Author: Michael Dylan Welch
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781878798398
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
NATIONAL HAIKU WRITING MONTH, also known as NaHaiWriMo, celebrates the world's shortest poetry. When? Every February, the year's shortest month. This book's 324 haiku and senryu represent 100 participating poets from around the world, selected by NaHaiWriMo founder Michael Dylan Welch. Ron C. Moss contributes haiga artwork for 28 featured poems. Open the jumble box! "NaHaiWriMo gets me writing every day." -Johnny Baranski, Vancouver, Washington "NaHaiWriMo is an endless inspiration!!" -Kashinath Karmakar, Durgapur, India "Thanks, NaHaiWriMo, for being my psychotherapist for February." -Michael Nickels-Wisdom, Spring Grove, Illinois "NaHaiWriMo offers a sense of community and belonging and sharing-it is just wonderful!" -Daphne Purpus, Vashon, Washington "I did it-one haiku a day throughout February! And now I'm not sure if I can stop." -Tore Sverredal, Goteborg, Sweden Visit NaHaiWriMo at www.nahaiwrimo.com, or on Facebook at https: //www.facebook.com/NaHaiWriMo/.
Jumble Box
Author: Michael Dylan Welch
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781878798398
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
NATIONAL HAIKU WRITING MONTH, also known as NaHaiWriMo, celebrates the world's shortest poetry. When? Every February, the year's shortest month. This book's 324 haiku and senryu represent 100 participating poets from around the world, selected by NaHaiWriMo founder Michael Dylan Welch. Ron C. Moss contributes haiga artwork for 28 featured poems. Open the jumble box! "NaHaiWriMo gets me writing every day." -Johnny Baranski, Vancouver, Washington "NaHaiWriMo is an endless inspiration!!" -Kashinath Karmakar, Durgapur, India "Thanks, NaHaiWriMo, for being my psychotherapist for February." -Michael Nickels-Wisdom, Spring Grove, Illinois "NaHaiWriMo offers a sense of community and belonging and sharing-it is just wonderful!" -Daphne Purpus, Vashon, Washington "I did it-one haiku a day throughout February! And now I'm not sure if I can stop." -Tore Sverredal, Goteborg, Sweden Visit NaHaiWriMo at www.nahaiwrimo.com, or on Facebook at https: //www.facebook.com/NaHaiWriMo/.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781878798398
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
NATIONAL HAIKU WRITING MONTH, also known as NaHaiWriMo, celebrates the world's shortest poetry. When? Every February, the year's shortest month. This book's 324 haiku and senryu represent 100 participating poets from around the world, selected by NaHaiWriMo founder Michael Dylan Welch. Ron C. Moss contributes haiga artwork for 28 featured poems. Open the jumble box! "NaHaiWriMo gets me writing every day." -Johnny Baranski, Vancouver, Washington "NaHaiWriMo is an endless inspiration!!" -Kashinath Karmakar, Durgapur, India "Thanks, NaHaiWriMo, for being my psychotherapist for February." -Michael Nickels-Wisdom, Spring Grove, Illinois "NaHaiWriMo offers a sense of community and belonging and sharing-it is just wonderful!" -Daphne Purpus, Vashon, Washington "I did it-one haiku a day throughout February! And now I'm not sure if I can stop." -Tore Sverredal, Goteborg, Sweden Visit NaHaiWriMo at www.nahaiwrimo.com, or on Facebook at https: //www.facebook.com/NaHaiWriMo/.
