Carpe Diem #1638 (delayed post) tranquil (nodoka)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a delayed episode of our Spring kigo month, April 2019. I had a busy evening shift so I hadn't time to create a new episode on time. So my excuses for that.

This month we are exploring modern and classical kigo for spring and today I have a classical kigo for you, tranquil (nodoka). Spring has started and I enjoy this season with an intensity I cannot describe. I like seeing how nature comes alive again, but what I love the most is the tranquility of an early spring morning. The sun is slowly rising, birds praising their Creaor and slowly but certain the tranquility fades away. The world comes alive again after a tranquil night.

tranquility
the first torii (*) in the middle
of the barley field

© Shiki

(*) A Torii is the sacred archway of a Shinto shrine. Every Shinto shrine had three of these Torii, which weren't direct in front of the shrine, but quite in a distant. This Torii in Shiki's haiku was the first and stood in the middle of a barley field. It's a wonderful imagery of the tranquility of Spring.

tranquility -
finally I have found peace,
blossoms have fallen

© Koyu-Ni (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

[...] Koyu-Ni died in 1782, her family name was Matsumato. She is one of the more prominent woman poets of the Edo period. She learned haiku from Songi the First. [...]

Well ... I hope I have inspired you.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will reamin open until April 8th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1635 "Go get yourself a saijiki and read it many times". Kigo: butterfly

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of CDHK. We have left the Kumano Kodo to explore the modern and classical kigo (seasonword). Yesterday we had a classical kigo and today I will give you another classical kigo to work with.

First I love to give you a little bit more background on the classical kigo (seasonword):

Nature provides us with variuos phenomenon during the seasons, but NOT with words about them.

We humans make up words, classify them, write poetry with them and collect them in almanachs.
The Japanese have been the first to put their seasonal words into collections, call the short poems HAIKU and archived them in books called SAIJIKI, that is why even today as haiku poets we stick to these human conventions and we use these books as reference for our own haiku.

blossoms are a kigo for spring

Traditional Japanese haiku are about the many changes during the seasons (not simply about nature ! but about the seasonal changes of nature), the changes in the life of plants and animals, heaven and earth, but also the changes in the daily life of humans within the society, like festivals and food.

The Japanese saijiki started in a time when the Asian lunar calendar was used in Japan, so even now we have a sort of timeslip of one month between the ... natural phenomenon.. and the .. kigo about them ...
February, equated to the second lunar month, for example is early spring in the Asian Lunar Calendar system but late winter in the reality of the weather conditions in most parts of Japan.
Consider Northern Hokkaido and Southern Okinawa ... and yet Japanese haiku poets use the same saijiki when they write about natural phenomenon. (Source: World Kigo Base)

All these kigo (seasonwords) were gathered in a so called Saijiki: A Japanese saijiki is a handbook of the culture of Japan, a travelouge through their many festivals, a description of their food and drink, a celebration of their nature.
Kigo are not ment to be a weather forecast or a biology textbook, but a reference to these words used in the Japanese poetic cultural context.

Cherry Blossoms

Kigo are not simply seasonal words representing animals, plants and natural phenomenon, they also include local festivals and other human activities, and thus carry a lot of cultural background information.

The first advise of a haiku teacher (sensei) in Japan is always:
Go get yourself a saijiki and read it many times.

Well enough about the background on the kigo and the saijiki. Let me give you our classical kigo for spring to work with today. Today I have chosen for the classical kigo "choo" or "butterfly". Butterflies are seen for the first time in spring ... so that makes it a kigo for spring.

wake butterfly - 
it's late, we've miles
to go together

© Matsuo Basho

A beauty by my sensei, Basho (1644-1694), and here is another one, also by Basho:

wings of a butterfly
how many times do they flutter
over roof and wall

And of course I have also a haiku written by myself:

cobweb scattered
by the fluttering of wings
a blue butterfly

on the verandah
a yellowish butterfly
the light of sun down

© Chèvrefeuille

Wonderful haiku about butterflies, our classical kigo for spring to work with.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until April 3rd at noon (CET). I will try to publish  our next episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1581 Setsubun

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This month we are exploring all kigo (seasonwords) for winter not only the classical kigo, but also the  modern kigo as gathered by Jane Reichhold in her Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". Today I have a wonderful classical kigo for you to work with ... setsubun. This is a not so well known classical kigo and I think I have to give you a small explanation of this classical kigo.

Setsubun: The last day of winter. Features ritualistic chasing of devils out of the house, allowing good luck for the spring (the traditional New Year). Compare the English ritual of opening front and back doors.
Setsubun is an annual Japanese festival on February 3rd. Setsubun is the beginning of Spring according to the old Japanese lunar calendar. It's traditionally believed that the spirit world comes closer to our world at this time of year. Strips of paper with people's wishes inscribed on them are placed over the lanterns. It's thought that wishes may be granted on Setsubun, but they also think that, through the idea of having the spirit world closer by at this event, demons can escape to our world..

Daffodils ... sign of Setsubun

And here is an example of a haiku by myself themed "setsubun":

dispelling the darkness
after the long cold winter
welcoming the light

Or this one with another angle:

covered with snow
winter is coming to an end
Daffodils blooming

© Chèvrefeuille

Two nice haiku (how immodest) in which I have tried to catch "setsubun".

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 16th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

PS.: I am far behind with commenting and I don't know if I can catch up, but of course I will try.

Carpe Diem #888 Hatsuhikari (first light of the sun)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of Carpe Diem and welcome at the first post for 2016. I hope you all have had a wonderful New Year's Eve and a great start of 2016. I am still in the nightshift, so I have celebrated new year with my colleagues at the hospital. Of course we have celebrated it also with our patients.

Okay ... this month it's all about "classic meets modern" in which I have made a "cocktail" of classical and modern kigo (or seasonwords). Kigo are words which point toward a season and its one of the "rules" of haiku that every haiku has a kigo in it. For example: "snow" is a kigo for winter and "tulips" is a kigo for spring.

In our first episode of 2016 I have a nice kigo for winter for your inspiration, Hatsuhikari (first light of the sun), Let me give you a little explanation ...

January is the first month of a year. The meaning of the word, "the first" gives us a new and strong impression. Accordingly, the arrival of a new year makes us feel ourselves refreshed. And also we are conscious that all the things surrounding us come to be fresh.
It is supposed that perhaps the Japanese people have respected all the creations as to be pure and to be revived in the New Year, and have made up their mind to start their own new life with a new resolution. Through pious praying, they strongly hope to be happy and to lead a full life in the new year by clearing up the past which they could not be satisfied with.
The Japanese put hatsu onto the words of nature, such as Hatsuhi(first Sun), Hatsuzora(first sky), Hatsuhikari(first light of the Sun) so as to express their respect to Nature of the New Year.

 

 

I remember that we have had somewhere at the start of Carpe Diem also a prompt "first light", and I remember that I had used a wonderful photo of a winter morning, the above one.

 

winter morning
first light of the sun … so fragile
reflects in the snow

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 4th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, desire for spring, later on.