Captain Shunsui Kyōraku (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2022-07-25 04:44 am
sake_shinigami) wrote in fandomhigh2022-07-25 04:44 am
Entry tags:
The Art of Haiku; Monday, Second Period [07/25].
The weather, it would seem, continued to be rather cooperative (in the morning, at least), so it would be another session of poetry in the park for the Art of Haiku class! Or possibly just napping. Napping, after all, was merely the haiku of the slumbering world.
But when his little class showed up and gathered in the usual spot, he gave them his usual sleepy smile and began, not with napping, but right into the poetry, although it did touch lightly on the idea:
"Harusame ni ôakubi suru bijin kana...
Spring rain
A pretty girl
yawns.
"While this particular poem does not follow the syllabic beats one comes to expect out of a traditional haiku, there is no denying that this little snippet from Kobayashi Issa, one of my favorites of the great Japanese haikuists, is still very much in the same spirit ♥. Issa, who chose his pen name because it loosely translated into 'A Single Cup of Tea,' and thus the reason why I have also brought tea for us to enjoy this morning, did a whole series of poems starting with the concept of spring rain and the activities that could occur therein, from this lovely little portrait of a sleepy young woman to a wife with coins in her sleeves, presumably on the way to market, to a child teaching a cat to dance and a flock of ducks being terribly noisy because they had yet to be fed ♥. He tended to use a wry sense of humor in the format's attention to details, as well as simplicity. He grew up in a farming family and was sent to Tokyo to pursue his writing, married three times, was a Buddhist monk and artist, and has written over 20,000 poems, with a popularity that puts him right on par with Bashō from last week and a proficiency that quite frankly sounds exhausting ♥. A few highlights:
"don't kill that fly
it is making a prayer to you
by rubbing its hands and feet
ducks bobbing on water—
are they also, tonight
hoping to get lucky
having slept
the cat gets up yawns, goes out
to make love"
Was it any surprise why Shunsui might have been partial to choosing those last two? But he grinned a little as he added, "And now, a personal favorite:
"Writing shit about new snow
for the rich
is not art.
"Now, of course," he continued with a faint chuckle, "it was not all fun and games and humor to Issa-san, either. Take, for example, the following:
"This dewdrop world --
Is a dewdrop world,
And yet, and yet . . .
"...written in response to the death of his first-born child when she was but two and a half years old. Whether dealing in the simple pleasures that bring life or reflecting on the sad inevitability of death, his wit and brevity encompassed exactly the appeal in the art of the haiku and established his footing as one of the greats.
"Now, of course, we can discuss some of the works of Kobayashi Issa, or perhaps share some if you know a few yourself ♥. I will gladly offer a few more if you care to hear some, and then, I would like us to perhaps use Issa-san's sense of humor in our own work today. With that, as there anyone who would like to get us started ♥?"
But when his little class showed up and gathered in the usual spot, he gave them his usual sleepy smile and began, not with napping, but right into the poetry, although it did touch lightly on the idea:
"Harusame ni ôakubi suru bijin kana...
Spring rain
A pretty girl
yawns.
"While this particular poem does not follow the syllabic beats one comes to expect out of a traditional haiku, there is no denying that this little snippet from Kobayashi Issa, one of my favorites of the great Japanese haikuists, is still very much in the same spirit ♥. Issa, who chose his pen name because it loosely translated into 'A Single Cup of Tea,' and thus the reason why I have also brought tea for us to enjoy this morning, did a whole series of poems starting with the concept of spring rain and the activities that could occur therein, from this lovely little portrait of a sleepy young woman to a wife with coins in her sleeves, presumably on the way to market, to a child teaching a cat to dance and a flock of ducks being terribly noisy because they had yet to be fed ♥. He tended to use a wry sense of humor in the format's attention to details, as well as simplicity. He grew up in a farming family and was sent to Tokyo to pursue his writing, married three times, was a Buddhist monk and artist, and has written over 20,000 poems, with a popularity that puts him right on par with Bashō from last week and a proficiency that quite frankly sounds exhausting ♥. A few highlights:
"don't kill that fly
it is making a prayer to you
by rubbing its hands and feet
ducks bobbing on water—
are they also, tonight
hoping to get lucky
having slept
the cat gets up yawns, goes out
to make love"
Was it any surprise why Shunsui might have been partial to choosing those last two? But he grinned a little as he added, "And now, a personal favorite:
"Writing shit about new snow
for the rich
is not art.
"Now, of course," he continued with a faint chuckle, "it was not all fun and games and humor to Issa-san, either. Take, for example, the following:
"This dewdrop world --
Is a dewdrop world,
And yet, and yet . . .
"...written in response to the death of his first-born child when she was but two and a half years old. Whether dealing in the simple pleasures that bring life or reflecting on the sad inevitability of death, his wit and brevity encompassed exactly the appeal in the art of the haiku and established his footing as one of the greats.
"Now, of course, we can discuss some of the works of Kobayashi Issa, or perhaps share some if you know a few yourself ♥. I will gladly offer a few more if you care to hear some, and then, I would like us to perhaps use Issa-san's sense of humor in our own work today. With that, as there anyone who would like to get us started ♥?"
Sign In - AoH, 07/25.
Re: Sign In - AoH, 07/25.
Re: Sign In - AoH, 07/25.
Re: Sign In - AoH, 07/25.
Re: Sign In - AoH, 07/25.
Listen to the Lecture and Discuss - AoH, 07/25.
Of course, Shunsui does rather hate to do all the work himself, so if there are any thoughts or ideas or poems to share, he most certainly will encourage it.
Re: Listen to the Lecture and Discuss - AoH, 07/25.
"I enjoy the study of contrast within his poems, as well as the irreverence. No one should take themselves too seriously," she said. "Though his darker ones are also appealing, in a melancholy way."
In this world
we walk on the roof of hell,
gazing at flowers.
Write Poetry - AoH, 07/25.
Or just sit there and enjoy the tea and the ducks, or take a nap, or whatever else. The poetry is just an option at this point.
Re: Write Poetry - AoH, 07/25.
Which wasn't, for the record, a bad thing, if you asked him!
Talk to the Teacher - AoH, 07/25.
OOC - AoH, 07/25.