Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Paperback Blossom Awakening: The Life and Poetry of Wandering Monk Saigyo Book

ISBN: 1645473635

ISBN13: 9781645473633

Blossom Awakening: The Life and Poetry of Wandering Monk Saigyo

Pause, breathe, and savor the quiet beauty of Saigyō, Japan's quintessential poet of nature and Buddhist insight.

Born in the twelfth century during a time of great political upheaval and warfare, Saigyō made the unusual decision in his youth to resign from his respectable post as a guard to the emperor's family and pursue a life of Buddhist renunciation, wilderness wandering, and poetry. Over the course of his lifetime, he became one of Japan's most celebrated poets. Today, his spare poems of spiritual longing and aching identification with the natural world continue to inspire fathomless, ineffable emotion in readers all over the world.

With 193 poems on 11 themes like the moon, journeys, mountain abodes, love, and the dreamlike world, Blossom Awakening reveals Saigyō as a spiritual seeker who gave his life to the artist's path. Translators Peter Levitt and Kazuaki Tanahashi present their English renderings with the original Japanese text and offer commentary that illuminates the political, religious, and literary dimensions of Saigyō's life and work.

Recommended

Format: Paperback

$17.62
Save $4.33!
List Price $21.95
Releases 7/15/2025

Customer Reviews

0 rating
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured