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Tag Archives: summer
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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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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IT’S STILL THE SAME OLD STORY
Yesterday I discussed three “Western” calendar systems relevant to hokku — the traditional calendar, the meteorological calendar, and the “natural” calendar. The first is astronomical, and depends on the relationship between the sun and the earth; the second shows us … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Autumn Equinox, Bealtaine, Candlemas, China calendar, fall, Great Yule, haikai, Halloween, Harvest Home, hokku, hokku calendar, hokku seasons, Imbolc, japan calendar, Lammas, Lughnasadh, May Day, Midsummer, Misummer's Day, Samhain, spring, Spring Equinox, summer, Summer Solstice, winter, Winter Solstice
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SNAILS, LOCKS, AND BRUSHWOOD GATES
In Japan, Issa’s hokku have always been remarkably popular. And they are popular in the West as well — at least the better known verses, among which one finds this: The brushwood gate; Instead of a lock, A snail. But … Continue reading
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Tagged haikai, hokku, Issa, lock, sentimentality, snail, summer
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ANDREW MARVELL
“…ANNIHILATING ALL THAT’S MADE TO A GREEN THOUGHT IN A GREEN SHADE.”
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Tagged Andrew Marvell, green, poetry, shade, summer, writing
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THE HEAT!
R. H. Blyth remarks that “only in Japan can we find hundreds of ‘poems’ written on the subject of heat.” That he puts “poems” in quotes is significant, and indicates — as I always tell students — that we should … Continue reading
IS HOKKU DIFFICULT?
Is hokku difficult? The simple answer is no. The only difficulty in hokku comes from what we add to it from our own minds. Really, a hokku is just a meaningful experience of the senses expressed in the context of … Continue reading
THE ONE-FOOT WATERFALL
Issa wrote: The one-foot waterfall Also makes sounds; The evening cool. This is Issa’s version of “The morning glory that lives but a day differs not at heart from the giant pine that lives for a thousand years.” A one-foot … Continue reading
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Tagged coolness, haikai, hokku, Issa, nature, one-foot waterfall, poetry, subjectivity, summer, waterfall, writing, zen
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THE WINDBELL IS SILENT
You will recall that very old hokku often used two things joined by a third. Yayu wrote an interesting hokku that uses two things also, but provides the third that unites them in an interesting way: The windbell is silent; … Continue reading
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Tagged clock, haikai, harmony of opposites, heat, hokku, summer, windbell, Yayu
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NOTHING WEAKER THAN WATER
There is nothing weaker than water But nothing greater in overcoming the hard, For which there is no substitute. That weakness overcomes strength And gentleness overcomes the rigid, No one does not know; Yet who can put it into practice? … Continue reading
A GREAT TREE
A great tree Felled in the summer mountains; The echoing. Meisetsu
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT
Good hokku generally have strong sensation. By sensation we mean an experience of the senses — seeing, tasting, touching, smelling, and hearing. Those of you with an inquisitive bent of mind may think, “Well, if hokku is all about sensation, … Continue reading
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Tagged ants, context, haikai, harmony of similarity, hokku, horses, poetry, sensation, summer, writing, zen
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A SUDDEN SHOWER
Readers will long ago have noticed that I use old hokku — including verses just beyond what is technically the old “hokku” period — quite often. My purpose in doing so is not just to provide a collection of old … Continue reading
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Tagged carp, haikai, hokku, Kikaku, nature, poetry, Shiki, sudden shower, summer, women, writing, zen
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THE CLEAR WATER
A pleasant and simple summer hokku by Kitō: Little fish Are carried backwards; The clear water. We see the tiny fish in the clear, sunlight water, swimming against the current, which nonetheless is so strong that, still facing upstream, they … Continue reading
IT WAS THE THIRD OF JUNE…
Today I am going to combine some things I have talked about lately: First is the “Question” hokku, the whole point of which is to ask a question — or raise a question — that remains unanswered. Shiki wrote a … Continue reading
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Tagged Bobbie Gentry, Ode to Billy Joe, Poems, poetry, question hokku, summer, unanswered questions, writing
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ONE BIG, LAZY CAT IS ALL OF SUMMER
Issa wrote this summer hokku: The big cat – Flopped down on the fan Asleep. It is rather typical Issa, with his connection to animals and his kind of humor. The point of the verse is that it is summer, … Continue reading
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Tagged cat, coolness, fan, haikai, heat, hokku, Issa, poetry, spirituality, summer, writing, zen
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FROM BELOW THE BRIDGE
Issa, whom we do not often use as a model, wrote this summer hokku: From below The bridge I creep across – A cuckoo! Though Issa says merely “bridge,” we can tell from his timid creeping across it that it is … Continue reading
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Tagged cuckoo, haikai, hanging bridge, hokku, hototogisu, Issa, nature, poetry, summer, writing, zen
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A HOKKU IN FIVE WORDS
There is a summer hokku by Kikaku that requires very few words in English translation: Inazuma ya kinō wa higashi kyō wa nishi Lightning ya yesterday wa east today wa west. Lightning; Yesterday east, Today west. Even though … Continue reading
