LOVE POEMS FROM THE JAPANESE translated...

LOVE POEMS FROM THE JAPANESE translated by Kenneth Rexroth, edited by Sam Hamill (Shambhala: $6; 129 pp., paperback original). Rexroth’s subtle translations influenced a generation of American writers. As the examples in this miniature anthology demonstrate, he refused to flatten the text by spelling out every reference and allusion, preserving the Japanese ideal of offering a springboard for the reader’s imagination. Although much of the imagery is graceful, not all of the verses embody the cliche of limpid fragility: “To love somebody/ Who doesn’t love you,/ Is like going to a temple/ And worshipping the behind/ Of a wooden statue/ Of a hungry devil” (Lady Kasa).