Tuesday, March 3, 2015

One Man's Maple Moon: Cliffside Cottage Tanka by Larry Kimmel

English Original

cliffside cottage
blue hills in the distance
here I could be
a Ryōkan
or a Han Shan

bottle rockets, 6, 2002

Larry Kimmel


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

懸崖邊的茅屋
遠方的藍色山丘
在這裡,我可以做為
日本的良寛大愚
或是中國的寒山

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

悬崖边的茅屋
远方的蓝色山丘
在这里,我可以做为
日本的良寛大愚
或是中国的寒山


Bio Sketch

Larry Kimmel is a US poet. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Pittsburgh University, and has worked at everything from steel mills to libraries. Recent books are this hunger, tissue-thin, and shards and dust. He lives with his wife in the hills of Western Massachusetts.

1 comment:

  1. Ls 1&2 successfully set the scene and mood for the poem while Ls 3-5 show the speaker's spiritual volition through his identification with two of the most revered poet-recluses of of Asian literature, Ryōkan Taigu and Han Shan (Cold Mountain), whose works present spontaneous expressions of pure Zen/Chan spirit.

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