The Poetry of Chiyo ni

<b><i>"Patricia Donegan and Yoshie Ishibashi are to be deeply thanked for having given us with such articulate care a poetry major in any language and in any place or time."</i> —Robert Creeley, poet</b><br><br>Chiyo-ni (1703-1775), also known as Kaga no Chiyo, is Japan''s most celebrated female haiku poet. A student of Basho''s disciples, she worked in an age when haiku was largely a male domain. As a poet, painter, and Buddhist nun, she lived a vibrant life while creating poems of crystalline clarity and delicate sensuality. This volume presents more than one hundred of her finest seasonal haiku, renku (linked verse) and haibun (travel poems).<br><br><b>The collected poems include:</b><br><br><i>morning glory<br>the well bucket entangled<br>I ask for water<br><br>a hundred gourds<br>from the heart<br>of one vine<br><br>rouged lips <br>forgotten—<br>clear spring water</i><br><br>These luminous, lucidly translated "haiku moments" give the reader an intimate experience of Chiyo-ni''s remarkable vision—and bid us to stop and appreciate each moment of our lives. Handsomely illustrated with artwork by Chiyo-ni and others, the volume also includes illuminating essays on her life and art, informative notes, and a glossary of haiku-related terms.