Customer Reviews

When I Find You Again, It Will Be in Mountains

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This is a luminous book. Mike O'Connor's translations of the T'ang Dynasty poet Chia Tao bring his poems fully into the best English. I read the three sections of this as they originally appeared from the Tangram press, and didn't think they could be improved, but they have been---and O'Connor has given just enough scholarly "apparatus" to help the reader without overwhelming. The Chinese texts are given unobtrusively along with the English. The poems speak quietly of visits with mountain hermits, meetings and partings, travel before dawn, the slow turn of seasons. I keep giving this book away to friends who should know Chia Tao---and O'Connor's fine work.

This is a long overdue book, focused as it is on the fine poetry of Chia Tao, one of the great poets of the T'ang Dynasty and yet one who has been relatively ignored in English up until now. And Mike O'Connor rights the imbalance in style. His introduction is clear and illuminating, familiarizing the reader with Chia Tao's life and times as well as with his poetics, his religiosity, and his poetic associates (including Han Yu and Meng Chiao). All of this serves well to contextualize the poems themselves, all translated with a brilliant mix of accuracy and artistry by O'Connor.

Chia Tao's poetry is not as ornate and elaborate as much of the poetry of his time, actually. It is sparse and lean, heartfelt and yet detached in a strangely Buddhist way. And I do mean "strangely Buddhist"--Chia Tao was a Zen Buddhist monk for years, and then for reasons somewhat unclear he ditched the monastery and became a layman and poet. That being so, Buddhist attitudes and themes suffuse most if not all of his poetry, but in a very individualized and aestheticized manner that is, as Americans are fond of saying nowadays, "spiritual but not religious." Or as Chia Tao himself says in one of his poems, "I have no special names of Buddha to intone; my remaining practice is this verse" ("Farewell to a T'ien-T'ai Monk" page 95). In any case, the results are deeply moving in seeming disproportion to the poet's stylistic restraint and profoundly inspiring despite (because of?) his strict avoidance of overt devotionalism.

And so whether you're interested in Chinese literature, studying Buddhism and its place in Chinese culture, or just looking for some excellent poetry, this is an indispensable and very rewarding book. Highly recommended.

Chia Tao (779-843 AD) was a Zen monk who became a poet during China's T'ang Dynasty. His poetry recorded the lives of the sages, masters, immortals, and hermits who were responsible for establishing the great spiritual tradition of Zen Buddhism in China. Poet and translator Mike O'Connor does a superb job of presenting the poetry of Chia Tao in a bilingual format to a western readership. When I Find You Again, It Will Be In Mountains!: Selected Poems Of Chia Tao is enthusiastically recommended for students of Buddhist history, philosophy, and literature. Ferrying Across The Dry Mulberry River: A newcomer to P'ing-chou,/he stayed there ten years;/day and night/missing his old home, Ch'ang-an.//Then, inexplicably,/he went farther, across the Dry Mulberry;/only to look back on P'ing-chou/as home.

Mike O'Connor's translation of Chia Tao's works will satisfy the poet, translator and scholar alike as he weaves poetry, scholorship and translation into a tapestry of sublime beauty. The elegant poetry is filled with naturalistic imagery and delicate emotions... a journey in time and mind. O'Connor's instructive introduction sheds light not only on Chia Tao but a panalopy of Poet's and Hermits of the T'ang dynasty; unveiling the spiritual fabric of the mountain society.

This is a luminous book. Mike O'Connor's translations of the T'ang Dynasty poet Chia Tao bring his poems fully into the best English. I read the three sections of this as they originally appeared from the Tangram press, and didn't think they could be improved, but they have been---and O'Connor has given just enough scholarly "apparatus" to help the reader without overwhelming. The Chinese texts are given unobtrusively along with the English. The poems speak quietly of visits with mountain hermits, meetings and partings, travel before dawn, the slow turn of seasons. I keep giving this book away to friends who should know Chia Tao---and O'Connor's fine work.

This book of poetry is so profound and beautiful that I've already given away several copies and bought more. With ease, it reaches across the centuries and touches that still, calm, clear space within.

O'Connor has put together a nice selection of Chia Tao's poems in this book. Aside from O'Connor's skilled translations, the poems are also offered in modern Chinese. This is really handy for someone wanting to dig a little deeper into Chia Tao's way of thinking, or perhaps to do a bit of translating themself. There are several b/w photos in the book of mountain scenes and hermitages. I will be thumbing through this one for a long time.