Poetry Readers Challenge discussion

I first encountered Basho in Sam Hamill's translation in a university course taught by poet David McCann; later, I devoured Robert Hass's translation, on the poet Peter Richards's recommendation. I loved his sensibility and deep spirituality immediately, and he remains my favorite haiku poet (although, to this day, I am still occasionally troubled by his self-avowed refusal to help the small child and the two prostitutes he met on his deep north journey...). This edition, translated by Jane Reichhold, distinguishes itself by being the first edition to include every single haiku Basho ever wrote, grouped into sections based on the poet's life chronology and development. If your lack of familiarity with the translator's other work makes you wary to sample it (as I was wary to open this book until recently, despite having received it as a Christmas gift eight years ago!), you'll be reassured to learn there is a comprehensive appendix in the back that includes, for each poem, the original Japanese characters, a romanization, and a literal word-for-word gloss, in addition to explanatory notes that elucidate the allusions, cultural and historical context, ribald puns, double entendres, etc. This was a great book to begin the year with (and not only because it mentions the New Year holiday more times than probably any other book in existence). A few poems that stood out to me this time around:




clams survived
and became valuable
year's end




the moon disappears
afterward the desk has
four corners

(written on the occasion of a friend's father's death)




vast grassy plain
may nothing touch you
but your hat

(a valedictory poem for a friend departing on a journey)




wrapping dumplings
with one hand brushing back
her bangs

My brother is indulging a fascination with Japanese culture over the last couple of years. Maybe I'll get him this for his birthday. He'll appreciate that extensive appendix. I enjoy haiku as well and may give this a try myself.

Jen, I think this would be a great gift for someone interested in Japanese culture, to which Basho is interestingly so central, not just as a haiku poet, or a poet, or a writer, but as a spiritual and cultural presence (I'm fascinated by the fact that, after his death, he was canonized as a Shinto deity -- I wonder how many poets can claim to be recognized as a deity in a major world religion!). And that appendix was so crucial to my enjoyment of the book, not only making me feel like I could really trust the translations but also drawing my attention to all the different techniques available to a haiku poet (close linkage, leap linkage, etc.), helping me really understand how Basho refreshed and expanded the possibilities of the form -- not to mention allowing me to catch all those (often sexual) puns I had been missing for years!

Great! I think I'll get one for both of us :-)

Jenna wrote: "Jen, I think this would be a great gift for someone interested in Japanese culture, to which Basho is interestingly so central, not just as a haiku poet, or a poet, or a writer, but as a spiritual ..."

yay! :-) On a tangentially related note, I just heard the other day that someone has apparently declared February to be "NaHaiWriMo," or National Haiku Writing Month: http://www.nahaiwrimo.com/ I admit I'm inordinately tickled by the phenomenon of claiming months and giving them increasingly humorous names like NaNoWriMo (November), NaPoWriMo (April), World Watercolor Month (July), #Inktober (October), #Februllage (February), and what have you. But anyway, now is apparently the perfect time to indulge your inner haiku poet :-D

Too funny! I think that's great. I got a chuckle out of the big No 5-7-5 sign on the home page. :-D I'd never heard of Februllage. I'm going to mark that on my calendar and do it next year. I should be set up for it by then. I've got tons of collage material and spent part of this very morning cutting up some images. I did NaPo one year and once made a good start on NaNo but couldn't keep it up. Maybe next year I'll do a collage and then do a haiku about the collage.

Jen wrote: "Too funny! I think that's great. I got a chuckle out of the big No 5-7-5 sign on the home page. :-D I'd never heard of Februllage. I'm going to mark that on my calendar and do it next year. I shoul..."

Oh, I love your idea of combining NaHaiWriMo with Februllage. I don't have much experience with collage art myself, but love looking at the works of others who are talented at it. S. from our group makes pretty amazing collages.

This piece in the Paris Review by Marie Mutsuki Mockett reminded me of this group, so I thought I'd post it here: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2...

Sorry I've been too busy to engage with this group as much as I would like lately. I hope you are all staying well!