Muso Soseki: Toki-no-Ge (Satori Poem)

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Search the Poetry Chaikhana site:

<<Previous Poem | View All Poems by Muso Soseki |

Toki-no-Ge (Satori Poem)

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

by Muso Soseki
(1275 - 1351) Timeline

English version by
W. S. Merwin

Original Language
Japanese

Buddhist : Zen / Chan

14th Century

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

Amazon.com

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

<<Previous Poem | View More Poems by Muso Soseki |

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World