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Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan
 
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Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan (Paperback)

by John Stevens (Translator)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Review

"Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf is a welcome addition to the growing body of Ryokan's work available in English."— Tricycle


Product Description

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.

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4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Very Pleasing Translation, Nov 28 2003
By David P Oller (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: DEWDROPS ON A LOTUS LEAF (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.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Reflections on Dew-drops, Feb 20 2000
By RK Garnett (Colorado) - See all my reviews
This review is from: DEWDROPS ON A LOTUS LEAF (Paperback)
This third edition(Tokyo, 1954)is created of folded rice? paper and bound by a fine green ribbon - this volume fascinates me each time I read it. Ryokwan-sama speaks through his poetry of gentle musings, of wisdom found by not searching for it, and of both happiness & despair. This translation has been made from the Chinese text by Jakob Fischer. This is certainly a labor of love which honors Ryokwan and the culture of the Orient. These contemplations and astute observations of this eccentric priest's life reach towards the zen of living. "I longed on that warm spring day, to stop the enchanted hours in their flight."
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5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful poetry and delicate caligraphy; A mad, wise poet., April 14 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: DEWDROPS ON A LOTUS LEAF (Paperback)
"Go as deep as you can into life and you can give up blossoms" - that is Ryokan. He is eccentric, wise, simple and profound. The associated calligraphies are beautiful - such as the compassionate, eager monk seated near the little pine-tree in the rain - telling it - "I will gladly give you my straw hat and thatched coat to ward off the rain". And some of the poems have a meditative quality - you can read them casually, often and flip over - and one day you just realize them ... it is hard to explain. However, I am not an expert on zen or buddhism and do not know Japanese, so I cannot comment on the technicalities. I came across this accidentally and I liked it !
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4.0 out of 5 stars Japanese Zen poetry with little haiku!
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... Read more
Published on Sep 18 1998 by M. J. Smith

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