ryokan's window (ii)

One thousand peaks merge with frozen clouds,
ten thousand paths have no human trace.
Day by day just facing the wall,
at times I hear snow drift over the window.

Ryokan
tr. Kazuaki Tanahashi

ryokan's window (i)

In the evening of a thousand peaks, I close my eyes.
Among humans, myriad thoughts are trivial.
Serenely I sit on the mat.
In solitude I face an open window.
The incense has burned out and a dark night is long.
Dew is thick; my robe is thin.
Emerging from samadhi, I walk in the garden.
The moon has risen over the highest peak.

Ryokan
tr. Kazuaki Tanahashi

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a thousand peaks

A thousand peaks locked in freezing cloud
Myriad paths without a single traveler
Each day I just sit in meditation
Now and then hearing the snow
softly drift against my window

Ryōkan, tr. Peter Haskel
image: self-portrait by Hakuin

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haiku

A lovely thing to see:
through the paper window's hole,
the Galaxy.

Issa

The thief left it behind:
the moon
at my window.

Ryokan
tr. Stephen Mitchell

My own foolishness must be endured-- the window darkened by snowy bamboo.
gu ni taeyo to mado wo kurosu yuki no take

(A boat trip.)
The night is brief-- At Fushimi the doors are closed, at Yodo windows opened.
majikayo ya Fushimi no toboso Yodo no mado

Yosa Buson

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