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Author Archives: hokku
SOMETIMES SPEECH, SOMETIMES SILENCE….
Sometimes it is better just to be quiet: The more talking and thinking, The farther from the truth. Cutting off all speech, all thought, There is nowhere that you cannot go. (Xinxin Ming, R. H. Blyth translation).
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THE IMPORTANCE OF HERON LEGS: GRASPING THE ESSENCE OF AN EVENT
Buson wrote a pleasant summer hokku: An evening breeze; The water laps against The heron’s legs. R. H. Blyth made a very pertinent comment on this verse, a remark precisely in keeping the principles of modern hokku: “Buson’s intuitions are … Continue reading
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Tagged Buson, heron, hokku, nature, objectivity, poetry, R. H. Blyth, spirituality, summer, writing
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HURRAHING IN HARVEST: HOPKINS SEES GOD IN NATURE
One more Gerard Manley Hopkins poem, and then I will move on to something else. It seems odd to be discussing a poem about autumn, given that it is spring now, but here it is nonetheless. In this poem, we … Continue reading
CARRION COMFORT: HOPKINS WRESTLES WITH GOD
We have seen in earlier postings how the 19th century British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins suffered from terrible episodes of depression, the worst aspects of which were depicted in his poem I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark. We … Continue reading
VANISHING AMERICA: THE OGALLALA AQUIFER
Most of you have heard of John Steinbeck’s famous novel The Grapes of Wrath, an account of the terrible days of the Dust Bowl in the United States. Some of you may know that the transformation of midwestern agricultural fields … Continue reading
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Tagged conservation, Dust Bowl, Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, nature, Ogallala, vegan, vegetarianism, water use
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THREE VIEWS OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS
There is a famous spring hokku by Bashō: A cloud of blossoms – Is the bell Ueno? Asakusa? Through a cloud of blooming cherry trees, the writer hears the sound of a distant, unseen temple bell. He wonders if it … Continue reading
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Tagged cherry blossoms, hokku, nature, senryû, spring, writing
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KEEPING THE BEST, DISCARDING THE REST: GOOD TASTE IN HOKKU
Long-time readers here will recall that the hokku I teach is derived only from the best aspects of the old Japanese hokku — those that tend to objectivity, poverty, simplicity, and selflessness. That is why not everything one may find … Continue reading
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Tagged Bashô, hokku, Masaoka Shiki, Matsuo Bashō, poetry, Shiki
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IS HOKKU “NATURE VERSE,” OR “SEASON VERSE,” OR “TIME VERSE”?
I have recently seen the statement made that hokku is not Nature verse — that instead, it is “time verse,” with its foundation in the four seasons. The answer to that, of course, is that hokku is all of the above; … Continue reading
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Tagged butterfly, Henry David Thoreau, hokku, nature, season verse, seasons, Shôha, time-verese, Walden Pond, William Cullen Bryant, Zeitgedichte
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NEW BRIDGES AND SPONGING RELATIVES: HUMAN QUIRKS AND SENRYU
You will recall that in addition to hokku, there is another and visually very similar kind of verse called senryu. How does one tell a senryu from a hokku? First, senryu does not have a seasonal setting. Second, while hokku … Continue reading
THE LISTENERS: A PEBBLE TOSSED IN A WELL OF SILENCE
In the late 1800s and first third of the 1900s, it was common for students in elementary and secondary schools to do “recitations,” a dramatic reading of a poem before a group, with the intent to make it have a … Continue reading
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Tagged analysis, poetry, romanticism, Walter de la Mare, writing
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THE LONG DAYS OF SPRING: BUSON AND SHIKI
There are some hokku that do not seem quite right but nonetheless have value for what they are. There is, for example, this spring verse by Buson: Osoki hi no tsumorite tōki mukashi kana Long day ‘s accumulating … Continue reading
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Tagged Buson, haiku, hokku, long spring days, R. H. Blyth, spring, Yosa Buson
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A TIME OF GHOSTS: CHAPTER 1 — THE HOUSE OF SORROWS
Dear Readers. I am currently in the process of having my last book, A Time of Ghosts, formatted as an ebook, which should make it available much more inexpensively than the previously printed edition (it is currently out of print). … Continue reading
AND CHANGE WITH HURRIED HAND: TUCKERMAN AND TIME
It is astonishing how much damage humans have done to America in some 400 years. Vast forests have vanished, and concrete creeps over everything. Too many people, too much greed and heedlessness. And it is only getting worse. Now not … Continue reading
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ERNEST DOWSON AND THE PERPETUAL CHILD: LA JEUNESSE N’A QU’UN TEMPS
In a previous posting we took a look at the poetry of Ernest Dowson, who sadly lost himself in drink and other excesses and died at age 32. It puts us in mind of Dylan Thomas, who similarly was afflicted … Continue reading
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Tagged analysis, Carl Jung, Dylan Thomas, Ernest Dowson, Marie-Louise von Franz, Peter Pan, poetry, Puer Aeternus, writing, youth
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SPRING AND SUPERFICIALITY: DETERMINING DEPTH IN HOKKU