Senryu
Author: Reginald Horace Blyth
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Book of Haikus
Author: Jack Kerouac
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101664886
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 243
Book Description
A compact collection of more than 500 poems from Jack Kerouac that reveal a lesser known but important side of his literary legacy “Above all, a haiku must be very simple and free of all poetic trickery and make a little picture and yet be as airy and graceful as a Vivaldi pastorella.”—Jack Kerouac Renowned for his groundbreaking Beat Generation novel On the Road, Jack Kerouac was also a master of the haiku, the three-line, seventeen-syllable Japanese poetic form. Following the tradition of Basho, Buson, Shiki, Issa, and other poets, Kerouac experimented with this centuries-old genre, taking it beyond strict syllable counts into what he believed was the form’s essence. He incorporated his “American” haiku in novels and in his correspondence, notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, and recordings. In Book of Haikus, Kerouac scholar Regina Weinreich has supplemented a core haiku manuscript from Kerouac’s archives with a generous selection of the rest of his haiku, from both published and unpublished sources.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101664886
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 243
Book Description
A compact collection of more than 500 poems from Jack Kerouac that reveal a lesser known but important side of his literary legacy “Above all, a haiku must be very simple and free of all poetic trickery and make a little picture and yet be as airy and graceful as a Vivaldi pastorella.”—Jack Kerouac Renowned for his groundbreaking Beat Generation novel On the Road, Jack Kerouac was also a master of the haiku, the three-line, seventeen-syllable Japanese poetic form. Following the tradition of Basho, Buson, Shiki, Issa, and other poets, Kerouac experimented with this centuries-old genre, taking it beyond strict syllable counts into what he believed was the form’s essence. He incorporated his “American” haiku in novels and in his correspondence, notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, and recordings. In Book of Haikus, Kerouac scholar Regina Weinreich has supplemented a core haiku manuscript from Kerouac’s archives with a generous selection of the rest of his haiku, from both published and unpublished sources.
The Woman Without a Hole - & Other Risky Themes from Old Japanese Poems
Author: Robin D. Gill
Publisher: Paraverse Press
ISBN: 0974261882
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 505
Book Description
17-syllabet Japanese poems about human foibles, sans season (i.e., not haiku), were introduced a half-century ago by RH Blyth in two books, "Edo Satirical Verse Anthologies" and "Japanese Life and Character in Senryu." Blyth regretted having to introduce not the best senryu, but only the best that were clean enough to pass the censors. In this anthology, compiled, translated and essayed by Robin D. Gill, like Blyth, a renowned translator of thousands of haiku, we find 1,300 of the senryu (and zappai) that would once have been dangerous to publish. The book is not just an anthology of dirty poems such as Legman's classic "Limericks" or Burford's delightful "Bawdy Verse," but probing essays of thirty themes representative of the eros - both real and imaginary - of Edo, at the time, the world's largest city. Japanese themselves use senryu for historical documentation of social attitudes and cultural practices; thousands of senryu (and the related zappai), including many poems we might consider obscene, serve as examples in the Japanese equivalent of the OED (nipponkokugodaijiten). The specialized argot, obscure allusions and ellipsis that make reading dirty senryu a delightful riddle for one who knows just enough to be challenged yet not defeated, make them impenetrable to outsiders, so this educational yet entertaining resource has not been accessible to most students of Japanese (and the limited translations prove that even professors have difficulty with it). This book tries to accomplish the impossible: it includes all the information - original poems, pronunciation, explanation, glossary - needed to help specialists improve their senryu reading skills, while refraining from full citations to leave plenty of room for the curious monolingual to skip about the eclectic goodies. [Published simultaneously with two titles as an experiment.]
Publisher: Paraverse Press
ISBN: 0974261882
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 505
Book Description
17-syllabet Japanese poems about human foibles, sans season (i.e., not haiku), were introduced a half-century ago by RH Blyth in two books, "Edo Satirical Verse Anthologies" and "Japanese Life and Character in Senryu." Blyth regretted having to introduce not the best senryu, but only the best that were clean enough to pass the censors. In this anthology, compiled, translated and essayed by Robin D. Gill, like Blyth, a renowned translator of thousands of haiku, we find 1,300 of the senryu (and zappai) that would once have been dangerous to publish. The book is not just an anthology of dirty poems such as Legman's classic "Limericks" or Burford's delightful "Bawdy Verse," but probing essays of thirty themes representative of the eros - both real and imaginary - of Edo, at the time, the world's largest city. Japanese themselves use senryu for historical documentation of social attitudes and cultural practices; thousands of senryu (and the related zappai), including many poems we might consider obscene, serve as examples in the Japanese equivalent of the OED (nipponkokugodaijiten). The specialized argot, obscure allusions and ellipsis that make reading dirty senryu a delightful riddle for one who knows just enough to be challenged yet not defeated, make them impenetrable to outsiders, so this educational yet entertaining resource has not been accessible to most students of Japanese (and the limited translations prove that even professors have difficulty with it). This book tries to accomplish the impossible: it includes all the information - original poems, pronunciation, explanation, glossary - needed to help specialists improve their senryu reading skills, while refraining from full citations to leave plenty of room for the curious monolingual to skip about the eclectic goodies. [Published simultaneously with two titles as an experiment.]
