Stressed, Unstressed: Classic Poems to Ease the Mind

treasure in it. I realise now

that I must give all that I have

to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receding future, nor hankering after

an imagined past. It is the turning

aside like Moses to the miracle

of the lit bush, to a brightness

that seemed as transitory as your youth

once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

R. S. Thomas

3.

meditating (#u6c035132-f38e-5ffd-924f-803d52714640)

Many people have great success in dealing with stress by means of meditation or ‘mindfulness’. This is an ancient practice, with its origins in Buddhist and other Eastern traditions. But meditation in the abstract can be difficult. It doesn’t work for everybody. Immersion in a short contemplative poem works well as a form of meditation because the words and the images they create can help you to focus, to clear your mind of every other thought. This section begins with some very short poems, glimpses of grace captured in an instant. They are translated or adapted from ancient Chinese and Japanese traditions, the poetry of the Tang dynasty and the miniaturist art of the haiku. In the East, not least under Buddhist influence, the meditative moment has long been the bedrock of poetry. The Tang dynasty poets were typically court officials or civil servants who wrote poetry as a form of relaxation and inner calming when they retreated from the hectic, competitive world of work into the peace of the countryside. Each short piece offers a single image or brief chain of images. Empty your mind of other thoughts by absorbing yourself in the words, bringing alive the images in your imagination, taking yourself into the moment shared by the poet.

The world of nature is at the heart of much poetry written in English too. Relieve your stress by transporting yourself to some natural objects, places and moods of calm through the poems in this section: a beautiful lake remembered from a busy city street; a cherry tree in blossom; a quiet evening as birds return to their nests. Find your own oasis. Try noting down some images that conjure it up: you will have taken your own first step towards the writing of poetry.

Seven Ancient Japanese Haiku

I come weary,

In search of an inn –

Ah! these wisteria flowers!

An ancient pond!

With a sound from the water

Of the frog as it plunges in.

On a withered branch

A crow is sitting

This autumn eve.

The cry of the cicada

Gives us no sign

That presently it will die.

Thought I, the fallen flowers

Are returning to their branch;

But lo! they were butterflies.

Drinking tea alone:

every day the butterfly

stops by.

The world of dew

Is a world of dew,

And yet, and yet.

Translated by W. G. Aston

The first four are by Basho,

the fifth by Arakida Moritake

and the last two by Kobayashi Issa

from Narrow Road to the Deep North

It is with awe

That I beheld

Fresh leaves, green leaves,

Bright in the sun.

The chestnut by the eaves

In magnificent bloom

Passes unnoticed

By men of the world.

I felt quite at home,