One of the most difficult things for the beginning student of hokku to grasp is the difference in what we might call “levels” of hokku. It is common for someone unfamiliar with the principles of hokku to read hundreds of … Continue reading
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Tagged Buson, depth in hokku, haiku, hokku, Otsuji, poetry, spring, writing
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NOTHING IS SO BEAUTIFUL AS SPRING (OR SO CONFUSING, IN THIS CASE)
Today’s poem is a bit tricky, because it begins (with one possible exception) as one of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ simpler poems, yet turns, at the very end, into one of his most difficult. SPRING Nothing is so beautiful as spring— … Continue reading
HEAVEN-HAVEN: REFUGE FROM THE SEA OF TEARS
To better understand today’s poem we must first put ourselves into the mindset of Gerard Manley Hopkins in the year 1864, when the poem was written. He was a sensitive fellow for whom life in the everyday world was … Continue reading
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Tagged analysis, Carmel, George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Heaven Haven, Heaven-Haven analysis, monasticism, nuns, poetry, poetry analysis, St. Govan, writing
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ONE BLOSSOM’S WORTH: TWO “PLUM” HOKKU
The connection of plum blossoms and spring, historically, is well known. As I have written before, however, the ume no hana spoken of in old Japanese hokku — conventionally translated as “plum blossoms,” were not really plum blossoms as we … Continue reading
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Tagged Buson, nature, plum blossoms, poetry, Prunus mume, Ransetsu, spring, spring hokku, translation, writing
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NOW SLEEPS THE CRIMSON PETAL: IDEALIZED ROMANCE IN TENNYSON
I often speak of poets in terms of schools of painting. Some, for example, are like Impressionists in their use of words. Others, like today’s poet, Alfred Tennyson, are more like Pre-Raphaelites, writers who look back to medieval times as … Continue reading
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Tagged Alfred Tennyson, imagery, poetry, romanticism, twilight, writing
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SPRINGTIME AND FLEETING YOUTH: COM’ ES BELLE JUVENTUTE
Bon die, lectores de iste blog in tote le mundo! Good day, readers of this blog in all the world! Hodie es un belle die primaveral. Illo me rememora de alcuni lineas ex un poema per Today is a beautiful … Continue reading
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THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US: HUMAN SEPARATION FROM NATURE
One of the old standards of English poetry is THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US, by the romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850). The romantic movement tended to emphasize personal feelings, and often associated those feelings with Nature — mountains and … Continue reading
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Tagged analysis, Industrial Revolution, nature, poetry, Proteus, The World is Too Much With Us, Triton, William Wordsworth, writing
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THE WOODSPURGE: ALL THOUGHT EXHAUSTED
Today’s poem is by the “Pre-Raphaelite” poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882). It is made essentially of two elements, one objective (giving a straight description of something) and the other subjective (giving a personal interpretation of something). The first three stanzas … Continue reading
WHEN I WAS ONE-AND-TWENTY: PAID FOR IN PAIN
Romance is a very strange thing. It is a kind of psychological obsession with another person — an obsession so strong that it gives that other person control over whether the obsessed is happy or unhappy. It gives one soaring … Continue reading
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Tagged Alfred Edward Housman, Carl Gustav Jung, Cupid, Dorothy Tennov, Eros, falling in love, limerence, love, Love and Limerence, poetry, poetry analysis, romance, writing
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THE SANITY OF INDIVIDUALS, THE MADNESS OF CROWDS: EMILY DICKINSON
In spite of her cleverness and uniqueness, I have never been very fond of the poetry of Emily Dickinson, though I respect it for what it is. I know she has earned her own place in the history of poetry, … Continue reading
PASSING IT ON: THE “BEAUTIFUL MUSIC” LIST
“In view of the importance of the role that music plays in life, one must stress once more that it is veritable magic, capable of abasing and degrading the person listening to it, or exalting and elevating him to the … Continue reading
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Tagged beautiful music, Edward Salim Michael, music list, relaxing music
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ON WENLOCK EDGE: THE GALE OF LIFE AND EMOTION
Today we turn again to one of my favorite poets, Alfred Edward Housman, and to his poem On Wenlock Edge. It is not a difficult poem, but we shall need to make sure we understand Housman’s vocabulary in order to … Continue reading
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Tagged A. E. Housman, Alfred Edward Housman, analysis, On Wenlock Edge, poetry, Roman Britain, Severn, Severn River, Shropshire, Wenlock Edge, Wrekin, writing
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MORNING LIGHT / LUMINE MATINAL
Winter: Morning light; Melting frost Drips from the trees. Hiberno: Lumine matinal; Gelo disgelante Ab le arbores gutta. How quickly time passes! Already more than half of January is gone, and in less than two weeks we shall be at … Continue reading
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Tagged Candlemas, frost, Gelo, hokku, Imbolc, January, Latino Moderne, nature, poetry, spring, writing
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NO WORST, THERE IS NONE: World-anguish in Gerard Manley Hopkins
In an earlier posting, I briefly discussed the “cliffs of fall” part of a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and have felt ever since the incompleteness of not having included the first part of the poem as well. So with … Continue reading