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Tagged haikai, harmony of contrast, harmony of similarity, hokku, Kikaku, lightning, summer
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LEAVES SUDDENLY APPEAR
A summer hokku: Sunrise; Leaves suddenly appear On the paper screen. This too is a verse requiring a small intuitive leap. Why would leaves suddenly appear on a paper screen? Because the sun has just risen, casting shadows of plants … Continue reading
THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE
Today was beautiful where I am. After days and days of pouring rain and cool temperatures, the sky cleared, the sun shone, and the temperature rose into the low 80s. It made me think of the old lines from the … Continue reading
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Tagged Buson, grove of trees, haikai, heat, hokku, nature, poetry, spiderwebs, statement hokku, summer, turtle, turtle dove, writing, Yang, zen
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ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY HOKKU
Sooner or later (I hope sooner) in the study of hokku, one begins to ask just what makes an extraordinary hokku. The question is inevitable because all of us, in our practice, are going to write lots of very ordinary … Continue reading
MUCH IN LITTLE
Etsujin wrote: How serenely they fall When the time comes – Poppy flowers. That is a “statement” hokku. A “statement” hokku makes a simple, true observation about something; it tells us something we already know but did not know we … Continue reading
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Tagged "occasion" hokku, Etsujin, haiku, hokku, poppies, statement hokku, summer
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HORSES AND HEAT WAVES
Those who read a posting here only now and then will learn little or nothing. Those who read here regularly, with attention, will gain over time a good understanding of the basic principles of hokku. For example, I recently discussed … Continue reading
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Tagged clouds, cotton cloth, haikai, harmony of similarity, heat waves, hokku, Kyoroku, summer, summer colts, Tohō, white, Yang
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CLOUDS APPEAR
We just looked at a verse for the time when spring is nearing its end: Warm rain From a cloudburst; Departing spring. Today, by contrast, we shall look at a verse on the other side of the seasonal divide: Clouds … Continue reading
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Tagged cloudburst, clouds, drought, haikai, haiku, heat, hokku, rain, spring, summer, windmill
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TAKING OFF THE WORLD
I have mentioned previously the simple, elegant — one might even say “clean” feeling one gets from the hokku of Onitsura. It is unfortunate that he had no reliable students to carry on his kind of verse. Because of that, … Continue reading
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Tagged change of clothes, Henry David Thoreau, Onitsura, spring, summer, Walden
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THE NATURAL APPROACH TO SEASONAL SUBJECTS
In previous postings I have talked about how hokku intimately relates to Nature and the seasons, and I have said that the key to hokku is understanding that it expresses the seasons in its subject matter. Merely setting a hokku … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, harmony, Henry David Thoreau, hokku, nature, poetry, seasons, selflessness, spring, summer, writing, zen
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WRITING BY SEASON
In hokku old and new, there are two ways of relating to the seasons. One is fixed and somewhat artificial (old hokku), the other natural (new hokku). The “fixed” way is the compiling of season words and season dictionaries, and … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, harmony, hokku lessons, nature, poetry, season words, seasons, spring, summer, writing, zen
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DIRECT EXPERIENCE AND CREATIVE SELECTION
In hokku as I teach it, we may write both from direct experience and from creative selection. What is meant by direct experience? It is a hokku written from viewing an actual event, with everything in it faithful to that … Continue reading
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Tagged Bashô, Buson, dragonflies, frogs, haikai, harmony, hokku, nature, poetry, ponds, post-traditional haiku, Shirane, summer, trees, writing, zen
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A LOAD OF WIND
Amid the heat, He carries a load of wind – The fan seller. The arrangement of that summer hokku by Kakō is necessarily different in English. The original is literally Wind load carries heat ya fan-seller But let’s look at … Continue reading
HOT THINGS
Today is another unusually hot day, so here is an appropriate old hokku by Buson: Spider webs Are hot things; The summer grove. Entering a grove of old trees on a hot day, we expect to find some relief from … Continue reading
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Tagged haikai, hokku, nature, spiders, summer, webs, writing, zen
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THE SOLE HEIR OF THE WHOLE WORLD
Sometimes on this site I will seem to go far afield, but generally there is a thread leading in some way back to hokku or the spirit of hokku. Johann Peter Hebel, who wrote in Swiss-German, has a very remarkable … Continue reading
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Tagged haikai, hokku, Johann Peter Hebel, Kikaku, nature, poetry, spirituality, summer, Thomas Traherne, William Blake
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HOKKU FORM IN A NUTSHELL
Hokku in English has very definite standards and principles, and these extend even to the appearance of a verse on the page, specifically to lineation, capitalization, and punctuation. An English-language hokku is a verse of three lines, the middle line … Continue reading
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Tagged August, capitalization, haikai, hokku, nature, poetry, punctuation, Ryôta, summer, traditional haiku, writing, zen
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