Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,
January is running towards its end. We have only two episodes to go and than ... classic meets modern will be over. I hope you all did like this month ...
Today our prompt is Ume-no-hana (ume flower) and it's a classical kigo for the end of winter, or the last part of winter. Ume-no-hana (ume flower) is mostly translated as "plum" but it's more an "apricot".
I have a little background about the "ume-flower" for you:
Next to the
Cherry blossom, the plum blossoms are loved by Japanese poets and where enjoyed
even more than the cherry in the Heian peroid.
They are a symbol of refinement, purity and nobility and also a reminder of past love. Japanese tradition holds that the ume functions as a protective charm against evil, so the ume is traditionally planted in the northeast of the garden, the direction from which evil is believed to come.
They are a symbol of refinement, purity and nobility and also a reminder of past love. Japanese tradition holds that the ume functions as a protective charm against evil, so the ume is traditionally planted in the northeast of the garden, the direction from which evil is believed to come.
I have
found a lot of beautiful haiku and tanka (waka) about/on plum blossoms. First a
tanka (waka) written by Sugawara Michizane:
When the
east wind blows,
Send me your perfume,
Blossoms of
the plum:
Though your lord be absent,
Forget not the spring.
Send me your perfume,
Blossoms of
the plum:
Though your lord be absent,
Forget not the spring.
© Sugawara
Michizane (845 – 903) (Tr. G. Bownas A. Thwaite)
Really a
wonderful tanka (waka). This tanka I read for the very first time several years
ago on the wall of one of the buildings of the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden (The
Netherlands).
Here are a few haiku about/on Ume (plum) blossoms:
Here are a few haiku about/on Ume (plum) blossoms:
even the
heavenly gods
crowd' round
plum blossoms
crowd' round
plum blossoms
© Kobayashi
Issa (Tr. David Lanoue)
ume
ichi-rin ichirin hodo no atatakasa
one plum
blossom
brings us just one more
step to the warmth
brings us just one more
step to the warmth
© Hattori
Ransetsu (1654-1707) (Tr: Gabi Greve)
 |
| Credits: shira ume ni akuru yo bakari to nari ni keri |
shira ume
ni akuru yo bakari to nari ni keri
The night
almost past,
through the white plum blossoms
a glimpse of dawn.
through the white plum blossoms
a glimpse of dawn.
© Yosa
Buson
Of course I
had to find a haiku by my master Basho to honor him and I found the following
haiku about/on plum blossoms:
scent of
plum blossoms
on the misty mountain path
a big rising sun
on the misty mountain path
a big rising sun
© Matsuo
Basho
And next to my love for Cherry blossoms I also wrote several haiku about/on Plum blossoms, here are a few haiku from my archive. These are all written at the start of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai back in 2012:
red plum
blooming
while the last snow is melting -
finally Spring
while the last snow is melting -
finally Spring
the
shivering cold
creeps into my old skeleton -
white plum blossoms
creeps into my old skeleton -
white plum blossoms
what a
feast!
finally winter has gone
early plum blossoms
finally winter has gone
early plum blossoms
covered
with snow
the fragile plum blossoms
longing for Spring
the fragile plum blossoms
longing for Spring
For
closure:
scent of
plum blossoms
mingles with the scent of the hearth
winter departure
mingles with the scent of the hearth
winter departure
©
Chèvrefeuille
This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 1st at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our last episode of January 2016, meditation, later on. For now ... have fun!
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