Triumph of the Sparrow Zen Poems of Shinkichi Takahashi

by Takahashi, Shinkichi; Stryk, Lucien; Ikemoto, Takashi

• ISBN13: 9780802137364
• ISBN10: 0802137369
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-12
• Publisher: Grove Press

Summary

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

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(1)
A Wood in Sound	1	(21)
Aching of Life	22	(1)
Snow Wind	23	(1)
Canna	24	(1)
Time	25	(1)
The Pink Sun	26	(1)
Thistles	27	(1)
Rat on Mount Ishizuchi	28	(1)
Burning Oneself to Death	29	(1)
Nehru	30	(1)
Strawberry	31	(1)
Ox and Sleet	32	(1)
Cock	33	(1)
Back Yard	34	(1)
The Pipe	35	(1)
Crow	36	(1)
White Flower	37	(1)
A Spray of Hot Air	38	(1)
City	39	(1)
Murmuring of the Water	40	(1)
Pigeon	41	(1)
Mummy	42	(1)
Red Waves	43	(1)
Sparrow in Winter	44	(1)
The Martian Rock	45	(1)
Destruction	46	(1)
Disclosure	47	(1)
The Hare	48	(1)
Duck	49	(1)
What Is Moving	50	(1)
Autumn Flowers	51	(1)
The Peach	52	(1)
One Hundred Billionth of a Second	53	(1)
Quails	54	(1)
Flower	55	(1)
Stillness	56	(1)
Horse	57	(1)
Misty Rain	58	(1)
Collapse	59	(1)
Sun	60	(1)
Words	61	(1)
Rain	62	(1)
Chidori Pool	63	(1)
Bream	64	(1)
Time	65	(1)
Cat	66	(1)
The Position of the Sparrow	67	(2)
Life Infinite	69	(1)
Paper Door	70	(1)
Deck	71	(1)
Spring Snow	72	(1)
The Cloud and the Butterfly	73	(1)
On a Day of Continuous Rain	74	(1)
Black Smoke	75	(2)
Evening Clouds	77	(1)
Mascot	78	(1)
Wind	79	(1)
Wind among the Pines	80	(1)
Stitches	81	(1)
Sun and Flowers	82	(1)
Comet	83	(2)
Immutability	85	(1)
Snail	86	(1)
Here	87	(1)
If I Am Flowers	88	(1)
Man	89	(1)
Statue of Kudara-Avalokitesvara	90	(1)
Fish	91	(1)
Cock	92	(1)
Crab	93	(1)
Ants	94	(1)
Sun	95	(1)
Sun through the Leaves	96	(1)
Magpie	97	(1)
A Richer Ground	98	(1)
Penguins	99	(1)
Ivies	100	(1)
Sparrow	101	(1)
Apricot	102	(1)
White Paper	103	(1)
On the Wind	104	(1)
Like Dewdrops	105	(1)
Apex of the Universe	106	(1)
Ice	107	(1)
What Dashes?	108	(1)
Wild Camomiles	109	(1)
The Solid Season	110	(1)
Lovebird	111	(1)
Rat and Woman	112	(1)
Body	113	(1)
Afterimages	114	(1)
Shell	115	(1)
Mushroom	116	(1)
Flight of the Sparrow	117	(1)
Sky	118	(1)
Sparrow in Withered Field	119	(1)
Afternoon	120	(1)
Hand	121	(1)
Sweet Potato	122	(1)
Camel	123	(1)
Raw Fish and Vegetables	124	(1)
Downy Hair	125	(1)
Toad	126	(1)
Drizzle	127	(1)
Sea of Oblivion	128	(1)
Cloud	129	(1)
Mother and I	130	(1)
Sheep	131	(1)
Eternity	132	(1)
Sparrow and Bird-Net Building	133	(1)
Clay Image	134	(1)
Gods	135	(1)
Braggart Duck	136	(1)
Stone Wall	137	(1)
Beach	138	(1)
Moon and Hare	139	(1)
Lap Dog	140	(1)
Moon	141	(1)
Vimalakirti	142	(1)
Snowy Sky	143	(1)
Near Shinobazu Pond	144	(1)
Let's Live Cheerfully	145	(1)
Rocks	146	(1)
Urn	147	(1)
Spring	148	(1)
Peach Blossom and Pigeon	149	(1)
Spinning Dharma Wheel	150	(1)
Four Divine Animals	151	(1)
A Little Sunlight	152	(1)
Explosion	153	(1)
Railroad Station	154	(1)
Absence	155	(2)
Interview with Shinkichi Takahashi	157	(16)
Bibliography	173