Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Buddhist : Zen / Chan

14th Century

About Muso Soseki

Timeline (1275 - 1351)

Muso Soseki, Muso Soseki poetry, Buddhist, Buddhist poetry, Zen / Chan poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry

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English version by
W. S. Merwin

Original Language
Japanese

Toki-no-Ge (Satori Poem)

Themes

Death

Night

Sky

Recommended Books

	East Window: Poems from Asia, Translated by W. S. Merwin
	Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader, Edited by Nelson Foster / Edited by Josh Shoemaker
	Sun at Midnight: Muso Soseki - Poems and Sermons, Translated by W. S. Merwin / Translated by Soiku Shigematsu

Year after year
     I dug in the earth
          looking for the blue of heaven
only to feel
     the pile of dirt
          choking me
until once in the dead of night
     I tripped on a broken brick
          and kicked it into the air
and saw that without a thought
     I had smashed the bones
          of the empty sky

-- from Sun at Midnight: Muso Soseki - Poems and Sermons, Translated by W. S. Merwin / Translated by Soiku Shigematsu

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

About Muso Soseki

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World