White Hair

Taigu RyokanTaigu Ryokan

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Though frost come down,
Night after night
What does it matter?
They melt in the morning sun.
Though the snow falls
Each passing year,
What does it matter?
With spring days it thaws.
Yet once let them settle
On a man’s head,
Fall and pile up-
Then the New Year
May come and go,
But never you’ll see them fade away.
Taigu Ryokan
About the poet

Taigu Ryokan

1758-1831/JapaneseRyōkan was born in the village of Izumozaki in Echigo Province (now Niigata Prefecture) in Japan to the village headman. He renounced the world at an early age to train at nearby Sōtō Zen temple Kōshōji, refusing to meet with or accept chari…

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