Thursday, June 25, 2015

Carpe Diem "On The Trail With Basho Encore" #6 autumn night


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am glad to present to you an all new episode of our "On The Trail With Basho Encore" feature in which I share haiku written by the master. Basho was, as you all know, a traveling poet and the haiku for this episode he wrote while visiting two of his disciples in September 1694. It is one of his last haiku he wrote.

Jane Reichhold tells us the following about this haiku:

[...] "1694-autumn. This verse began a half renga (18 links) done at Shioe Shado's house on September 21st, in Osaka. One of the reasons Basho had made the trip to Osaka, in spite of his illness, was to mediate between two of his disciples, Shido, a merchant from Osaka, and Shado, a doctor. When both disciples showed up for this renga, they completed only eighteen links. Here, with the associative technique, the autumn night, an abstract idea, and the conversation have been dashed to bits" [...]

aki no yo o uchi kuzushitaru hanashi kana

autumn night
dashed to bits
in conversation

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

Basho shows here that he had heart for his disciples and that he tried to keep the harmony between them. This "hokku" shows in my opinion, not only the associative technique, but also the karumi style, Basho's task for life in his last years.


Credits: Kinkakuji Temple Osaka in Fall
And now I have to try to write an all new haiku with the same mood and spirit as the given one to pay tribute to Basho's poetry skills.

on the porch
a moment of silence
the sound of rain

© Chèvrefeuille

A nice one I think. This episode of Encore is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 2nd at noon (CET). Have fun!

!! The judging of our second kukai "summertime" will start tonight at 6.00 PM (CET) as I publish our regular episode !!

No comments:

Post a Comment