Over the Ice

One dark night, while camping on a Mount Baker's Coleman Glacier, I peered out of my tent to see a full moon and an approaching snow storm.  It was so cold I had been trying to sleep fully clothed, including heavy boots and with a backpack under my legs to stay warm.

I could never have imagined that 600 years earlier in 1473, a 15th century Japanese poet had so perfectly captured my frozen moment in time.

This poet-priest-scholar was named Sōgi; the poem is called Over the Ice, it is only two verses in length, and it contains a total of 31 syllables.

The poem's images are fresh.

"Over the Ice"	Poet: Sōgi
English translation by: Stephen D. Carter	Japanese
Over the ice A cold wind blows. In the sky's expanse Clouds speed past the moon On a clear night	Kōri no ue o Kaze wa yuku nari Kumo hayaki Tsuki no ōzora Sayuru yo ni

My camp site on the Coleman glacier is shown below.
Please click on picture;

Sunset At Highcamp 

Over the Ice poem may be found in an article called Three Poets at Yuyama; Sogi and Yuyama Sangin Hyakuin.