Tanka I-VIII
I
Could I but retrace
The winding stairs fate built me.
They fell from my feet.
Now I stand on the high round.
Down beneath height above depth—
II
Through the eyes of life
I looked in at my own heart:
A long furrowed field
Grown cement waiting for seed
Baking in desolation.
III
Drink in moods of joy!
Why should the sky be lonely?
Neither sun nor moon—
How my heart is shy of night
Like Autumn’s leaf brown pendants.
IV
Cold against the sky
The blue jays cried at dawning.
The larks where are they?
Heavily upon the air
My ears tuned in to listen.
V
So this is the reed?
The very pipes for singing—
Life plays me new songs.
Wistfully from out the dawn
The crows broke across the sky!
VI
And now Spring has come
Blossoming up my garden.
I alone unchanged.
Moving in my house of Autumn.
One leaf alone saves a tree.
VII
By the pool of life
Willows are drooping tonight
I can see no stars.
What dances in the water?
O my clouds dripping with tears.
VIII
Could I hear your voice
O but this silence is sweet
Words mar all beauty.
Turn then into your own heart
And pluck the roots from the soil—
Japanese Hokku
O apple blossoms
Give me your words of silence,
Yes, your charming speech.
If you would know me,
Do not regard this display;
Mingle with my speech.
Why sit like the sphinx,
Watching the caravan pass?
Join in the parade.
What if the wind blows?
What if the leaves are scattered,
Now that they are dead?
While trimming the plants
I saw some flowers drooping.
I am a flower.
This is but my robe,
His Majesty gave to me.
Garments will decay.
On the flowering twig,
Lo! the robin is singing.
It must be spring.
Looking up the hill
The road was long before me.
This road is longer.
Death is not cruel
From what I have seen of life;
Nothing else remains.
Life is history.
Turn not away from the book.
Write on every page!
If you had not sung
Then what would I imitate,
Happy nightingale?
Sitting by the pool,
I looked in and saw my face.
O that I were blind!