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* Dogwood Blossoms -- Volume 1, Issue 1 -- June '93 *
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* editor: Gary Warner: (GLWARNER@SAMFORD.BITNET) *
* assistant editors: Matt Burke: (burke@beta.math.wsu.edu) *
* Nori Matsui: (NORIM@EARLHAM.BITNET) *
* special consultant: Gary Gach: (ggach@pandora.sf.ca.us) *
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Dogwood Blossoms, is an at-least-monthly publication of the
Internet community. The goal of this digest is to be a place
where Haiku can be shared and discussed with other lovers of the
art. Submissions are encouraged, both of original work,
published work by other authors, and comments and critiques of
works in previous issues. Articles of "short essay" length are
also welcome.
When you subscribe, please volunteer any haiku you would like to
see discussed, indicating if it is published or original...
also, if you would like to serve on the "editorial board" please
indicate so, or if you can serve as a translator for non-English
submissions (which are welcome) please indicate so.
If you are a list owner, and feel that this digest would make an
appropriate posting on your list, please send me a note
indicating so. In this issue:
I. Administrivia (you're there now!)
II. Submissions from literature
III. Submissions by our subscribers
IV. Translations of "furuike ya"
V. Experiencing "furuike ya"
VI. Season Words for Frogs
VII. A *SPLASH* Among the Songs
VIII. Assignments for next Issue . . .
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II. Submissions from literature:
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From: Nori Matsui (NORIM@EARLHAM.BITNET)
By Natsume Sohseki (translated by Nori)
Soregashi wa I am
kakashi nite sohrou a scarecrow,
suzume dono dear sparrow
By Akutagawa Ryunosuke (translated by Nori)
Aogaeru Blue Frog,
onore mo penki are you also
nuritate ka painted fresh?
By Nakamura Teijyo (translated by Nori)
Midorigo to With my baby
kawazu naku tawo frogs croak in ricefield
yuh nagame looking at the dusk
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III. Submissions by our subscribers:
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By Terry Asher (TA2321S@ACAD.DRAKE.EDU)
Wafting butterfly
rides falcon shadow over
pond: reflects rainbow
Dragonfly's droning
weighed down the air with fast vibes.
Yet, cardinal's song!
By Tom Frenkel (FRENKEL@cpmail-am.cis.columbia.edu):
Commuting Haiku
Passing train,
You have your nerve
To rob me of
Woolworth Building!
By Ross Bender (rbender@sas.upenn.edu)
While walking my son home from kindergarten
in Philadelphia:
In a vacant lot
Mid straggly blue cornflowers
Old black rubber tire
By Gary Warner (GLWARNER@SAMFORD.BITNET)
All the fish wonder
at fallen dogwood blossoms
invading their skies
Howling dog, crescent moon,
my only companions
How cold the night!
(this last inspired by one of my all-time favorites, by Buson
nusubito no a thief
yane ni kieyuku vanishes over the rooftops
yosama kana night chill! )
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IV. Translations of Furuike ya!
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(Basho, March 1685)
Furuike ya
Kawazu tobikomu
Mizu no oto
How many translations are there of this most famous of Haiku?
Probably as many as there are bilingual readers of the same!
The following listing of translations is hoped to give some
insight to our readers as to what is, and isn't the spirit of
Haiku! You will note that some translators force the verse
to rhyme, some add flowery words, and some (including myself)
try to match the original syllable count. Others, I believe,
may have the truest translations, when they simply paint the
scene, in simple words, and allow the reader to imagine all
the details.
(by Gary Warner GLWARNER@SAMFORD.BITNET)
There is an old pond
Suddenly a frog leaps in!
The sound of water
(by Gary Gach -- ggach@pandora.sf.ca.us)
little old pond
frog flies in
PLUMP!!
Asataro Miyamori has the following collection of translations
of our feature poem in his work _An Anthology of Haiku Ancient
and Modern_
(by Miyamori)
The ancient pond! The old pond! A frog plunged --
A frog plunged -- splash! The sound of water!
(by Inazo Nitobe) (by Hidesaburo Saito)
Into an old pond Old garden lake!
A frog took a sudden plunge, The frog thy depth doth seek,
Then is heard a splash And sleeping echoes wake.
(by Minoru Toyoda) (by Basil Hall Chamberlain)
An ancient pond! The old pond, aye!
A frog leaps in; and the sound of a frog
The sound of the water! leaping into the water.
(by Curtis Hidden Page)
A lonely pond in age-old stillness sleeps...
Apart, unstirred by sound or motion...
Suddenly into it a lithe frog leaps.
(by Clara A. Walsh)
An old-time pond, from off whose shadowed depth
Is heard the splash where some lithe frog leaps in.
