At last! A translation of Aztec poetry done not by an historian, a linguist or an anthropologist, but by a poet. In this volume, David Bowles captures the heart and the soul of the Nahua poets, and carries them safely across the narrow bridge swinging far above the perilous waters…
Here you stand, Our eagle, our jaguar— A jewel for this family, Quetzal-feather, Beloved son. May you never take this union lightly. Already it has become Your world, Your nature— Your life is wholly different now. No longer will your heart Be burdened by vice, For you have abandoned The…
Motoori Norinaga was a Japanese scholar and poet in the 16th century who emphasized mono no aware or “the pathos of things” in his literary philosophy, insisting on the role of empathy in life and in composition. The following waka is one of his most famous poems: it was usurped…
On September 21, 2013 I will be the featured artist for Flower, Song, Dance: A Poetic and Musical Celebration of Aztec Culture. I will read from my newly published translations of Aztec verse against the backdrop of Dr. Carl Seale’s Toxcatl, a ballet inspired by the celebration of the fifth…
My article entitled “Translating ‘An Otomi Song of Spring’” has been accepted for publication by Translation Review, the journal of the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA), housed at The University of Texas at Dallas. ALTA is the only organization in the United States dedicated wholly to literary translation, and it…
Japanese poet Bashō composed the following haiku in the winter of 1694, just four days before his death. At the time, despite his illness, he had embarked on another trek across the Japanese countryside. Ill on a journey— Through desolate fields my dreams Aimlessly wander. —Translated by David Bowles, July…
Japanese poet Bashō composed the following haiku in the summer of 1688 and later published it in Backpack Notes. The “octopus traps” are jars that would be lowered into the water by fishermen in the afternoon and then raised the next morning. The creatures that had slipped inside what appeared…
Japanese poet Bashō composed the following haiku in the fall of 1694, just months before his death. A jag of lightning— Then, flitting toward the darkness, A night heron’s scream. —Translated by David Bowles, July 2013 Original Japanese inazuma ya yami no kata yuku goi no koe
Japanese poet Bashō composed the following haiku during the fall of 1694, not long before his death. Alone on this road, Not a single passerby— Autumn night descends. —Translated by David Bowles, July 2013 Original Japanese kono michi ya yuku hito nashi ni aki no kure
The following haiku is from Bashō’s famous haibun (blended prose-verse travelogue) Narrow Road to the Deep North, which describes his 1689 journey into the less populated wilderness of northern Japan in search of famous utamakaru or sites that inspired great poetry. At one point he visits the ruins of the…
