Thursday, January 8, 2015

Carpe Diem Special #126, Sogi's "Butterfly home"


!! I publish this post a bit earlier, because I am in the nightshift !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This month's featured haiku-poet is Iio Sogi (1424-1502), a pre-Basho haiku-poet and he was, as Basho, a wellknown Renga-Master. The most preserved haiku by Sogi are "hokku" which were part of Renga (chained poem). Today I have our second haiku by Sogi for you. I have translated it myself to make it a bit more compact. Here it is:

abandoned house
the garden taken over -
butterfly home

© Iio Sogi (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

Isn't it a beautiful haiku? I can see this in front of my eyes and the scene makes me smile ... such fragile beauty, but that fragile beauty is that strong to over take an abandoned house. Awesome. It's a nice kind of juxtaposition which we can read in this one butterfly/house  fragility/strongness and that brings me to the task of this CD Special:

Write a haiku in the same sense, tone and spirit as the one by Sogi and try to bring a juxtaposition into it. Or ... and that's an easier task I think ... you can use the haiku by Sogi as the "hokku" (starting verse) of a Soliloquy No Renga (a renga poem written by one poet) of a maximum of eight (8) stanza. If you choose for the Soliloquy than please try to "close" the chain with using an "ageku" (closing verse which associates on the "hokku").



I have tried to write a haiku in which the first task is used ... here it is:

broken windows
after the bombing - spiders spinning
their cobwebs

© Chèvrefeuille

Do you see/read the juxtaposition in this haiku? I think I succeeded in this task, but that's not up to me to say ... that's up to you my dear Haijin.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until January 11th at noon (CET). Have fun! I will post our next episode, First Market (Hatsuchi), later on.

7 comments:

  1. One of your very best, master Chevrefeuille! So much there, topical, strong imagery and room for interpretation, yet all showed and nothing told - in that way I think you again showed by example. Too many times in haiku and in the haiku with the haibun we are explaining the ''facts'' too much, or making summaries and conclusions in 3 lines, choosing grandiose themes of life. This haiku shows how we need to look more and find an interesting image. Very nice haiku indeed.

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    1. You're right, Pirate. That "broken windows" haiku ... we need more of these. It's wonderful!

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  2. Stunning - both of the haiku but yours really hits between the shoulder blades...

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  3. Love how both the haiku (but especially yours) told a whole story.. Great inspiration for haibun.

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  4. Thank you for translating for us and giving us such a beautiful prompt, Kristjaan

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  5. there's a mystery of sadness here... still a home

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  6. Ouf, your haiku flashes so many images in my mind's eye! wonderful haiku, Kristjaan and the translation is another story...a great prompt that conjure so many images and emotions.

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