tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post8505182146015240626..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: AbodeStephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-85755500172237375762019-12-01T22:17:35.818-08:002019-12-01T22:17:35.818-08:00Nikki: That sounds lovely (and is a wonderful ide...Nikki: That sounds lovely (and is a wonderful idea). Yes, bamboo is a constant (and beautiful) presence in Chinese poetry, isn't it? As I'm sure you know, the same is true of Japanese poetry as well. Your comment brought to mind some poems I read a few months ago by the Japanese monk-poet (or poet-monk) Gensei (1623-1668). He wrote a ten-poem sequence titled "Bamboo Leaf Hut." Here are two of the poems (they are kanshi; i.e., poems written in Chinese).<br /><br />1.<br />In front of the roof, bamboo leaves dangling;<br />behind the roof, bamboo leaves beyond;<br />above the roof, bamboo leaves sheltering;<br />in the middle, a journeyer in love with bamboo.<br /><br />2. <br />Body light as bamboo leaves,<br />bamboo leaves like little boats<br />drifting through the great emptiness,<br />following the wind, floating free.<br /><br />The translations are by Burton Watson, from his book Grass Hill: Poems and Prose by the Japanese Monk Gensei (Columbia University Press 1983), page 30.<br /><br />Thank you very much for your kind words about the blog. It's a pleasure to hear from you again. I wish you a wonderful holiday season.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-29285004046797467532019-12-01T08:57:23.129-08:002019-12-01T08:57:23.129-08:00When I moved into the first (and only) house I'...When I moved into the first (and only) house I've owned later in life than most people buy houses, one of the main things I wanted was a little grove of bamboo in the back yard, the result of reading Chinese poetry all my life. I planted a few trees and now have a very tiny suburban "grove." It brings me so much quiet joy. As so these posts.Nikkihttp://www.fridaville.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-44846636304498194632019-11-26T20:38:36.029-08:002019-11-26T20:38:36.029-08:00Deb: I apologize for the delay in responding to y...Deb: I apologize for the delay in responding to your comment. That's a hard-to-find and wonderful book. I stumbled across a copy back in the pre-internet days, and was pleased at my good fortune. Your thoughts have prompted me to take it down from the shelf, and I can't resist recommending a few of my favorites (which you may have already discovered): "Be Frugal" (which is how I first came to know of Church, when I encountered it in Larkin's Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse), "The Guides," "Solace," "The Valley by Moonlight," "Reading." But there are many more, as you know. Happy reading! (You are probably already aware of it, but, if you aren't, I recommend his The Inheritors: Poems 1948-1955. Start with "Parting from a Cat" and "Small Promises.")<br /><br />Ah, yes, it is Spring in your part of the world. A November Spring, Church's poems, and a quiet house (I think of Wallace Stevens' poem: "The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm") -- I can understand how you found peace and tranquillity. As ever, thank you for stopping by.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-26625716964591539872019-11-23T14:58:59.556-08:002019-11-23T14:58:59.556-08:00Stephen, this morning I found peace and tranquilli...Stephen, this morning I found peace and tranquillity in a recent purchase, The Collected Poems of Richard Church. I was awake before anyone else, so the house was quiet, and there was only the occasional sound of a car driving past, early on this lovely Spring morning :-)Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-80685391553659379582019-11-16T23:06:45.032-08:002019-11-16T23:06:45.032-08:00Herbert: Thank you very much -- that's quite ...Herbert: Thank you very much -- that's quite nice of you to say. However, I fear you give me too much credit! I am merely a messenger: my intention is simply to share things that move me, in the hope that they may resonate with others as well. This is something we all do, in one way or another.<br /><br />I'm happy you found your way here, and I hope you will return. Again, thank you for your kind words.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-15541324475402729522019-11-16T12:15:01.316-08:002019-11-16T12:15:01.316-08:00Hi, Stephan. (I know it’s the custom these days to...Hi, Stephan. (I know it’s the custom these days to address everyone by their first names, but it still feels presumptuous.) I discovered your blog two months ago and have been visiting it every day., catching up on past posts, and occasionally reading again one that I’ve already read. I think your blog is a work of art—a new genre that blends a personal anthology of paintings and poems with commentary and diary. all held together by a temperament that is unique<br />Herbert Knapphttp://paintingsandpoems.home.blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-30849985461623582492019-11-11T21:59:07.451-08:002019-11-11T21:59:07.451-08:00Deb: I'm pleased you liked the post. I think...Deb: I'm pleased you liked the post. I think your experience parallels not only Marcus Aurelius's observation, but an oft-recurring theme in Chinese poetry: finding beauty and tranquility in a small, intimate, familiar place -- a garden, a courtyard, a pond. The poems by Po Chü-i and T'ao Ch'ien that appear in the post are but two of many examples of this. Something we can all learn from.<br /><br />As always, thank you very much for visiting, and for sharing your thoughts.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-51193540070986671272019-11-09T14:28:41.441-08:002019-11-09T14:28:41.441-08:00Love these poems and sentiments.
We live on a ro...Love these poems and sentiments. <br /><br />We live on a road which has become very busy over the years, and it loops around us and our neighbours, so that no matter where we go in the garden we can hear some traffic sounds. Or the local eatery will be blaring out some awful music! But I find some days I don't register the noise at all, whereas on others I feel positively out of my mind with frustration about it. Still, being out in the garden, with the breeze in the trees, getting closer to nature - is so peace inducing.<br /><br />But this is perfect, worthy of dwelling on in those times of frustration -<br /><br /> "They seek retirements in the country, on the sea-coasts, or mountains: you too used to be fond of such things. But this is all from ignorance. A man may any hour he pleases retire into himself; and no where will he find a place of more quiet and leisure than in his own soul."Debnoreply@blogger.com