A troubled heart & other waka. Translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill

Saigy? Hosho

Published by Pointed Press, [Philadelphia, 1999

About this Item

Edition limited to 100 copies hand printed and bound by Tricia Treacy and signed by Hamill; oblong 8vo, pp. [42]; Hiragana printed in brown; printer's slip laid in at colophon; original maroon cloth, stab-sewn, black paper label on upper cover printed in blind; near fine copy. From the library of Kim Merker. "These poems originally appeared in Only Companion: Japanese Poems of Love and Longing, by Sam Hamill, Shambhala Publications, 1997, and in the Virginia Quarterly Review . The Japanese version was handwritten from Romaji into Hiragana by Eriko Takahashi, and printed on a Vandercook press just as the type, composed by Michael and Winifred Bixler in Monotype Van Dijck. Calligraphic images were printed in relief from ink drawings. The paper is Kozuke, Japanese Mulberry and the cover paper is hand-dyed Fabriano." Saigy? Hosho (1118-1190) took Buddhist vows and became "one of Japan's most renown mountain hermits and a predominate figure in establishing Japan's long tradition of Buddhist nature poetry, a model and inspiration for Basho, Issa, Ryokan, and many others. These poems are translated from his 'waka,' short poems, in lines of 5-7-5-7-7, precursor to the Japanese tanka" (p. 7).

Seller Inventory # 62960

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A troubled heart & other waka. Translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill
• Publisher: Pointed Press, [Philadelphia
• Publication Date: 1999
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • Poetry
  • Press Books