Watch the video below which gives a little context for Japanese art and literature, particularly the famous genre of haiku, which is very different than what we find in Soseki's modern novel...and yet, we could argue that Botchan is a humorous novel of almost haiku-like wit and succinctness. There are three haiku by Bashō below, which you will use to answer the question at the of the video. Don't forget to read Chapters 1-5 for next week and answer the questions (not everyone is doing them--hint, hint!).
THE HAIKU:
#1: Having slept
In the rain,
The bamboo corrected itself
To view the moon.
#2: I picked my way
Through a mountain road,
And I was greeted
By a smiling violet.
#3: With a hat on my head
And straw sandals on my feet,
I met on the road
The end of the year.
YHelm:
ReplyDeleteI chose the first Haiku about the bamboo. The poem is simply describing a bamboo plant in a rainstorm. However, the personification of the bamboo as having "slept" during the rain turns the poem into a metaphor about life. People talk about 'waking' or coming out of a 'fog' after a difficult time in life. They then 'turn' their life around for the better. In the same way, the bamboo "corrected itself" to "view" the light of the moon. The image of the bamboo can be viewed as a life change.
Excellent reading of the haiku! Very interesting, and a great way to extend it beyond the literal representation of nature. :)
DeleteCarla Torres:
ReplyDeleteI chose the second Haiku that is about walking through a mountain and is greeted by a smiling violet. This specific Haiku sparked my attention because it includes nature and paints a picture in my head of walking through a mountain and seeing a field of pretty flowers. What makes this poem so honest and full of color is being able to picture exactly what he is writing in his Haiku, it is beautifully written because it had allowed me to paint the picture in my head. An example of a metaphor that Sōseki uses in his poem occurs when he states, "And I was greeted by a smiling violet." The metaphor in the poem "smiling violet" is not a literal smiling violet but instead a violet that was bright and full of color that brought joy to him as he was viewing the landscape. It is powerful because Haiku paints a picture of something colorful that you can picture in your mind as you are reading them.
Yes, great response--the violet can't smile, but the joy of seeing it, and the surprise of seeing something so beautiful made him smile, so he superimposed his smile on the flower. This personifies nature and reminds us that we see ourselves in the natural world; it serves as a mirror for our thoughts and emotions. Likewise, we go to nature to rejuvenate ourselves and find solace, etc.
Delete#3: With a hat on my head
ReplyDeleteAnd straw sandals on my feet,
I met on the road
The end of the year.
In this case, walking on the road is a metaphor for the passage of time. The narrator is dressed for travel, or maybe for work, and he "met" the end of the year like you would meet a fellow traveler. It puts the narrator and the end of the year on the same plane - they are literally walking on the same road. This is the function of saying that he "met" the year, as opposed to, for instance, "finding" or "discovering" or "reaching" or "making" the end of the year. This would be a very different poem if any of those verbs were used instead!
I think both the color and the honesty can be found in the idea of simplicity and plainness. This is meant to speak to the universal experience of watching time pass, and it is reaching for an emotional experience for the reader that is both true and evocative. It's one way of "getting to the bottom" of the experience, or one way of understanding the truth about time. It's just something you meet on the road. (insert reference to Cavafy's "Ithaca" here !)
Yes, this is very well expressed: meeting is a very different experience than finding or discovering. It's a sense of becoming, how you find Nature on its own terms, as "year" could mean the end of the season, or the changing of nature that can really only be seen when you're out in it. And it also suggests a process, since he 'met' it through his travels, not all at once, necessarily. For most of us, the end of the year sneaks up on us...one day it's autumn, and the next, all the leaves are gone. But he saw it happen, he walked hand-in-hand with it. And you can only do that by looking and meeting, not with finding or discovering.
DeleteCallie Farley: I chose the 1st poem because it really spoke to me the most out of all of them. What I got from it is that sometimes when it's dark and "raining" in our world it can feel like we are never going to make it out of the storm, but after the storm passes, we realize that it actually helped us grow and made us stronger on the other side and making it to wear we grow so high we can see above the fog and see the moon. Similarly, one could also view the haiku more like this-- when it's raining if you look towards the moon you can focus on the "light" in the dark.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is very well stated--the idea that Nature is a stand-in for us, and our own emotional experiences/responses. You get the image of the bamboo being beaten down by the rain, and then, once it stops, it slowly perks up again to view the moon. It doesn't let the water defeat it, and even though it can bend easily, it can also bend back. It's a nice metaphor for the storms of our own life, and how we have to correct ourselves to see the light that shines even in the darkest times (like 2020!).