"Rise, Ye Sea Slugs!"
Author: Robin D Gill
Publisher: Paraverse Press
ISBN: 0974261807
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 481
Book Description
Rise, Ye Sea Slugs! is a book of many faces. First, it is a book of translated haiku and contains over 900 of these short Japanese poems in the original (smoothly inserted in the main body),with phonetic and literal renditions, as well as the authors English translations and explanations. All but a dozen or two of the haiku are translated for the first time. There is an index of poets, poems and a bibliography. Second, it is a book of sea slug haiku, for all of the poems are about holothurians, which scientists prefer to call sea cucumbers. (The word cucumber is long for haiku and metaphorically unsuitable for many poems, so poetic license was taken.) With this book, the namako, as the sea cucumber is called in Japanese, becomes the most translated single subject in haiku, surpassing the harvest moon, the snow, the cuckoo, butterflies and even cherry blossoms. Third, it is a book of original haiku. While the authors original intent was to include only genuine old haiku (dating back to the 17th century), modern haiku were added and, eventually, Keigu (Gills haiku name) composed about a hundred of his own to help fill out gaps in the metaphorical museum. For many if not most modern haiku taken from the web, it is also their first time in print! Fourth, it is a book of metaphor. How may we arrange hundreds of poems on a single theme? Gill divides them into 21 main metaphors, including the Cold Sea Slug, the Mystic Sea Slug, the Helpless Sea Slug, the Slippery Sea Slug, the Silent Sea Slug, and the Melancholy Sea Slug, giving each a chapter, within which the metaphors may be further subdivided, and adds a 100 pages of Sundry Sea Slugs (scores of varieties including Monster, Spam, Flying, Urban Myth, and Exploding). Fifth, it is a book on haiku. E ditors usually select only the best haiku, but, Gill includes good and bad haiku by everyone from the 17th century haiku master to the anonymous haiku rejected in some internet contest. This is not to say all poems found were included, but that the standard was along more taxonomic or encyclopedic lines: poems that filled in a metaphorical or sub-metaphorical gap were always welcome. Also, Gill shows there is more than one type of good haiku. These are new ways to approach haiku. Sixth, it is a book on translation. There are approximately 2 translations per haiku, and some boast a dozen. These arearranged in mixed single, double and triple-column clusters which make each reading seem a different aspect of a singular, almost crystalline whole. The authors aim is to demonstrate that multiple reading (such as found in Hofstadters Le Ton Beau de Marot) is not only a fun game but a bona fide method of translating, especially useful for translating poetry between exotic tongues. Seventh, it is a book of nature writing, natural history or metaphysics (in the Emersonian sense). Gill tried to compile relevant or interesting (not necessarily both) historical -- this includes the sea slug in literature, English or Japanese, and in folklore -- and scientific facts to read haiku in their light or, conversely, bringor wring out science from haiku. Unlike most nature writers, Gill admits to doing no fieldwork, but sluggishly staying put and relying upon reportsfrom more mobile souls. Eighth, it is a book about food symbolism. The sea cucumber is noticed by Japanese because they eat it; the eating itselfinvolves physical difficulties (slipperiness and hardness) and pleasures from overcoming them. It is also identified with a state of mind, where you are what you eat takes on psychological dimensions not found in the food literature of the West. Ninth, it is a book about Japanese culture. Gill does not set out to explain Japan, and the sea slug itself is silent;but the collection of poems and their explanations, which include analysis by poets who responded to the author's questions as well has historical sources, take us all around the culture, from ancient myths to contemporary dreams. Tenth, it is a book about sea cucumbers. While most species of sea cucumbers are not mentioned and the coverage of the Japanese sea cucumber is sketchy from the scientific point of view, Gill does introduce this animal graced to live with no brain thanks to the smart materials comprising it and blessed for sucking in dirty sediment and pooping it out clean. Eleventh, it is a book about ambiguity. Gill admits there is much that cannot be translated, much he cannot know and much to be improved in future editions, for which purpose he advises readers to see the on-line Glosses and Errata in English and Japanese. His policy is to confide in, rather than slip by the reader unnoticed, in the manner of the invisible modern translator and allow the reader to makechoices or choose to allow multiple possibilities to exist by not chosing.Twelfth, the book is the first of dozens of spin-offs from a twenty-book haiku saijiki (poetic almanac) called In Praise of Olde Haiku (IPOOH, for short) Gill hopes to finish within the decade. Thirteenth. The book is a novelty item. It has a different (often witty) header (caption) on top of each page and copious notes that are rarely academic and oftehumorous.
