Best Waka Poems

welcoming the sun                                          ...

Continue reading...

These are translations of some of the oldest Japanese waka, which evolved into tanka, renga and haiku. 

While you decline to cry,
high on the mountainside
a single stalk of plumegrass wilts.
—O no Yasumaro (circa 711), translation by Michael R. Burch

Hush, cawing crows; what rackets you make!
Heaven's...

Continue reading...

As I slept in isolation
my desired beloved appeared to me; 
therefore, dreams have become my reality
and consolation. 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Submit to you—is that what you advise? 
The way the ripples do
whenever ill winds arise? 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael...

Continue reading...

Ono no Komachi Translations

These are my modern English translations of the ancient Japanese poems of Ono no Komachi…

"It's over!"
Your words drizzle like dismal rains,
bringing tears,
as I wilt with my years.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

The wildflowers and my love
wilted with the rain
as I...

Continue reading...

This world?
Moonlit dew
flicked from a crane’s bill.
—Eihei Dogen Kigen translation by Michael R. Burch

Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last?
—Eihei Dogen Kigen translation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch

Dewdrops beading grass-blades
die before dawn;
may an untimely wind not hasten their departure!
—Eihei Dogen Kigen translation by...

Continue reading...