Carpe Diem Ghost Writer #35,

!! I am in the nightshift so I publish this GW-episode earlier than I normally do !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

For this week's GW-post I have used a nice new article written by Jen of Blog It or Lose It. Jen has done several GW-post and I think you all do like her articles, so it's my pleasure to publish another nice article by her.

Have fun!

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The Cold within the Sound:  Otagaki Rengetsu

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Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

One evening – when the muses were being particularly stingy with their inspiration – I started to look for new voices in haiku.  I stumbled across a great site full haiku and tanka written by Japanese women – and fell in love with the poetry of Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1895) (1).

looking out over the bay 
I see clouds of cold rain 
summoning winter 
and hear the wind in the pines 
whisper its name 

Hopefully you will visit rengetsu.org and read some of her work – and you will fall in love with her writing, too. 

Photo © Jen R.

 

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Here is some background on Rengetsu (birth name, “Nobu”), who was born in 1791.   [Source:  Rengetsu.org (2)]

Rengetsu was probably the secret daughter of a geisha and a high official.  The Otagaki family adopted her as an infant.  At 8 years old she was sent to Tamba-Kameyama castle, where she stayed until she was 14.  She learned calligraphy and the arts associated with the nobility.  Here, Rengetsu learned the basics of classical waka – 5-lines, 31-syllables. 

When Rengetsu was 13 she lost her adoptive brother and mother; over the course of 30 years she lost almost all of her close family members.  This includes five children, two husbands, two adoptive siblings, and her adoptive father.  

She married a man named Mochihisa around 1808; they had three children, all of whom died.  The marriage was dissolved around 1815 due to his drinking and visiting the pleasure quarter.  Rengetsu married Juujirou when she was 29; he died soon after.  In grief, she cut her hair and renounced the world, becoming a nun to follow the Buddha.  She was initiated into the Pure Land Sect and took the name “Rengetsu” (lotus/ren + moon/getsu).  

When Rengetsu’s adoptive father passed away in 1832 she needed to support herself on her own.  She began to write poems, which she either brushed on paper or carved into pottery.  She gained respect and a following.  In time her skill as a calligrapher also increased and she inscribed the paintings of many famous painters in Kyoto. 

Like Basho, Rengetsu was a traveler at heart (2):

“Her journeys brought her clay for her work, grist for reflection and, through some unpleasant incidents, inspiration for her poems. It seems every situation was a chance to feel and express, every blossom, animal or person on the road precious to her. Like Matsuo Basho and some other great poets before her, she accepted the hardships of the road, and the states of her own heart. Rather than push them away, she blended them with the nature she encountered, the seasons, the weather and the atmosphere of new places. The results are poems and artwork that never feel merely clever or decorative, but are infused the spirit of one who has seen and experienced life with her whole being.”  (Rengetsu.org)

At age 75 Rengetsu was forced to give up traveling.  She accepted sanctuary with Abbot Wada Gozan.  It was peaceful there, and she and Gozan collaborated in art and poetry.  At one point, she and Gozan produced 1000 images of the Bodhisattva of Mercy and sold them to raise money for flood victims.

Two volumes of Rengetsu’s work were printed during her life:   A Poetry Album of Two Ladies (Rengetsu Shikibu Nijo Wakashuu), 1868; and A Seaweed Diver’s Harvest (Ama no Karumo), 1871.  Today she is considered a forerunner of modern tanka.

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Imagine my joy to find this poem – not only is it beautiful, but it mentions arrowroot (kudzu, one of the seven flowers of autumn we learned about at Carpe Diem) (3):

Upon
frost-withered arrowroot
pelting
vying hailstones—
the cold within the sound.

Isn’t this an amazing poem?  And what a wonderful phrase – “the cold within the sound”.

Photo © Jen R.

Here is my attempt to write in the same spirit as Rengetsu’s waka:

daggers of sleet –
this sharp sound
cut sideways

I like this haiku but it’s definitely not in the same tone.  Perhaps a tanka would be closer?

this November sleet –
it shreds the birch leaves
in the dead grass –
a sharp sound, cut sideways
tossed to the hungry wind

Where does Rengetsu’s “cold within the sound” lead you?  Please share your haiku or tanka inspired by Rengetsu here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai!  And – while you’re at it – please visit Carpe Diem Haiku Shuukan.  

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(1) http://thegreenleaf.co.uk/hp/women/Women.htm

(2) http://rengetsu.org/

(3) http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2014/11/carpe-die-597-kudzu-or-arrowroot.html

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Well ... I hope you all did like this new GW-post by Jen. Are you into writing articles? Than maybe you can write a GW-post for our haiku family. I can use a few new GW-posts ... so feel free to write your article and email it to our email-address:

carpediemhaikukai@outlook.com or
carpediemhaikukai@gmail.com

It's great to be a Ghost Writer for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ... so come on ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until November 28th at noon (CET). I will publish our new episode, Solace, later on. For now ... have fun!