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Tag Archives: poetry
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 hokku, nature, poetry, spirituality, writing, R. H. Blyth, Buson, summer, heron, objectivity
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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
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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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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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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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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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
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 poetry, writing, analysis, A. E. Housman, Alfred Edward Housman, Wenlock Edge, Shropshire, On Wenlock Edge, Wrekin, Roman Britain, Severn, Severn River
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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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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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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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OTHER PEOPLE’S AUTUMN
I often say here that Japanese hokku sometimes tends to a vagueness not found in English-language hokku. Some verses can be so unclear as to leave their meaning perpetually in doubt. Those are just bad hokku, in spite of the … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, fall, hokku, poetry, seasons, smoke, spirituality, Thoreau, vagueness, writing
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AND I AM MARIE OF ROUMANIA
Last time, I talked a bit about Walt Whitman’s way of overcoming the repeated disappointments of life. But for some people, the solution is humor. That was Dorothy Parker’s method. Dorothy Parker, you will recall, was a wit popular in … Continue reading
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Tagged Dorothy Parker, life, Marie of Roumania, poetry, satire, wit, writing
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OH ME! OH LIFE!: WALT WHITMAN’S ANSWER
Life, as we all know, has its ups and downs. Normally the ups are slight, the downs are slight, but we all go through phases, whether days, months, or even years, when things just do not seem to go right … Continue reading
AUTUMN DREAMS, AUTUMN SNORES
A pleasant hokku for the early part of autumn is this by Suiō, in spite of its unconventional arrangement. The autumn night; Dreams and snores And grasshoppers chirring. It is evocative of the warm, drowsy, earlier part of autumn, when … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn hokku, dreams, grasshoppers, hokku, nature, poetry, snores, Suiō, writing
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AUTUMN BEGINS: INCLINING TOWARD THE TRANQUILITY OF HOKKU
In previous postings I have discussed the relationship between Zen and hokku (yes, there is one). Today I would like to talk briefly about where Zen and hokku differ. First, Zen is more inclusive than hokku. Hokku deliberately restricts its … Continue reading
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Tagged Aki chikaki, autumn, autumn hokku, Bashô, haiku, Modern Haiku, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, tea ceremony, teahouse, writing
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AUTUMN-WINTER IN THE HOKKU YEAR
As I have written before, in hokku we make use of two calendars: First, there is the “natural” calendar, which varies depending on where one lives. For example, in my state, autumn comes earlier in the mountains than in the lowlands. … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn calendar, Equinox, hokku, hokku year, Lammas, nature, poetry, Samhain, writing, Yule
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RED HAIR AND LOVE CONQUER ALL: THE ROMANCE OF NATHALIA CRANE
There is a place for fun in poetry, for verses we enjoy not because of intricate verbal craftsmanship or intellectual or spiritual profundity, but just because they bring a smile. One of the surest of these poems that bring a … Continue reading
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Tagged Brooklyn, Nathalia Crane, poetry, red hair, Sheepshead Bay, writing
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UNTANGLING THE CONFUSING OF HOKKU WITH HAIKU
From time to time I like to remind readers that the careless use of the term “haiku” to describe what historically is really hokku is not only anachronistic but also irresponsible, inaccurate, and confusing. Here is a slightly modified earlier … Continue reading
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Tagged haiku, Haiku Society of America, haiku/hokku, History of Haiku, history of hokku, hokku, hokku and haiku, poetry, writing
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THE FOX BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
There is a kind of old hokku that I almost never discuss here. It belongs to the category of verses based on folk belief or myth. Even these verses have their seasonal connections. Here is one by Buson: Withered grasses; … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Buson, fox spirits, hokku, kitsune, nature, poetry, writing
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ENTERING AUTUMN
Here is a timely repeat of an earlier posting: Summer is ending, autumn is beginning. I have already mentioned the transitional verse by Kyoroku that leads us into the season: August; First on the ears of millet – The autumn … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Bashô, Buson, fall, hokku, impermanence, Issa, Kyoroku, millet, morning glories, nature, poetry, spirituality, transience, writing
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THE BLACKBIRD OBSCURED: WALLACE STEVENS AND POETS OF PRIVATE LANGUAGE
Today I would like to talk briefly (you will soon see the reason for brevity) about what I call “poets of private language,” “PPLs” for short. A poet of private language is one who writes poetry that is often so obscure … Continue reading
THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR: SUMMER’S END
Today there seems a great pause in the air, a quiet sense that we have come to a change: Summer’s end; Crows stalking about Silently. Every year I like to post this article again to mark that time when one … Continue reading
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Tagged hokku, Loren Eiseley, Marcel Pagnol, Natalie Babbitt, nature, poetry, seasons, summer's end, Tuck Everlasting, Wheel of the Year, writing
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BIG ANT, BIG HEAT: INTERNAL REFLECTION IN HOKKU
If one does not have an understanding of the basic principles of hokku, it is often difficult to appreciate a verse because one simply does not “get” it. This was a major factor in the rise of modern haiku in … Continue reading
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Tagged haiku, heat, hokku, internal reflection, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, seasons, Shirô, spirituality, summer, writing
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ABSENCE AND PRESENCE AND SUMMER HEAT
The windbell silent; The heat Of the clock. This summer hokku by Yayū is somewhat unusual, first because it includes a clock. We already know that “modern technology” is not a part of hokku, and if we allow ourselves to … Continue reading
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Tagged absence, clock, heat, hokku, poetry, presence, principles of hokku, seasons, spirituality, summer, summer hokku, windbell, writing, Yayu
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