tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post6416664663316077017..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: Departing SpringStephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-31061496811996837922015-05-28T20:38:39.069-07:002015-05-28T20:38:39.069-07:00Mary: Thank you for the follow-up comment. I'...Mary: Thank you for the follow-up comment. I'm sure you will enjoy the books. In addition to its insightful discussions of Basho, Ryokan, and other Japanese poets, Basho's Ghost provides, I think, a sensitive and accurate impression of Japanese culture, both current and past (although they are always intermingled). Happy reading!Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-45689631510416247802015-05-28T20:31:25.587-07:002015-05-28T20:31:25.587-07:00Mr Floyd: As ever, you have shared a wonderful Dic...Mr Floyd: As ever, you have shared a wonderful Dickinson poem that is a perfect complement to the subject at hand. And, yes, it certainly is haiku-like! "True poems flee" gets to the heart of the matter, doesn't it?<br /><br />It is always a pleasure to hear from you. Thank you very much for stopping by again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-61949295566833175182015-05-28T13:49:01.401-07:002015-05-28T13:49:01.401-07:00Thanks for your helpful and interesting response. ...Thanks for your helpful and interesting response. And I just ordered Basho's Ghost and Crossing the Yellow River...ooh these sagging bookshelves!<br />mary f.ahearnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-25939199557565263532015-05-27T10:51:50.405-07:002015-05-27T10:51:50.405-07:00To see the summer sky
Is poetry, though never in a...To see the summer sky<br />Is poetry, though never in a book it lie--<br />True poems flee--<br /> --Emily Dickinson<br /><br />Grant me permission to call the above poem a Dickinson haiku.<br /><br />Bruce Floydbruce floydnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-87490724284160726452015-05-26T20:49:37.675-07:002015-05-26T20:49:37.675-07:00Mary: Thank you very much for the kind words about...Mary: Thank you very much for the kind words about the post. I'm pleased you liked it.<br /><br />I have a copy of Yuasa's Penguin Classics translation sitting beside me as I write this: it provided me with my introduction to Basho and to Oku no Hosomichi long ago. I am the same as you: the book has great sentimental value for me. I agree with you about Buson's portrait on the cover and his paintings that appear in the text: they increase my fondness for the book. (By the way, R. H. Blyth, who you often see me quote, used Buson's paintings of Basho on the covers of a couple of his Haiku volumes.)<br /><br />I agree with you that Sam Hamill's translation is probably the best, although Keene's is very good as well. Hamill's The Essential Basho is nice because, in addition to Oku no Hosomichi, it contains three other travel journals: Travelogue of Weather-Beaten Bones, The Knapsack Notebook, and Sarashina Travelogue, as well as a section of "Selected Haiku." The introduction is very good, as is an Afterword in which he recounts Basho's final years. I recommend a collection of essays by Hamill titled Basho's Ghost (which you are probably already aware of). <br /><br />I like Hamill's translations of Chinese poetry as well. I highly recommend his anthology of Chinese poetry, Crossing the Yellow River, as well as the two volumes of his translations of Li Po and Tu Fu.<br /><br />I have visited Japan four or five times, and I lived in Tokyo for a year in the 1990s. I visited most parts of the country during my visits, including Kyoto (but I missed Nara, unfortunately). Reading Basho makes me want to return!<br /><br />As ever, it is good to hear from you. Thank you for visiting again, and for your thoughts.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-13143902768274117872015-05-26T17:57:27.379-07:002015-05-26T17:57:27.379-07:00This was such a lovely post - thank you! One of m...This was such a lovely post - thank you! One of my most favorite writings is Basho's Narrow Road to the Interior. I have Sam Hamill's translation, a Shambhala Classic publication. Also Donald Keene's and my oldest, a Penguin Classic translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa. I bought that little paperback [with the wonderful portrait of Basho on the cover] back in the 70s in New Hope, PA at the very special Farley's bookstore.<br />The portrait is by Buson as are the small illustrations within the book. I dearly love this little book, although I like Sam Hamill's translations the best. <br />How wonderful it must have been to visit Japan. Were you in Kyoto or Nara?<br />Thanks again, please forgive my rambling on once again.<br />Marymary f.ahearnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-92073725729984419172015-05-26T13:00:13.835-07:002015-05-26T13:00:13.835-07:00R.T.: Thank you very much for visiting again, and ...R.T.: Thank you very much for visiting again, and for your kind words about the post. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.<br /><br />You raise an interesting question. My immediate response is that, having been born in, and spent my younger years in, Minnesota, I greatly missed the changing seasons when my family moved to Southern California. Much later, I lived for two years in a tropical area, where, as you suggest, the seasonal changes -- apart from two monsoon seasons -- were hardly noticeable. But perhaps, in both cases, the fault was with me: I may not have noticed subtleties that long-time inhabitants were well aware of. I confess that my knowledge of poetry from "non-seasonal" areas is deficient, so I am not qualified to opine. Yet -- to state the obvious -- change is constant, even if subtle. But there is no denying the impact of the seasons on, for instance, English, American, Japanese, and Chinese poetry. My own poetry-reading habits are linked to the seasons, and I suspect that this is true of many of us.<br /><br />Thank you again. It is always good to hear from you. Take care.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-3578955293430067812015-05-26T06:54:16.212-07:002015-05-26T06:54:16.212-07:00Again, I applaud your wonderful and thought-provok...Again, I applaud your wonderful and thought-provoking postings! I wonder as I read your offering: do culture living in parts of the world without noticeable season-changes (e.g., equatorial and/or polar zones) indulge very much in similar poetry? This phenomenon seems to be bound to temperate zones. Or am I being too simple-minded in that question/thesis?R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.com