My Favourite Poems

Persian Poetry

Poem by Hafiz, 15th century:
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky (could not find the original)

In a holy book I have there are pages from
the Bible and the Koran.

And pages from the sutras and from the
Upanishads, the Torah, and the Gita.

And pages of things that unknown saints
wrote in collaboration with the heavens
that people have never seen.

And pages of the wisdom of animals and
their young singing while they played, the
way we once did with the stars.

And pages of plants and pages of sounds.
And pages of earths.

Yes, it is all there in my soul, anything ink
has ever preserved, anything that stone ever

begged to have carved on it, anything any
instrument gifted from its mind, or a brush
left for us to see. Any space sanctified by
dance, I know.

And anything that will ever be, written in
your heart. You, the eyes or ears and cells
that now hear this.

In a holy book I have, in a sacred text I carry,
is the face of everyone who will ever be.

Haikus

Poems by Taneda Santōka (種田山頭火) (1882-1940):
Translations by R.H. Blythe

しとどに濡れてこれは道しるべの石
This is the stone,
Drenched with rain,
That marks the way.

鉄鉢の中へも霰
Into the iron bowl also,
Hailstones.

Poem by Fukuda Chiyo-ni (福田千代尼) (1703-1775, Edo period):

蜻蛉釣り今日はどこまで行ったやら
Dragonfly catcher,
How far have you gone today
In your wandering?

Her (the poet's) son passed away at a young age...

Poems by Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶) (1763-1828):
Issa is one of the great four Haiku poets of Japan.

世の中や鳴虫にさい上づ下手 (? possibly incorrect)
Even with insects—
some can sing,
some can’t.

露の世は露の世ながらさりながら
This dewdrop world --
Is a dewdrop world,
And yet, and yet . . .