Publisher: Paraverse Press
ISBN: 0974261807
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 481
Book Description
Rise, Ye Sea Slugs! is a book of many faces. First, it is a book of translated haiku and contains over 900 of these short Japanese poems in the original (smoothly inserted in the main body),with phonetic and literal renditions, as well as the authors English translations and explanations. All but a dozen or two of the haiku are translated for the first time. There is an index of poets, poems and a bibliography. Second, it is a book of sea slug haiku, for all of the poems are about holothurians, which scientists prefer to call sea cucumbers. (The word cucumber is long for haiku and metaphorically unsuitable for many poems, so poetic license was taken.) With this book, the namako, as the sea cucumber is called in Japanese, becomes the most translated single subject in haiku, surpassing the harvest moon, the snow, the cuckoo, butterflies and even cherry blossoms. Third, it is a book of original haiku. While the authors original intent was to include only genuine old haiku (dating back to the 17th century), modern haiku were added and, eventually, Keigu (Gills haiku name) composed about a hundred of his own to help fill out gaps in the metaphorical museum. For many if not most modern haiku taken from the web, it is also their first time in print! Fourth, it is a book of metaphor. How may we arrange hundreds of poems on a single theme? Gill divides them into 21 main metaphors, including the Cold Sea Slug, the Mystic Sea Slug, the Helpless Sea Slug, the Slippery Sea Slug, the Silent Sea Slug, and the Melancholy Sea Slug, giving each a chapter, within which the metaphors may be further subdivided, and adds a 100 pages of Sundry Sea Slugs (scores of varieties including Monster, Spam, Flying, Urban Myth, and Exploding). Fifth, it is a book on haiku. E ditors usually select only the best haiku, but, Gill includes good and bad haiku by everyone from the 17th century haiku master to the anonymous haiku rejected in some internet contest. This is not to say all poems found were included, but that the standard was along more taxonomic or encyclopedic lines: poems that filled in a metaphorical or sub-metaphorical gap were always welcome. Also, Gill shows there is more than one type of good haiku. These are new ways to approach haiku. Sixth, it is a book on translation. There are approximately 2 translations per haiku, and some boast a dozen. These arearranged in mixed single, double and triple-column clusters which make each reading seem a different aspect of a singular, almost crystalline whole. The authors aim is to demonstrate that multiple reading (such as found in Hofstadters Le Ton Beau de Marot) is not only a fun game but a bona fide method of translating, especially useful for translating poetry between exotic tongues. Seventh, it is a book of nature writing, natural history or metaphysics (in the Emersonian sense). Gill tried to compile relevant or interesting (not necessarily both) historical -- this includes the sea slug in literature, English or Japanese, and in folklore -- and scientific facts to read haiku in their light or, conversely, bringor wring out science from haiku. Unlike most nature writers, Gill admits to doing no fieldwork, but sluggishly staying put and relying upon reportsfrom more mobile souls. Eighth, it is a book about food symbolism. The sea cucumber is noticed by Japanese because they eat it; the eating itselfinvolves physical difficulties (slipperiness and hardness) and pleasures from overcoming them. It is also identified with a state of mind, where you are what you eat takes on psychological dimensions not found in the food literature of the West. Ninth, it is a book about Japanese culture. Gill does not set out to explain Japan, and the sea slug itself is silent;but the collection of poems and their explanations, which include analysis by poets who responded to the author's questions as well has historical sources, take us all around the culture, from ancient myths to contemporary dreams. Tenth, it is a book about sea cucumbers. While most species of sea cucumbers are not mentioned and the coverage of the Japanese sea cucumber is sketchy from the scientific point of view, Gill does introduce this animal graced to live with no brain thanks to the smart materials comprising it and blessed for sucking in dirty sediment and pooping it out clean. Eleventh, it is a book about ambiguity. Gill admits there is much that cannot be translated, much he cannot know and much to be improved in future editions, for which purpose he advises readers to see the on-line Glosses and Errata in English and Japanese. His policy is to confide in, rather than slip by the reader unnoticed, in the manner of the invisible modern translator and allow the reader to makechoices or choose to allow multiple possibilities to exist by not chosing.Twelfth, the book is the first of dozens of spin-offs from a twenty-book haiku saijiki (poetic almanac) called In Praise of Olde Haiku (IPOOH, for short) Gill hopes to finish within the decade. Thirteenth. The book is a novelty item. It has a different (often witty) header (caption) on top of each page and copious notes that are rarely academic and oftehumorous.
