Santōka Alarm
日本語EN

in the pine wind ringing the bell at dawn and dusk

matsukaze ni akekure no kane tsuite

1925–1932 · Years of mendicant wandering
Sōmokutō · The Begging Bowl (Hachi no ko)

Notes

Days at the Mitori Kannon-dō. His one daily task was to ring the bell at morning and at evening; all the rest was the sound of wind in the pines. Still if you called it still, lonely if you thought it lonely — the whole of that keeper's life is held in this one poem.

Browse all 701 poems

山頭火アラーム アプリアイコン

Wake to this poem.

Santōka Alarm is an iOS app that wakes you each morning with a single poem.
Set a poem you love as your alarm.

Download on the App Store iOS 26+