Buson: Winter Rain

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Distant rain, Ocean Beach, San Francisco: photo by Mila Zinkova, January 2006





The evenings of the ancients
Were like mine,
This evening of cold rain.






Rain falling on the streets of Kolkata: photo by Monster eagle, 2007





The winter rain
Shows what is before our eyes
As though it were long ago.







Evening rain at Azuma Shrine: Andō Hiroshige, from the series Eight views in the environs of Edo, between 1827-1840 (Japanese prints and drawings, Library of Congress)

This post dedicated to Don Wentworth

The evenings of the ancients / The winter rain: Yosa Buson (1716-1783), translated by Reginald Horace Blyth

In Bill's Backyard, Bolinas

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Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951): publicity photo depicting amusement park scene (image by Harrington Smith, 2010)

Now light streams through the trees of the dream.
Dead friends idly amble through the arches
The green bower makes over our heads;
In Bill's backyard -- framed for this flashback
To the days before, or perhaps during, the Flood --
Things are, as in a kind of moonlit masque
Lit up at night like the carnival scene
In Strangers on a Train; yet strangers
There are none, only friends; summer fog coming in
On the marine layer clockwork shuttle
Over the populous village in the dream;
Sea, hill, wood, numberless goings on;
Off in the distance beyond Elm somewhere,
Off beyond Ocean Parkway in the mists,
A whistle buoy intermittent; blue reedy
Spiritual openness of Eric
Dolphy floating from inside the humble shack
Taking shape as words, a cool
Geometrical language; then cloudy faces
Tossed up on the cresting waves
Beyond the reef, in the dream: ghosts
Waving, not drowning. So let's make this stroll
Through the underworld last.

Into the gloom of the Tunnel of Love on a boat named after Pluto, god of the underworld: screen shot from dvd trailer for Strangers on a Train (image by Yworo 2010)

Walter Benjamin: A Map of Hell (1938)

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Paradise and Hell: Hieronymus Bosch, c. 1510 (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

March 6. On recent nights I've had dreams that remained deeply engraved in my day. Last night I dreamed I had company. Friendly things came my way; I believe they consisted primarily in women taking an interest in me -- indeed, even commenting favorably upon my appearance. I think I remember remarking aloud that now I probably wouldn't live much longer -- as if this were the last display of friendship among people bidding one another farewell.

Plique-à-jour enamel setting, cloisonné enamel on gold: Guillaume Julien [?], Paris, late 13th/early 14th century: Musée National du Moyen Age, Paris (image by Jastrow, 2006)

Later, just before I awoke, I was in the company of a lady in Adrienne Monnier's rooms. They were the setting for an exhibition of objects which I can't quite recall. Among them were books with miniatures, as well as plates and intricately wrought arabesques which were colorfully overlaid as if with enamel. The rooms were on the ground floor facing the street, from which one could look in through a large windowpane. I was on the inside. My lady had obviously already treated her teeth according to the technique that the exhibition was advertising.

Front of dental office "Next Appointment" notice, advertising Chlorodont toothpaste: VEB Elbe-Chemie, 1969 (Archiv der Firma Dental-Kosmetik GmbH und Co KG, Nachfolgerin der Leowerke und späteren VEB Elbe-Chemie; image by Freak1972, 2010)

She had polished them to an opalescent shine. The color of her teeth ran to dull green and blue. I took pains to make her understand most politely that this was not the correct use of the product. Anticipating my thoughts, she pointed out that the inner surfaces of her teeth were inlaid in red. I had indeed meant to say that, for teeth, the brightest colors are scarcely bright enough.

Toothpaste with wood-texturing: Blender3D image by SoylentGreen, 2006

I've been suffering greatly from the noise in my room.

Wood-Texture, Band type: Blender3D image by SoylentGreen, 2006

Last night my dream recorded this.

Looping Particle Fire: Blender3D image by SoylentGreen, 2006

I found myself standing in front of a map and, simultaneously, standing in the landscape which it depicted. The landscape was terrifyingly dreary and bare; I couldn't have said whether its desolation was that of a rocky wasteland or that on an empty ground populated only by capital letters. These letters writhed and curved upon their terrain as if following mountain ranges; I knew or learned that I was in the labyrinth of my auditory canal. But the map was, at the same time, a map of hell.

The Hollywood Sign, shot from an aircraft: photo by Jelson, 2009

Walter Benjamin: Diary Entries, 1938 (excerpt), translated by Gerhard Richter and Michael W. Jennings in Selected Writings, Volume 3 (1935-1938), 2002

Buson: Plovers

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Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus), Yunlin County, Taiwan: photo by Alnus, 2008



The plovers of the shore
Played about,
Wetting their feet.

Lesser Sand Plovers (Charadrius mongolus), Yunlin County, Taiwan: photo by Alnus, 2008

The plovers of the shore: Yosa Buson (1716-1783), translated by Reginald Horace Blyth

Buson: Fish Trap

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Fish trap, Yangtze River: photo by Ifom5608, 2008 (via Now Public)

A bird calls;
The sound of the water darkens
Round the fish-trap.







Vietnamese traditional fish trap: photo by Petr and Bara Ruzicka, 2006

A bird calls: Yosa Buson (1716-1783), translated by Reginald Horace Blyth

Meditations in Winter: Issa: Wren at Dusk

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House Wren (Troglodytes aedon), Apache Springs Trail, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico: photo by S. King, 2007 (US National Park Service)



The wren is chirruping
But it grows dusk
Just the same.






Dusk from on board an Airbus A330: photo by mailer diablo, 2006

The wren is chirruping: Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated by Reginald Horace Blyth

Meditations in Winter: Shiki: Winter River

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Prut River, boundary between Romania and Moldova, near Leuceni-Albita: photo by Cezar Suceveanu, 2010



The body of a dog
Thrown away
In the winter river.






