Photo by Diana Ewell Engel of Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa, Japan
Asian Verse: Part 1
Always seeing within/ a flower at the break of dawn/ — the face of God/ -Matsuo Basho, Oi no kibumi, Spring 1685 Featured in the beautiful blog, matsuo-basho-haiku: the journey itself is my home This delicate, spiritual haiku is found in Oi no kobumi, the title of Basho’s travelogue. According to the author of the matsuo-basho-haiku blog, Basho composed the haiku during his trip from Edo to his hometown of Iga-Uneno. From there he journeyed on to Mt. Yamato Kasuragi.
A Return to Haiku
My mind rests in the country known for Sakura as I remember the flowering cherry trees dressing Japan’s landscape. My family has returned from an extraordinary adventure there. The pink blossoms sumptuously dotted gardens and hillsides. Japanese residents are preparing for Golden Week which begins at the end of April. Golden Week is a celebration of four national holidays and a celebratory time of brightly flagged festivals.
Photo by Diana Ewell Engel of the Himeji Castle Moat in Himeji, Japan
It's an irresistible urge to seize upon the happy spirit of Golden Week and the celebration of nature that occurs during Japan’s Greenery Day, one of the holidays of Golden Week. After all, we are abloom in the States, too! Cherry trees, iris, and forsythia brighten yards. The house wrens have returned to our patio where they are building a nest in the suet box.
Today, we also return, not to build a nest, but to take a deep breath of haiku specifically the haiku that announce the arrival of spring.
Photo by Diana Ewell Engel of the house wren, industrious nest builder, on our backyard patio
Because Japan is the seventeenth-century birthplace of haiku, we will enjoy these succinct poems created by contemporary Japanese poets as well as two from the undisputed master, Matsuo Basho. (Scroll up to see one of Basho’s evocative haiku which begins this post.)
Basho brought haiku to the height of its beauty and form.
As a reminder, haiku is a three-line poem traditionally about nature which keeps to a specific syllable count—five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five syllables in the third.
However, there are several variations of this form, and haiku is not limited to Japan. One haiku in this post is by Betty Drevniok, a poet originally from St. Louis, Missouri.
Enjoy this poetic foray into a lushly blossomed season which invites our singing and nectar sipping birds as well as flitting butterflies arriving soon!
Photo by Diana Ewell Engel. Looking out from Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto.
to quiet the heart/ of the mountain god/ the cherry blossoms opened/ -Takada Chōi, from Well-Versed: Exploring Modern Japanese Haiku (Japan Library/JPIC March 23, 2021) willow and cherry/ willow and cherry—/ riverbank/ -Kodojin, acclaimed Japanese poet and landscape painter, 1865-1944. This beautifully visual haiku is found in Haiku Poetry Ancient & Modern compiled by Jackie Hardy, Tuttle Publishing, 2002. Birds, busily singing/ When, the sun, gloriously rising,/ Ah, then, suddenly silent/ -Bashō no yōna, March 2022 Featured in the blog, matsuo-basho-haiku: the journey itself is my home Their laughter …/ The woods filled with white trillium/ And sunshine/ -Betty Drevniok, influential haiku poet who moved to Canada and encouraged growth of the poetic form there, and one of the founders of the Haiku Society of Canada. Drevniok lived from 1917 until 1997. This lighthearted haiku is included in Haiku Poetry Ancient & Modern compiled by Jackie Hardy, Tuttle Publishing, 2002.
Photo of white trillium by the U.S. Forest Service
What’s Coming
In the next post, we will explore other Asian forms of poetry such as the Sijo, a traditional Korean style of verse with often a song-like quality. Until then, revel in nature’s awakening!
let your heart go forth with/ a flower blossom and/ one set of begging bowls/ --Matsuo Basho, Spring 1692 Featured in the blog, matsuo-basho-haiku: the journey itself is my home
Photo by Magic Bowls on Unsplash
Di, love the haikus. I still think that the Japanese do it best. Redneck haiku: In early morning mist/ Mama searches Circle K for/ Moon Pies and Red Man/ -Al Lowe
We had the privilege of living in Tokyo for 14 months in the mid-1990s. Your article and photos brought back good memories. Domo arigato gozaimasu!
Walt Pilcher