Triumph of the Sparrow: Zen Poems of Shinkichi Takahashi

Front Cover
Grove Press, 2000 - Poetry - 175 pages
Shinkichi Takahashi is one of the truly great figures in world poetry. In the classic Zen tradition of economy, disciplined attention, and subtlety, Takahashi lucidly captures that which is contemporary in its problems and experiences, yet classic in its quest for unity with the Absolute. Lucien Stryk, Takahashi's fellow poet and close friend, here presents Takahashi's complete body of Zen poems in an English translation that conveys the grace and power of Takahashi's superb art. "A first-rate poet . . . [Takahashi] springs out of some crack between ordinary worlds: that is, there is some genuine madness of the sort striven for in Zen." -- Robert Bly; "We visit places in Takahashi that we once may have visited in a dream, or in a moment too startling to record the perception. . . . You need know nothing of Zen to become immersed in his work. You will inevitably know something of Zen when you emerge." -- Jim Harrison, American Poetry Review
 

Contents

Introduction
1
A Wood in Sound
21
Aching of Life
22
Snow Wind
23
Canna
24
Time
25
The Pink Sun
26
Thistles
27
Fish
91
Cock
92
Crab
93
Ants
94
Sun
95
Sun through the Leaves
96
Magpie
97
A Richer Ground
98

Rat on Mount Ishizuchi
28
Burning Oneself to Death
29
Nehru
30
Strawberry
31
Ox and Sleet
32
Cock
33
Back Yard
34
The Pipe
35
Crow
36
White Flower
37
A Spray of Hot Air
38
City
39
Murmuring of the Water
40
Pigeon
41
Mummy
42
Red Waves
43
Sparrow in Winter
44
The Martian Rock
45
Destruction
46
Disclosures
47
The Hare
48
Duck
49
What is Moving
50
Autumn Flowers
51
The Peach
52
One Hundred Billionth of a Second
53
Quails
54
Flower
55
Stillness
56
Horse
57
Misty Rain
58
Collapse
59
Sun
60
Words
61
Rain
62
Chidori Pool
63
Bream
64
Time
65
Cat
66
The Position of the Sparrow
67
Life Infinites
69
Paper Door
70
Deck
71
Spring Snow
72
The Cloud and the Butterfly
73
On a Day of Continuous Rain
74
Black Smoke
75
Evening Clouds
77
Mascot
78
Wind
79
Wind among the Pines
80
Stitches
81
Sun and Flowers
82
Comet
83
Immutability
85
Snail
86
Here
87
If I Am Flowers
88
Man
89
Statue of KudaraAvalokitesvara
90
Penguins
99
Ivies
100
Sparrow
101
Apricot
102
White Paper
103
On the Wind
104
Like Dewdrops
105
Apex of the Universes
106
Ice
107
What Dashes?
108
Wild Camomiles
109
The Solid Season
110
Lovebird
111
Rat and Woman
112
Body
113
Afterimages
114
Shell
115
Mushroom
116
Flight of the Sparrow
117
Sky
118
Sparrow in Withered Field
119
Afternoon
120
Hand
121
Sweet Potato
122
Camel
123
Raw Fish and Vegetables
124
Downy Hair
125
Toad
126
Drizzle
127
Sea of Oblivion
128
Cloud
129
Mother and I
130
Sheep
131
Eternity
132
Sparrow and BirdNet Building
133
Clay Images
134
Gods
135
Braggart Duck
136
Stone Wall
137
Beach
138
Moon and Hare
139
Lap Dog
140
Moon
141
Vimalakirti
142
Snowy Sky
143
Near Shinobazu Pond
144
Lets Live Cheerfully
145
Rocks
146
Urn
147
Spring
148
Peach Blossom and Pigeon
149
Spinning Dharma Wheel
150
Four Divine Animals
151
A Little Sunlight
152
Explosion
153
Railroad Station
154
Absences
155
Interview with Shinkichi Takahashi
157
Bibliography
173
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