The appreciation of Zen philosophy and art has become universal, and Zen poetry, with its simple expression of direct, intuitive insight and sudden enlightenment, appeals to lovers of poetry, spirituality, and beauty everywhere. This collection of translations of the classical Zen poets of China, Japan, and Korea includes the work of Zen practitioners and monks as well as scholars, artists, travelers, and recluses, ranging from Wang Wei, Hanshan, and Yang Wanli, to Shinkei, Basho, and Ryokan.

Foreword
Xie Lingyun (385–433)
Written on the Lake on my Way Back to the Retreat at Stone Cliff
On Climbing the Highest Peak of Stone Gate
Setting out at Night from the Pavilion at Stone Pass
On Founding a Retreat for the Sangha at Stone Cliff
Huineng (638–713)
Bodhi originally has no tree
If evil flowers bloom in the mind-ground
Deluded, a Buddha is a sentient being
Wang Wei (?701–761)
Enjoying the Cool
An Autumn Evening in the Hills
Seeking a Night’s Lodging at the Monastery of the Chan Master Daoyi
The Wang River Collection
In my Lodge at Wang Chuan after a Long Rain
Light Lines on a Flat Rock
Green Creek
Suffering from the Heat
Living in the Hills: Impromptu Verses
Stone Gate Monastery on Mount Lantian
Visiting the Forest Pavilion of the Recluse, Cui Xingzong, with Lu Xiang
Farm House on the Wei Stream
In the Hills
Weeping for Ying Yao
Zhongnan Retreat
Lines
On Missing my Way to the Monastery of Heaped Fragrance
Sitting Alone on an Autumn Night
Liu Changqing (?710-?85)
On Parting with the Buddhist Pilgrim Lingche
Rejoicing that the Zen Master Bao Has Arrived from Dragon Mountain
Hanshan (?8th century)
A thousand clouds among a myriad streams
When men see Han-shan
When the men of the world look for this path amid the clouds
Men ask the way to Cold Mountain
Cold cliffs, more beautiful the deeper you enter
Clambering up the Cold Mountain path
As for me, I delight in the everyday Way
So Han-shan writes you these words
A telling analogy for life and death
In the third month when the silkworms were still small
Why am I always so depressed?
Parrots dwell in the west country
I sit and gaze on this highest peak of all
Yesterday I saw the trees by the river’s edge
Man, living in the dust
My mind is like the autumn moon
Shide (?8th century)
You can see the moon’s brightness
Far, faraway, steep mountain paths
I laugh at my failing strength in old age
Sami Manzei (8th century)
To what shall I compare the world?
Chang Jian (fl. 749)
Dhyana’s Hall
At Wang Changling’s Retreat
Jiaoran (730–99)
Looking for Lu Hongjian but Failing to Find Him
Bai Juyi (772–846)
Idle Droning
A Flower?
Realizing the Futility of Life
On his Baldness
Night Snow
The Temple
At Yiye Temple
Liu Zongyuan (773–819)
Meditation Hall
An Early Morning Visit to the Buddhist Priest Chao to Read the Chan Scriptures

Jia Dao (779–845)
Looking for the Recluse and Not Finding Him Home
Southern Study
Guanxiu (832–912)
To an Old Monk on Mount Tian Tai