DeleteI chose poem number 3. What makes this poem so honest and full of color is the simplicity the character of the haiku has. The character is not decked out in the latest fashion or the name brand. What makes this poem full of color is the simplicity that allows us to paint our own original picture of the character that will more than likely vary from person to person based off of our life experiences. This poem allows us to see beyond because it puts and emphasis on starting a task. I think often times we have to have all the pit stops and possible metaphorical road blocks laid out before we begin something, and usually we conjure up so many obstacles that we never even begin. This haiku grants the ability to see beyond and recognize that simply starting with what we have in hand is just as important and maybe even more influential in us reaching the end of the road.
ReplyDeleteGreat response here! As you suggest, the sandals are simple, his hat is basic, nothing name brand or ordered on-line for maximum walking efficiency! He goes out humbly, expecting to meet adventure, and meets the end of the year waiting for him. Like "Ithaca," he didn't expect monsters--he expected friends. And he found them! But it's also because he didn't arm himself for battle. He armed himself for a casual stroll without any ostentation.
DeleteI chose haiku two. Much like Carla pointed out, I can easily visualize the vividness of this haiku and feel a sense of serenity emanating from the imagery. However, the first thought that came to mind after reading it was not the literal image it painted but the metaphor. The haiku overall gives a peaceful, scenic image. However, from the opening line, I visual a walk that is more difficult than peaceful from the phrase, "picked my way." Growing up on a farm, this was a phrase I used/heard often when walking through pastures or woods. I then visual the flower blooming as a beautiful image for the narrator. As I see this in life, I imagine someone who is picking their way through the obstacles of life, both small and large, finding beautiful moments along the way.
ReplyDeleteGreat response--"picked my way" is a very poetic way of saying something simple, that stresses more the experience of walking rather than the act itself. And yes, it's more about what you see along the way than where you're going (and if you get there!).
DeleteI chose poem number two. This flow of the content of this poem is what makes it seem so honest. It's a very natural flow of events that doesn't seem forced at all. And it's so full of color in the sense that it shows a transition from darkness to light. The author describes his walk as having to pick his way through it. The words "picked" and "through" show difficulty and the presence of hindrances or difficulties which gives the first half of the poem a dark tone. It would have been brighter if he would have said that he walked, traipsed, or wandered on the road. Having to go "through" something sounds negative, and "picking" through something means that it's not a task done with complete ease. But the last two lines show brightness with the words "greeted" and "smiling" which both have positive connotations. It feels very welcoming and genuine. And I think that this poem, although it describes a walk through nature, can also be seen to convey the sense of relief after a trying journey or a difficult ordeal. The most noticeable metaphor of the smiling violet greeting the man helps us to look deeper than the surface and see that although our journeys may be difficult and dark at times, there will be a light at the end. Or, to put it another way: The road may be dark, but the end will be beautiful and worth it.
ReplyDeleteSeeing how such a tiny poem is able to indirectly depict such a deep message with only a few words makes me realize just how powerful words (and especially haiku) are.
Yes, very well stated: it's a lot like the poem, "Ithaca," in that you can see "smiling" violets or just a bunch of weeds on your path. It all depends on your poetic mindset. But you have to pick your way through the journey, since you don't know what will lie ahead, and if you don't look carefully, you'll miss the entire point of it!
DeleteI chose the second poem to analyze for this exercise. This poem is incredibly powerful because it represents the exhaustion that so many people experience while handling monotony or difficulty. The “mountain road” is symbolic of a trial or time of suffering. The narrator is “picking”, which seems to indicate a listlessness and apathy, his or her way up a “mountain road”. The narrator does not care about the journey, he or she is not filled with purpose or excitement. The “smiling violet” is any small moment of joy that has “greeted” or found the narrator in times of difficulty. Even in the darkest moments, there will always be some silver lining.
ReplyDeleteGreat response--and I agree, the moments of joy in life, especially when unexpected, do indeed seem to greet us or "smile" at us. Picking can mean listlessness, or it could mean walking deliberately, weighing every step, watching every footfall. I think too often in life we walk recklessly or indifferently, when every day--and every journey--could be magnificent.
Delete#2: I picked my way
ReplyDeleteThrough a mountain road,
And I was greeted
By a smiling violet.
