing Down The Snowy Mountain
Cloud Mountain
A Curtain Of Cloud Hangs
Digging Out The Buddha Relic
Don't Ask Suspiciously
Dragon-gate House
Dry Tree
East Of The Strait
East Peak
Flat Mountain
For A Monk Going West
For Gen The New Head Priest Of Erin-ji
For Ko Who Has Come Back From China
For Myo's Departure For Anzen-ji
For Myo's Departure For Shofuku-ji
For Sho The New Head Priest Of Erin-ju
For Taihei Osho
For Tetsu The New Head Priest Of Erin-ji
For The Death Of A Monk
For Years I Dug In The Earth
The Fragrance Of The Udumbara
Free Old Man
From My Hut In Miura
From The Beginning
The Garden At The General's Residence
The Gate Of Universal Light
Gem Creek
Gem Forest
Gem Mountain
Green Mountains
Hall Of The Guardian God
Heaven Peak
House Of Spring
Hui-ning's Pond
Hut In Harmony
I Wake From My Noon Nap
I'm Not So Deep In It
In These Mountain Villages And Harbor Towns
In This Small Hut
Inauguration Of Fukusan Dormitory
Incomparable-verse Valley
It
Jewel Cliff
Jewel Field
Joy Mountain
Lamenting The Civil War
Laughing Mountain
A Lodging House In Town
Loud Thunder
Lover Of Mountains
Magnificent Peak
Moon Mountain
Moon Tree Cliff
Mourning For The Layman Named Cloud Peak
Mugoku Osho's Snow Poem
No End Point
No Gain
No Precedent
No-word Hut
Old Creek
Old Hut
Old Man Advancing
Old Man At Leisure
Old Man In Retirement
Old Man Of Few Words
Old Man To-the-point
Old Mountain
On The Blue Waves
On The Wall Of Cloud-friend Hut
One Hut
Ox Turned Loose
Patriarch Peaks
The Peak Of The Held-up Flower
People's Abuse
Pine Shade
Plum Window
Poem On Dry Mountain (a Zen Garden)
The Pure Sound Pavilion Of The Riverside Temple
Reizan Osho Visits Me
Reply To A Friend's Poem
Reply To Bukko Zenji's Poem At Seiken-ji
Reply To Gen'no Osho's Poem
Reply To Reizan Osho
Reply To Suzan Osho's Snow Poem
Snow
Snow At Rohatsu Sesshin
Snow Garden
Snow Valley
Spring Cliff
Strange Peak
Suzan Osho's Visit
Suzan Osho's Visit To My West Mountain Hut
Temple Of Eternal Light
Tengan Osho's Visit To Erin-ji
Thanks For Daisen Osho's Visit
Thanks Sent To Taihei Osho
Three-step Waterfall
Tiger Valley
Time For A Walk
To Kengai Osho Of Engaku-ji
To The Emperor's Messenger
Toki-no-ge (satori Poem)
Truth Hall
Turtle Head Stupa
Very High This Mountain
Visiting My Old Hut In Late Spring
Wandering
With Compassionate Hands
Withered Zen
Autumn
Winter
Where The Mist Has Torn
A Breeze Strokes The Water Of The Spring
Women
Autumn Night
Between His Hands
Burmese Figures
Chinese Figures I
Chinese Figures Ii
Chinese Figures Iii
Cosmology
Hiding In The %cucumber Garden
I Like Sleeping With Somebody
Japanese Figures I
Japanese Figures Ii
Korean Figures
Lao Figures
A Long Time Back
Malay Figures
My Husband Before Leaving
Philippine Figures
The Substituted Poem Of Laureate Quynh
Tatar Songs
Water Pouring From Clouds
A Woodcutter On His Way Home
The Body Of Man
The Whole Universe Is Full Of God
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press; 1st edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556590911
• ISBN-13: 978-1556590917
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,141,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

W.S. Merwin is the 17th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry of the United States. He is the author of over fifty books of poetry, prose, and translations. He has earned every major literary prize, most recently the National Book Award for 'Migration: New and Selected Poems' and the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for 'The Shadow of Sirius.' He lives in Hawaii where he raises endangered palm trees.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars W.S. Merwin: The Poets' Voice, November 15, 2006

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: East Window: Poems from Asia (Paperback)

Not only is W.S. Merwin one of our finest living poets, he also has provided us with the daunting task of translating the poems of Asian writers, making them not only available but emotionally and artistically relevant. No easy job this, but Merwin has taken on the challenge of gathering disparate works from Sanskrit, Persian, Urdu, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese into an immensely readable volume.

Merwin curated this collection well. Not only do we have the opportunity to re-read works by 13th century Rumi, but we also gain access to poets such as Li Po and Tu Fu. The translations reflect the countries of origin and in Merwin's hands the result is a collection of poems that maintain the spare dignity of the originals. Example, a Rumi poem follows:

The moon which the sky never saw
even in dreams
has risen again

bringing a fire
that no water can drown

So here where the body
has its house
and see here my soul

the cup of love has made the one
drunk
and the other a ruin

For a gifted poet to devote a large portion of his career sharing the works of Asian masters is a gift to us, as readers. This is a splendid collection. As Merwin states: 'The practice of translation is plainly impossible and nevertheless indispensable.' Grady Harp, November 06

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMONG THE BEST, September 27, 2008

By 

T. Bellows "soul9" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: East Window: Poems from Asia (Paperback)

My biased view:
The short pieces are siimply fantastic. Witty, profound, or ironic - they capture so much in a few lines. Tantalizing!
The other translations are splendid too.
(The long rhymed poem left me out in the shed. Couldn't take it.
But the whole book is a must-have!)

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars translating air, July 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: East Window: Poems from Asia (Paperback)

Lovely and brilliant! Even if Merwin doesn't "know" any asian languages, he sure pulls one over gorgeously with these works- with great help from the various asian translator/collaborators. Read carefully of the Muso Soseki poems, read them into your own being, and you can't help to radiate joy as the poems wash through you!