Modern Japanese Tanka
Author: Makoto Ueda
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231104333
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
His introduction gives an excellent overview of the development of tanka in the last one hundred years.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231104333
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
His introduction gives an excellent overview of the development of tanka in the last one hundred years.
Becoming a Haiku Poet
Author: Michael Dylan Welch
Publisher: Press Here
ISBN: 9781878798367
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 30
Book Description
Learn the key techniques and strategies for writing haiku in English from acclaimed haiku poet, teacher, and translator Michael Dylan Welch. This book emphasizes the most effective targets for haiku poetry, ones that are usually not taught in schools. There's more to haiku, and less, than you might think. This concise book provides just the information you need to learn the art of haiku and to start becoming a haiku poet. About the Author Michael Dylan Welch has published his essays, reviews, translations, haiku, and other poetry in hundreds of journals and anthologies, and has won numerous awards for his work. He has served for many years as vice president of the Haiku Society of America, and served two terms as poet laureate of Redmond, Washington, where he also curates two poetry reading series. Michael also cofounded the Haiku North America conference (1991) and the American Haiku Archives (1996), founded the Tanka Society of America (2000), and started National Haiku Writing Month in 2010 (www.nahaiwrimo.com and on Facebook). Visit his personal website, devoted mostly to haiku, at www.graceguts.com. Endorsements "The real secret to becoming a haiku poet is to start writing haiku." From the foreword by Aubrie Cox "For many years Michael Dylan Welch's essays on haiku have guided newcomers and seasoned poets alike. With characteristic authority and humor, "Becoming a Haiku Poet" is yet another of his important contributions to the study and understanding of haiku poetry." Charles Trumbull, editor emeritus of "Modern Haiku" "Michael Dylan Welch's knowledge and experience with haiku is recognized internationally. He always has time to assist new poets starting out on the haiku path, to engage in a conversation about poetics, or to recommend a current essay or book. He never tires of answering the question: What is a haiku, anyway? "Becoming a Haiku Poet" is Michael's concise and informative answer." Terry Ann Carter, president of Haiku Canada
Publisher: Press Here
ISBN: 9781878798367
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 30
Book Description
Learn the key techniques and strategies for writing haiku in English from acclaimed haiku poet, teacher, and translator Michael Dylan Welch. This book emphasizes the most effective targets for haiku poetry, ones that are usually not taught in schools. There's more to haiku, and less, than you might think. This concise book provides just the information you need to learn the art of haiku and to start becoming a haiku poet. About the Author Michael Dylan Welch has published his essays, reviews, translations, haiku, and other poetry in hundreds of journals and anthologies, and has won numerous awards for his work. He has served for many years as vice president of the Haiku Society of America, and served two terms as poet laureate of Redmond, Washington, where he also curates two poetry reading series. Michael also cofounded the Haiku North America conference (1991) and the American Haiku Archives (1996), founded the Tanka Society of America (2000), and started National Haiku Writing Month in 2010 (www.nahaiwrimo.com and on Facebook). Visit his personal website, devoted mostly to haiku, at www.graceguts.com. Endorsements "The real secret to becoming a haiku poet is to start writing haiku." From the foreword by Aubrie Cox "For many years Michael Dylan Welch's essays on haiku have guided newcomers and seasoned poets alike. With characteristic authority and humor, "Becoming a Haiku Poet" is yet another of his important contributions to the study and understanding of haiku poetry." Charles Trumbull, editor emeritus of "Modern Haiku" "Michael Dylan Welch's knowledge and experience with haiku is recognized internationally. He always has time to assist new poets starting out on the haiku path, to engage in a conversation about poetics, or to recommend a current essay or book. He never tires of answering the question: What is a haiku, anyway? "Becoming a Haiku Poet" is Michael's concise and informative answer." Terry Ann Carter, president of Haiku Canada