This one was my favorite. :') It seems quite applicable to life right now. Everything seems especially overwhelming, and it can be hard to see the sweetness and find joy in the midst of the chaos. To me, this poem is speaking to slowing down, and once we do, we'll find "a smiling violet." The notion of picking your way "through a mountain road" seems to insinuate taking your time and not letting yourself be swept up in anything other than the course of the road. I also think the idea of "picking" implies that not everything you "pick" or encounter on the road will be as nice as the "smiling violet," but that the times that you do encounter the "smiling violet" will make all of the other encounters worth it. Life is heavy and the mountain path is long, but I think this poem reminds us to focus on the road in front of us and enjoy the small pleasures we get to encounter.
Yes, great response--in the struggle to get to the finish, or the end of something, we tend to close everything else off and only focus on one thing. Life too often seems a series of destinations, or points on a map, with a kind of void in-between. In this poem, we get the close-up look of the lands in-between. Sadly, few people will see the smiling violets because they're racing ahead and not walking deliberately on the path. It's a very human trait to assume we already know what we don't know. And we can never truly know the road ahead.
DeleteThe Haiku I chose was the second one. One of my favorite sayings I heard is 'life is full of peaks and valleys'. This made me envision the 'mountain road' as life full of peaks and valleys that we all pick our way through. We pick what path we decide to go down and it's usually not just a smooth path, we all have to climb our way up to be where we want to. When we finally get there there is smiles and joy that we are greeted by.
ReplyDeleteAnother great response to #2, which was a surprisingly popular one. I agree with your reading, though note that you talk about getting to the destination and getting rewarded, whereas as this poem doesn't talk about getting to the end: just being "greeted" on the road itself. Which seems to suggest that your destination can be the road itself, and not the place you're hoping to get to. Just like the poem "Ithaca"--don't expect the end of your journey to pay off. If we judge the journey by the destination we're almost always disappointed.
DeleteI chose the second Haiku. To me, "picking" gave off kind of a negative connotation. Struggling, maybe. But then there was the violet, which this is obviously an example of personification, but it represents happiness, or something good. So, I took this Haiku as to represent life itself. The roads we take won't always be fun, but there will be good things along the way. Don't overlook something as small as a "flower"- the small gifts are blessings is disguise. Also, there could be a metaphor in the idea of being greeted by a smiling violet. Because a flower cannot greet you, but sometimes after taking some time away from something, you can see the truth behind certain meanings/people. Like going on a hike, taking time away from a person or thing, you can think about things while you're gone and come back with a refreshing view of the person/thing.
ReplyDeleteYes, I like your focus on the negative side of picking: it can be hard to "pick," it suggests labor or struggle. And it is a struggle, on a hike or in life--it's not an easy trip most of the time. Even looking for treasures on the road can be difficult, since you get tired, there's so much to see, and you often don't know how to look properly. It's suggests a discipline and a routine of looking, so that one day, the violet suddenly greets you. It's not guaranteed, but is the result of hard work that will one day (hopefully) surprise you.
DeletePaul Harris:
ReplyDeleteI chose the second haiku from the list, as I really enjoyed the simplicity of it as well how the haiku also made you think about yourself. The author mentions they are on some sort of journey on a mountain path, although we do not know where they are headed or what awaits them at the end of their journey. The haiku doesn't answer this question either, instead providing us with the imagery of a flower, which I thought was a sweet, interesting sentiment to end off on. The phrase "It's not the destination, it's the journey" is said a lot but I think this haiku demonstrates that mindset really well. Especially when you're on some sort of hike or journey, little things like a beautiful flower are some of the most special memories you'll take away from your time during this journey; furthermore, they remind you why you are on this journey in the first place and in all likelihood, memories like this may be more rewarding than whatever you receive at your destination. I think that's what makes this haiku truly honest, as the haiku offers an insight into a mindset many of us share, even if we're not necessarily that we behave this way. A soft, beautiful flower during a difficult journey is what many of us will appreciate in such a situation. Even if don't actively think about how that flower affected you during your journey, that memory played a part in pushing you onwards. This is what makes the haiku an honest reflection of nature as well, depicting how our environment influences our emotions.
THE HAIKU:
ReplyDeleteWith a hat on my head
And straw sandals on my feet,
I met on the road the end of the year.
For me, this one stuck out the most. If you’re just reading the poem, it makes you think of a person who is walking down a road at the end of the year. He’s taking a walk, and when he reaches the end of the road, the New Year breaks.
Since this was in your lecture, I decided I was going to use the qualities of a haiku to break down what I feel/see/hear when I read this one.
Color/Mood/Emotion/Feelings: Since I read this Haiku a few times, this is the “feeling” perspective. This poem is both hopeless - the end of the year - and hopeful - the beginnings of a new one. The narrator is a person who is in the middle of a stroll, and they can feel the sun on their skin, the hat on their head, the feel of the open road under their feet. They can feel the light little kisses of the wind as they walk, the dust behind them being stirred up by their footsteps.
