The Clouds Should Know Me By Now: Buddhist Poet Monks of China

The voices of fourteen eminent Chinese poet monks whose works span twelve centuries (A.D.700 -1900) are here presented both in the original Chinese and in English translation. The collection includes 136 poems divided into six sections with translator introductions to each poet and his work. The poets in this book have been chosen by the translators for their insight into the human condition and for the beauty of their poetic expression. In presenting the work of six very talented translators, including Red Pine (Bill Porter), Burton Watson, and J. P. Seaton, this book provides any reader, novice or expert, with an appreciation and understanding of this elegant and traditional Chinese expression of spirituality.

Gary Snyder brought the Chinese Zen poet Han-Shan (Cold Mountain) to prominence through translations that struck a cord with Zen enthusiasts and back-to-nature mystics alike. Now Red Pine, Mike O'Connor, and four other translators have breathed life into the literary descendants of Han-Shan, poet monks who are most at home in misty hills, contemplating "crimson leaves" and "azure depths." Like its Japanese cousin, the haiku, Chinese Zen poetry conveys pregnant images in spare structures that cascade into layers of emotion and rich associations. The Buddhism itself lies offstage, the poems recalling more of Thoreau or Whitman than Hui-neng or Nagarjuna. The translations here pause and flow like the originals, with poet-painter Paul Hansen's renderings of early Sung monks especially brilliant, outshining even the celebrated Burton Watson's translations of the Tang poet Ch'i Chi. For that trip to your mountain hermitage or when simply hiding out in the backyard, you'll find sure companionship in The Clouds Should Know Me By Now. --Brian Bruya