Tuesday, April 1, 2008

One Hundred Poems from the Japanese

LXXXV
No, the human heart
Is unknowable.
But in my birthplace
The flowers still smell
The same as always.
(Tsurayuki)

XLII
When I went out in
The Spring fields to pick
The young greens for you
Snow fell on my sleeves.
(The Emporor Koko)

~ translated by Kenneth Rexroth

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