I’m delighted that the journal Metamorphoses has accepted “A Cradlesong,” my translation from the Nahuatl of “Cōzolcuīcatl,” poem LVII of the Songs of Mexico codex composed in 1585. In the 800-word sequence, a young Mexica girl envisions the fallen young king of Tenochtitlan, Ahuizotl, as a baby, youth and man,…
Just received word that my translations of three Japanese poems by Karai Senryū have been accepted for publication in issue 47 of Rattle (forthcoming March 2015). Ii darou! (“Cool, ain’t it?”)
Eugenio Montale was an Italian poet awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975. His work occasionally seems difficult, but the apparent obscurity often arises from references to events in his life of which the reader has no knowledge. The following poem, for example, alludes to an event both poet…
Eugenio Montale was an Italian poet awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975. I often encountered the evil of living I often encountered the evil of living: it was the choked brook that gurgles, it was the curling of the sun-parched leaf, it was the horse that collapses. The…
Saijō Yaso was a Japanese poet and scholar from the early 20th century who specialized in French symbolist verse. His own work ranged from darker symbolism to lighter children’s lyrics. Butterfly When in time I slip down to hell where my parents and friends await, what will I take to…
Stéphane Mallarmé was a French poet from the second half of the 19th century. The literary child of Baudelaire, Mallarmé crafted difficult poetry rich with disturbing symbols and musical language. Here is a translation of one of my favorite poems of his. When with Fatal Law the Shadow Threatened Me…
I’m always looking for ways to combine my love of poetry, translation and the macabre, so I was delighted to stumble across a sort of “creepy pasta” Internet legend about a cursed Japanese poem that causes tragedy and death should you read it aloud. I quickly looked for the piece,…
Tanabata is a Japanese star festival derived from the similar Chinese celebration of Qixi. Meaning “seventh night,” Tanabata marks the yearly reunion in late summer or early fall of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (Weaver Princess and Boy Star), which correspond to the stars Vega and Altair. In the mythology…
Bussokusekika is a rare form of Japanese poetry that consists of six lines written in a 5-7-5-7-7-7 mora pattern. Arising during the Nara period, the form had essentially died out by the Heian period. For centuries, the only existing examples were the twenty one poems inscribed beside the stone Buddha…
Li Bai, also known as Li Po, was arguably the greatest poet of China’s Tang dynasty, and possibly of all its history. His verse is notable for the strong voice and personality it reflects, uncommon in the 8th century. An accomplished martial artist and academic genius, Li Bai was also…
