Eihei Dogen Kigen translations
Haiku translations
These are modern English translations of haiku written by Oriental masters of the form like Basho, Buson, Issa, Seishi, Shiki, Shugyo and Sugita. There are also translations of ancient waka and tanka, with strong resemblances to haiku.
Grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt
—Yamaguchi Seishi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
A Song Where I Belong
Inspired by Maxfield Parish’s “The Dinky Bird”
On the clouds
Of fruit-filled dreams
I dream
Of castles
And fairy tales
One ladder
Each step—
A movement in time
Falling along a road
Looking at the sky
Each kiss a melody—
The words, a broken cord
On the clouds
Of fruit-filled dreams
I dream
Of castles
And fairy tales
One ladder
Each step—
A movement in time
Falling along a road
Looking at the sky
Each kiss a melody—
The words, a broken cord
Drops from Keido Fukushima’s “Leaves”
wind and sea—
the leaves we leave
for other generations
little by little—
the leaves line up
to be lifted by the wind
pure sky—
awakened to sound
of single leaf
trees and skies—
the generations grow
from leaf to leaf
running in the wind—
searching for “self”
in the veins of time
water and life—
a drop in the moon’s
midnight reflection
moon and sea—
the life force of Earth’s
wandering expression
step-by-step
across the plots
of fertile Earth
the leaves we leave
for other generations
little by little—
the leaves line up
to be lifted by the wind
pure sky—
awakened to sound
of single leaf
trees and skies—
the generations grow
from leaf to leaf
running in the wind—
searching for “self”
in the veins of time
water and life—
a drop in the moon’s
midnight reflection
moon and sea—
the life force of Earth’s
wandering expression
step-by-step
across the plots
of fertile Earth
This Gracious Field
Gentle men have praised
With great and goodly words
This gracious field
So gorgeously gazed upon
By the good men here