Haiku in English
Author: Jim Kacian
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393239470
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 463
Book Description
An anthology of more than 800 poems that were originally written in English by over 200 poets from around the world. This collection tells the story for the first time of Anglophone haiku, charting its evolution over the last one hundred years and placing it within its historical and literary context.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393239470
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 463
Book Description
An anthology of more than 800 poems that were originally written in English by over 200 poets from around the world. This collection tells the story for the first time of Anglophone haiku, charting its evolution over the last one hundred years and placing it within its historical and literary context.
An Introduction to Haiku
Author: Harold Gould Henderson
Publisher: Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday
ISBN:
Category : English poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Mr. Henderson analyzes the popular seventeen-syllable haiku and provides translations of important works.
Publisher: Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday
ISBN:
Category : English poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Mr. Henderson analyzes the popular seventeen-syllable haiku and provides translations of important works.
Japanese Death Poems
Author:
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 146291649X
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
"A wonderful introduction the Japanese tradition of jisei, this volume is crammed with exquisite, spontaneous verse and pithy, often hilarious, descriptions of the eccentric and committed monastics who wrote the poems." --Tricycle: The Buddhist Review Although the consciousness of death is, in most cultures, very much a part of life, this is perhaps nowhere more true than in Japan, where the approach of death has given rise to a centuries-old tradition of writing jisei, or the "death poem." Such a poem is often written in the very last moments of the poet's life. Hundreds of Japanese death poems, many with a commentary describing the circumstances of the poet's death, have been translated into English here, the vast majority of them for the first time. Yoel Hoffmann explores the attitudes and customs surrounding death in historical and present-day Japan and gives examples of how these have been reflected in the nation's literature in general. The development of writing jisei is then examined--from the longing poems of the early nobility and the more "masculine" verses of the samurai to the satirical death poems of later centuries. Zen Buddhist ideas about death are also described as a preface to the collection of Chinese death poems by Zen monks that are also included. Finally, the last section contains three hundred twenty haiku, some of which have never been assembled before, in English translation and romanized in Japanese.
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 146291649X
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
"A wonderful introduction the Japanese tradition of jisei, this volume is crammed with exquisite, spontaneous verse and pithy, often hilarious, descriptions of the eccentric and committed monastics who wrote the poems." --Tricycle: The Buddhist Review Although the consciousness of death is, in most cultures, very much a part of life, this is perhaps nowhere more true than in Japan, where the approach of death has given rise to a centuries-old tradition of writing jisei, or the "death poem." Such a poem is often written in the very last moments of the poet's life. Hundreds of Japanese death poems, many with a commentary describing the circumstances of the poet's death, have been translated into English here, the vast majority of them for the first time. Yoel Hoffmann explores the attitudes and customs surrounding death in historical and present-day Japan and gives examples of how these have been reflected in the nation's literature in general. The development of writing jisei is then examined--from the longing poems of the early nobility and the more "masculine" verses of the samurai to the satirical death poems of later centuries. Zen Buddhist ideas about death are also described as a preface to the collection of Chinese death poems by Zen monks that are also included. Finally, the last section contains three hundred twenty haiku, some of which have never been assembled before, in English translation and romanized in Japanese.