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TROLL THE ANCIENT YULETIDE CAROL
Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice — Great Yule, the beginning of the Twelve Days of Yule. In the Hokku Calendar, the Winter Solstice is the point at which the Yin force reaches its maximum — Yin being cold and dark … Continue reading
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KEEPING THE SEASON WELL
(I posted this some three years ago) Winter, as I have written earlier, is the most austere season of the year. Because of that, it is a time when contrasts have great significance — warmth amid cold, food amid hunger, … Continue reading
AUTUMN ENDING — WINTER BEGINNING
Autumn ends; Even the crows Are silent. David
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Tagged crows, early winter, hokku, late autumn, nature, poetry, seasons, spirituality, writing
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THE NARROW PATH: A HOKKU BY BUSON
As a writer of hokku, Buson had his flaws. He was sometimes too consciously literary, at others too obviously painterly (he was, after all, an artist). That is why numbers of his verses fail to quite make it as good … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, autumn leaves, Buson, colored leaves, fallen leaves, hokku, nature, poetry, seasons, spirituality, writing, Yosa Buson
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WITH FRIENDS LIKE YOU, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? HOPKINS’ “THOU ART INDEED JUST…”
In previous postings we have seen the ups and downs of the “religious” life of Gerard Manley Hopkins displayed in his verse. You will recall that he was a convert to Catholicism who became a Jesuit, then spent a good … Continue reading
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Tagged depression, Gerard Manley Hopkins, poetry, Thou Art Indeed Just Lord, writing
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM KOBAYASHI ISSA
Issa wrote: Withered pampas grass; “Now once there was an old witch….” That verse does not come off quite the same in English, because of the term “pampas grass” that we must use for what Issa knew as susuki — … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Cortaderia selloana, Halloween, hokku, Issa, Miscanthus sinensis, nature, pampas grass, poetry, seasons, writing
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SOMETHING FOR HALLOWEEN
Dear readers, Halloween is near, and with it comes the end of autumn by the old calendar. I was working today on readying one of my books for (I hope) eventual availability as an inexpensive e-book. I happened to be … Continue reading
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Tagged A TIME OF GHOSTS, Beijing, China, China biography, Great Cultural Revolution, Halloween, writing
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RAIN BEATS ON RAIN
Gyōdai wrote one of the simplest and best hokku, which in my region would be an autumn verse: Ochiba ochikasanarite ame ame wo utsu Falling-leaves fall-pile up rain rain wo beats Leaves fall And pile up; Rain beats on rain. … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Gyôdai, hokku, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, Reginald Horace Blyth, seasons, spirituality, writing
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THE SOUND OF WATER
Near and far – The sound of water, The falling leaves. (Variation on an old hokku by Bashō)
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Tagged autumn, Bashô, falling leaves, hokku, nature, poetry, spirituality, writing
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SUBTLE STATES OF MIND: THE REASON FOR HOKKU
As all regular readers here know, a hokku is a sensory event set in the context of a particular season. That is basic knowledge. But did you ever ask yourself why? What, after all, is the point of recording sensory, … Continue reading
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Tagged AUTUMN WILLOWS, Ch'an, Henry David Thoreau, hokku, nature, poetry, Ryūshi, seasons, spirituality, Transcendentalism, Wind in the Willows, writing, zen
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WHAT IS A FROG DOING IN AUTUMN?
As long-time readers here know, hokku is seasonal verse. Every verse is an event set in the context of a particular season. In old hokku (which was Japanese), this became too systematized, so that if one wrote about frogs, it … Continue reading
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Tagged frog, frogs, hokku, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, Reginald Horace Blyth, spring, verse, writing
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NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: MIND AGAINST BODY IN “SAILING TO BYZANTIUM”
Today I would like to discuss one of the “fantasy” poems by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats – Sailing to Byzantium. To grasp the meaning of this poem one must know two things: first, the speaker is a man who … Continue reading
HEAVEN-BARN: HOPKINS’ STARLIGHT NIGHT
There is no quick reading of some poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Slow going and thought are essential to picking out his meaning from his often odd phrasing, uncommon word choices, and lack of complete clarity. Such as poem is … Continue reading
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Tagged Gerard Manley Hopkins, Literature, poetry, poetry analysis, Starlight Night, writing
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AUTUMN WILLOWS
Seibi has an interesting hokku that reminds one of Thoreau’s close observation of Nature: The morning sun; Already it penetrates The autumn willows. This is another of those verses in which meaning requires knowing the principles of hokku. We might … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, hokku, poetry, seasons, Seibi, spirituality, willows, writing
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