This and That: Selected Short Poems of Zen Master Ryokan by RyōkanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site — Monkfish Books
Release Date: March 24, 2026
This is a new selection of Ryōkan’s short poetry (haiku, tanka, and Chinese-Style poems) as translated by Stan Ziobro and John Slater. Ryōkan was a Buddhist monk who lived across the late 18th / early 19th century. These translations are evocative and present the sometimes whimsical and sometimes haunting work of Ryōkan well. While the forms are just three, i.e. haiku, tanka, and kanshi [Japanese Poetry in the Chinese Style,] the style varies, some being imagist and some being more philosophical. Being a monk, Ryōkan’s work is heavily influenced by a Buddhist worldview, as well as by philosophies that interacted with Buddhism — e.g. Taoism.
While I usually have no basis to judge a translation as translation and am left to reflect on it purely as stand-alone verse, in this case, I have enough experience reading translations of Ryōkan to have a feel for his work. I immediately recognized some of Ryōkan’s more famous poems: e.g. the one’s translated in this book as, “Poems? no way // when you see that my // poems aren’t poems // then we can talk poetry” or “Left behind by thief // bright moon // in my window” Yet, at the same time, I felt the translators left some of their own imprint on the poems, and their influence / voice resonated with me.
The book does have front matter to set the stage for readers, and there is a “Notes” section that includes useful background on the poems. I found this ancillary matter useful, but not excessively verbose or intrusive.
If you enjoy Japanese poetry or Buddhist influenced poetry, I’d highly recommend this selection.
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