Prut River, boundary between Romania and Moldova, near Leuceni-Albita: photo by Cezar Suceveanu, 2010

The body of a dog: Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), translated by Reginald Horace Blyth

Across the Dark Peaks, On the Withered Moor

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Cotton grass on the moor, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008



The voice shouting at the horse
Is part of the storm
On the withered moor.

Kyokusui






Looking north toward Bleaklow Head, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008



The horse's tail
Caught in the bramble
On the withered moor.

Buson





Cotton grass closeup, on the moor, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008



The traveller walks
Over the withered moor
Eating an orange.

Shiki





Hags and groughs, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008


A lantern
Entered a house
On the withered moor.

Shiki

Up a grough toward Bleaklow Hill, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008


On the way back home,
Evening has fallen
Across this withered moor.

Mokudo

On the moor, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008


Parting from him,
He crossed over the mountain:
This withered moor!

Buson





Looking south over Lady Clough with Kinder Scout behind, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008



The flying-squirrel
Is crunching the small bird
On the withered moor.

Buson





Cotton grass on the moor, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008



A boy of the village
Leading a dog
Over the withered moor.

Shiki





On the moor, Hern Clough [?], the head of the Rover Alport, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008



A solitary bird
For my companion
On the withered moor.

Shiki

Fingerpost on Pennine Way, Bleaklow, a moorland plateau in the Dark Peak region of the Pennines above Glossop, Derbyshire: photo by Clem Rutter, 2008

Translations by Reginald Horace Blyth from Haiku, Volume IV, Autumn-Winter, 1951

The Right Arm of a Stoic

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Right arm of 15-foot statue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor from 161 AD to 180 AD), discovered in ruins of the frigidarium, largest and coldest room in the Roman baths at Sagalossos, Turkey: photo by SARP, 2008 (via The Telegraph)

It loved to happen (φιλεῖ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι)

"The earth loveth the shower," and "the holy ether knoweth what love is." The Universe, too, loves to create whatever is destined to be made.

Ἐρᾷ μὲν ὄμβρου γαῖα, ἐρᾷ δὲ ὁ σεμνὸς αἰθήρ, ἐρᾷ δὲ ὁ κόσμος ποιῆσαι ὃ ἂν μέλλῃ γίνεσθαι. λέγω οὖν τῷ κόσμῳ ὅτι σοὶ συνερῶ. μήτι δὲ οὕτω κἀκεῖνο λέγεται, ὅτι˙ φιλεῖ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι.

Marcus Aurelius: Meditations x.21

Head of 15-foot statue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor from 161 AD to 180 AD), discovered in ruins of the frigidarium, largest and coldest room in the Roman baths at Sagalossos, Turkey: photo by SARP, 2008 (via The Telegraph)

Marble portrait bust of Marcus Aurelius: Antonine period, 161-180 AD (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; image by Steerpike, 2007)
(His military tunic and cloak reflect his active role as commander-in-chief of Roman forces; he spent many years during the latter part of his reign on campaign in central Europe defending the Danube frontier against several different barbarian tribes. It was during these campaigns that he wrote part of the so-called Meditations, a personal diary of his innermost thoughts.)

Earth: Near to Far

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Lütt-Witt Moor, a bog in Henstedt-Ulzburg, northern Germany: photo by Jan van der Crabben, 2005

Landscape of the Hautes Fagnes, in East-Belgium, close to the German border, vicinity of Kutenhart, near Brackvenn: photo by Aline, 2004

Largest of nine meteor craters at Kaali, island of Saarema, Estonia: photo by Siim Ansaar, 2005



Waymarked boardwalk trail through the sand dunes of Ynyslas in Ceredigion, Wales: photo by Badgernet, 2008



Marsh Bride Brook and Coastal Salt Marsh, East Lyme, Connecticut: photo by Alex756, 2003



Savanna in Burkina Faso, near the Gbomblora department, on the road from Gaoua to Batié: photo by Stefan Dressler, 2009



Village of Kostenets, Bulgaria: photo by Cassini83, 2006



A thunderstorm with heavy precipitation over Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve in the lower Adelaide River catchment, Northern Territory, Australia: photo by Bidgee, 2007



Longsheng rice terrace, Longsheng County, Guilin, China: photo by Anna Frodesiak, 2009

Looking toward Torres del Paine, Chile ("The blue colour-cast is real, it's just the colour of the light down there") : photo by Winky, 2005

The four summits of Mount Aragats, Armenia: photo by Bouarf, 2007



Landscape of Samaipata, two hours from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia: photo by Natalia Rivera, 2007



Reprovesi National Park, Kouvola, southeastern Finland. in midnight sun: photo by M. Passinen, 2006

Levittown, Pennsylvania, aerial view: photographer unknown, 1959 (National Archives and Records Administration)

Lake Assai, Djibouti, the most saline body of water on Earth, with 34.8% salt concentration: photo by Fishercd, 2007

Mountain, sky, light and shadow at Howard's Pass, Yukon Territory, near North West Territory, Nahanni National Park, Canada: photo by Jo Ohara, 2006

Vegetation on the Argentinian side of the border between the Argentinian province of Catamarca and the Atacama region of Chile, after passing the Paso de San Francisco: photo by Eric Depagne, 2005



Arenal, an active andesitic volcano in Northern Costa Rica, 90 km. northwest of San José, erupting: photo by Matthew
Landry, 2006



Fedchenko Glacier, Pamir Mountains, Tajikstan: photo by Georgy Salnikov, 2008