Taigu Ryokan Poems

In the morning, bowing to all;
In the evening, bowing to all.
Respecting others is my only duty--
Hail to the Never-despising Bodhisattva.
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Deep in the valley, a beauty hides:
Serene, peerless, incomparably sweet.
In the still shade of the bamboo thicket
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When I was a lad,
I sauntered about town as a gay blade,
Sporting a cloak of the softest down,
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Wild roses,
Plucked from fields
Full of croaking frogs:
Float them in your wine
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First blooming in the Western Paradise,
The lotus has delighted us for ages.
Its white petals are covered with dew,
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This world
A fading
Mountain echo
Void and
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In a dilapidated three-room hut
I’ve grown old and tired;
This winter cold is the
Worst I’ve ever suffered through.
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How can I possibly sleep
This moonlit evening?
Come, my friends,
Let’s sing and dance
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Though frost come down,
Night after night
What does it matter?
They melt in the morning sun.
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My house is buried in the deepest recess of the forest
Every year, ivy vines grow longer than the year before.
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