Metaphorically: While they are walking, the narrator comes to the end of a road, and they’ve made some form of a decision. That’s why they wrote “I met on the road, the end of the year.” What I think they’re saying is that while they were walking, the narrator had to make a decision. We don’t know what that decision was for, or about, but they do. So when they meet “the end of the year” on the road, their decision is made.
The road, well that’s a metaphor for either the decision they’re about to make, or their choices that led them up to this crossroads. The “straw hat on my head” could either be a literal hat, or it could be their thoughts that are insignificant. Because I’m using the words“straw hat” in the same way a “straw man” has the definition of being “a person regarded as having no substance or integrity,” the narrator’s “straw hat on my head” are thoughts that have led them to this crucial crossroad of their life. The same could be said about his “straw sandals on my feet.” Up until this point, the actions the narrator led had no significance or integrity. They were just walking the walk without talking the talk, so to speak. In essence they’ve lived their lives with empty thoughts and empty actions that really had no meaning.
When they meet “the end of the year” on “the road,” our narrator is metaphorically deciding that they need to actually think of their actions and make deliberate decisions instead of just going through their life without doing that.
Honesty: as far as the honesty goes, the poem doesn’t seem forced at all to me because when we see the words just for the sake of words, it makes me think what’s more natural and honest than a person walking down a road? And if we look at the metaphor of the words, again, what’s more natural than reflecting on the actions you’ve had in the past, and deciding to change? That’s what human nature is all about - introspection and growth leading to change. If we don’t change when we realize we’ve been acting stupid, or we’ve made bad decisions, then we don’t get to grow as people. We get stuck in a rut and we wonder “Why am I here?” without realizing it was our own actions that led us there.
I chose the first haiku because it spoke more to me than the others. I feel that when looked at on a deeper level rather than the surface, one can assume that the narrator is referencing the rain as some sort of trial that he or she is going through. Rain is dark, dreary, and usually puts on in the mind of such things. When the author says that the bamboo corrected itself after having slept in the rain, I feel that the narrator is saying that the trial that has been gone through made them a better or stronger person in the end. The last line of the haiku that says the bamboo was able to now view the moon after correcting itself, suggests that the narrator was able to view things in a better light after having gone through what ever trials that it was.
ReplyDeleteI chose the first Haiku because it seems to combine nature and humanity the best. The bamboo moves itself to face the moon. One could look at this poem in many different ways but to me it is like when humans try to find the simple things in life that are beautiful. We often look for the things that make us happy in life. A rainy or sad day for a human can be filled with gloom but after the rain ends we look to the things in life that makes us happy. The bamboo corrected itself to find the nearest source of light in the darkness. The haiku is honest in the way that rainy days do happen yet we move towards the light when things get dark. Haikus show imagery when it can relate our everyday struggles to other things in life.
ReplyDelete#2: I picked my way
ReplyDeleteThrough a mountain road,
And I was greeted
By a smiling violet.
To me this poem seems very free. A lot of the times when we are living life by what our parents or the people around us want us to do. For example, my parents wanted me to be a nurse me entire life because they make good money. If I would have chosen to become a nurse I would not be happy with my life. I picked my own way, my own career and it is what makes me happy. The road to get to that career has not been easy. When you go up a mountain the walk up there is not easy. You have to climb over rocks, you can't just go straight up. That's how it is with life. The road to your destination/happiness will always be bumpy, but at least you are choosing your happiness and not the people around you. When you choose your own happiness you will not only meet new people but you will also be a new person because you learned something new about yourself that you didn't know before. That is what I think this haiku is about.
I chose the second Haiku!
ReplyDeleteThis Haiku stood out to me because of the beautiful imagery it creates with such few lines. Like Callie stated, when I read it, I immediately begin to create a picture of long, rough mountain road, and a shining violet at the very end.
Along with the imagery, I can't help to draw a parallel to what a majority of us are experiencing now. Times are tough for a lot of us this semester, hell, more like the entire world. It seems we are all walking on this never ending mountain path, the same shrubbery, same gravel, it all begins to blend together. Yet, the individual finds this beautiful violet along the way, and it seems to give them hope. Life, in general, can feel like a continuous mountain path. It might feel like you're stuck, but the violet is the hope we should hold on to. The good moments - successes, time with friends and family, finding joy in a cringey pop song at 2 am. The small moments, "violets", throughout our lives aid the hardships we encounter on the mountain path.