(by Yone Noguchi) (by William N. Porter)
The old pond! Into the calm old lake
A frog leapt into -- A frog with flying leap goes plop!
List, the water sound! The peaceful hush to break.
(by W.G. Aston) (par Michel Revon)
An ancient pond! Ah! le vieil etang!
With a sound from the water Et le bruit de l'eau
Of the frog as it plunges in. Ou saute la grenouille!
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V. "Experiencing Furuike ya!" -- Gary Warner
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I love the sense of it. This poem came to mind while I was
rowing one very cold day winter of '91. It was about 18 degrees
Fahrenheit, and I was alone out on the lake. (I dressed in many
layers rather than wearing a coat.) I sat alone and watched a
green heron fly silently about. Suddenly a fish jumped near my
boat, and the haiku leapt to mind. I had heard the birds singing
(I saw some twenty varieties that morning) but the pond had been
silent. It was as if the phrase "furuike ya" meant that the pond
had been sitting for a long time, with no motion or sound, just
like it had been this morning. Then there was the sound of
water. The splash, as if the pond was a wise old man, and I the
disciple who sat at its feet for hours, waiting patiently while
it meditated so that I could grasp his next utterance and grow in
my pursuit of wisdom as a result.
Now when I hear the haiku "furuike ya" I will always go back to
that morning.
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VI. "Season Words for Frogs
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Fall: kajika --- black frog
Summer: aogaeru/amagaeru -- green frog/rain frog, tree frog
hikigaeru/gama -- toad
Spring: kawazu/kaeru -- frog . . . the most famous one!
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VII. "A *SPLASH* among the songs" -- Gary Warner
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Basho, 1686 furuike ya old pond
kawazu tobikomu a frog leaps in
mizu no oto water's sound
This poem was seen by Basho as the turning point in his career.
It is said that he told his students that every poem from this
one forward was his death song. In William Higginson's _The
Haiku Handbook_, he notes that one great difference between this
poem and the thousands of other poems about frogs was that most
celebrated the frogs singing. Higginson says that "Even today,
Japanese learn the songs of different species of frogs from
records, much as we learn the calls of 'song birds'. But Basho's
frog leaps, making a small sound with his action, rather than his
voice." It is from Higginson's _Handbook_ that I draw the
following Haiku, and their translations.
One such "singing frog" appears in the poem of Sokan:
te o tsuite hands to floor
uta moshiaguru offering up a song
kawazu kana the frog . . .
which is seen as humorous. On initial hearing, one might have
seen an image of a human, bowed prostrate and singing. Perhaps a
monk is suggested by the word "offering". But then the capping
phrase which would follow the slight pause . . . "the frog".
Another, far predating Basho, is by Lord Tamesuke, who was born
1263. Appearing in the first renga anthology, the Tsukubashu
(1356), a haiku is embedded here:
hitomaro ni nite resembling Hitomaro
uta ya yomuramu reciting some songs!
kaki no moto o beneath a hedge
nagaruru mizu ni in the flowing water
naku kawazu a singing frog
The frog was presented by Basho in a unique way, by splashing,
instead of singing, it was able to conjure a much more powerful
image. But the frog continued to sing after Basho. Is there an
influence of Basho in the following "frog-song" Haiku which
followed him by some 100 years?
Anonymous machiwabiru mimi waiting weary ears
c.1770s e kaeru no only the voices
koe bakari of the frogs
One can see someone listening for the return of a friend or loved
one, but sadly, only the voices of the frogs can be heard. It is
evening, as they are listening rather than watching. What a
strong image!
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VIII. Assignments for Next Issue
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Thanks to all who submitted things for this issue!
Unfortunately, we didn't get very much! The next issue will
hopefully be out mid-June, but if its not it will definitely
be out by late June. If you would like to write a short
article it would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't have to
be the world's best article, but anything you send will prevent
having to see all the articles by me! If you would like to ask
our editorial staff for help, please indicate so in a note, and
I will try and find someone to help you.
Assignments:
1. Themes are welcome. If you have ideas, such as the theme
of this issue, "furuike ya", please submit them.
2. Original work. All submissions are welcome, but for next issue:
A. Stand by a window of your home for one hour, looking about at
the scene you see each day. Find the most significant thing you
see, and compose a haiku about it for us. Make us feel like we
have seen the same thing with your words!
B. Write a Haiku about your profession! Alternatively, write us a
message telling if/why you think this violates the Spirit of
Haiku. (Thanks for the suggestion, Matt Burke)
3. Published work. Find a Haiku collection at your library, and
share with us some particularly striking works you find. If
you would like, find several by a single author, or several
on a single theme and send them together for a special section.
4. Send us a short note, telling what you thought of issue 1, or
responding to any of the Haiku that were included in this issue.
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