Jianzhang (10th century)
Written on Master Hengzhao’s Wall
Weifeng (10th century)
Grieving for Zen Master Jianzhang
Su Dongpo (1037–1101)
On the Winter Festival I Visited Lone Mountain and the Two Monks Huijin and Huisi
Written on Abbot Lun’s Wall at Mount Jiao
The murmuring brook is the Buddha’s long, broad tongue
The Lyre
Flower Shadows
Spring Night
Days of Rain; the Rivers Have Overflowed
Begonias
Passing Over Dayu Peak
The Southern Room over the River
Recalling the Old Days at Mianchi
Moving to Lin’gao Pavilion
Enjoying the Peonies at the Temple of Good Fortune
Presented to Tanxiu
The Weaker the Wine
Sending Off Chan Master Xiaoben to Fayun
Abbot Zhan’s Cell
Written on the Wall at Xilin Temple
Chen Shidao (1052–1102)
Books
Saigyo (1118–90)
Every single thing
The winds of spring
Trailing on the wind
Fan Chengda (1126–93)
To ‘‘Eyes’ Fascination’’
Yang Wanli (1127–1206)
The Boatman’s Flute
Making Fire in the Boat on a Snowy Day
Red Peonies in a Jar
The Cold Lantern
Passing the Pavilion on Shenzhu Bridge
Spending the Night at the River-Port Pool Rock
Rising Early
The Morning Ferry
Staying Overnight at Xiaosha Stream
During an Intercalary August After the ‘‘Arrival of Autumn’’ It Was Hot in the Evening and I Went to Be Cool in the Prefectural Garden
The Twin Pagodas of Orchid Stream
Don’t Read Books!
Jakuren (?1139–1202)
On Seeing the First Bloom of the Lotus
Myoe (1173–1232)
Watching the Moon Go Down
Bright bright!
Kigen Dogen (1200–53)
Coming, going, the waterfowl
Depending on Neither Words nor Letters
Worship Service
Kokan Shiren (1278–1345)
Impromptu Poem
Winter Moon
Winter Moon (2)
Summer Night
Jakushitsu Genko (1290–1367)
Refreshing, the wind against the waterfall
Cold Night: Impromptu
Sesson Yubai (1290–1346)
Autumn’s Whiteness
In heaven and earth, no ground to plant my single staff
Staying at Luyuan Temple: Wang Wei’s Former Residence
Betsugen Enshi (1294–1364)
Miscellaneous Poems from My Lair
Rhyming with the Priest Caoan’s Poem ‘‘Living in the Mountains’’

Paegun (1299–1375)
In the Mountain
Chugan Engetsu (1300–75)
At Tomo Harbor
Imitating the Old Style
In China: Sick with Malarial Fever
T’aego (1301–82)
Herding the Ox in the Himalayas
At Deathbed
Ryusen Reisai (d.1360)
To Rhyme with a Poem by My Old Teacher: Sick in Winter
Ryushu Shutaku (1308–88)
For all these years, my certain Zen
Sweeping Leaves
Naong (1320–76)
In the Mountains
Gido Shushin (1325–88)
Inscription over his Door
Camellia Blossoms
Hymn for Offering Incense Upon the Buddha’s Attainment of the Path
Inscribed on the Pavilion of Moon on the Water: Two Poems
Improvisation Upon Leaving the Nanzenji to Go Into Retirement
Poem Rhyming with Monk San’s ‘‘Trip to Kanazawa –Recalling Old Times’’
Rohatsu: To Show to My Disciples
Two Scenes Inscribed on a Screen
In Response to a Request to ‘‘Explain the Secret Teaching’’
The Painted Fan
Zekkai Chushin (1336–1405)
An Old Temple
The void has collapsed upon the earth
Dwelling in the Mountains: A Poem Rhyming with Chanyue’s
Ikkyu Sojun (1394–1481)
Like dew that vanishes
Contemplating the Law, reading sutras, trying to be a real master
Sunset in a Fishing Village

Shinkei (1406–75)
Foothills beneath a deepening pall of snow
Such a mind, is, indeed, that of a Buddha!
As darkness falls
Without understanding
Cuckoo
Invisible as the wind to the eye
Soul mad with longing
‘‘If it be so, so be it!’’
A temporary lodging
Sogi (1421–1502)
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
They come about on their own
Yuan Hongdao (1568–1610)
Saying Goodbye to the Monk Wunian
On Receiving My Letter of Termination
Writing Down What I See
Matsuo Basho (1644–94)
On dead branches crows remain perched at autumn’s end
The sea dark
On the mountain road the sun arose
Coming this mountain way
The whitebait opens its black eyes
Asleep within the grave
Hakuin (1685–1768)
Priceless is one’s incantation
Past, present, future
You no sooner attain the great void
Ryokan (1758–1831)
My house is buried in the deepest recess of the forest
Green spring, start of the second month
I am imprisoned in my cottage among the solitary hills
Begging food, I went to the city
At an old temple
In the still night by the vacant window
My beloved friend
Good manners and sweet habits have faded, year after year
Our life in this world
You mustn’t suppose
Since I began to climb this steep path of discipline
Foothills far below
If anyone asks
The wind is gentle
Here are the ruins of the cottage where I once hid myself
All my life too lazy to try and get ahead
On the Death of Yukinori
I have a walking stick
Gong Zizhen (1792–1841)
From Spring to Autumn of 1827 Some Things Came to Me Which I Wrote Down Haphazardly
A Renunciation of Wit
Biographies
Acknowledgments