"Japan's most famous and well-loved poets. He was a recluse monk who spent much of his life wandering, and the combination of poet and monk produced poetry infused with a Buddhist perception of the world. He became a legend soon after his death, and he is still a household name in Japan today. This selection of Saigyå o's tanka (traditional 31-syllable poems) uses his poetry to tell the story of his Buddhist awakening, reclusion, seeking, enlightenment, and death"--