Reflections on the Project

I really enjoyed the project despite some difficulties I experienced with computers and other related technology. I must say I liked reading Imagist poetry and I learned about haikus which have always fascinated me. What I liked most about this project was that I really got to be an artist, I had a lot of fun exploring Gloucester, taking pictures and just noticing a lot of detail about my surrounding I wasn't aware of. I hope that this blog is also informative too, I researched things and hopefully put a lot of helpful information out there for people. Imagism and haikus have become my new favorite types of poetry mostly because after reading and studying many works of these kinds I have come to appreciate the artistry behind concise and condensed pieces of work. Haikus and Imagism in particular have given me a new look at what art and poetry can be.

Early Morning: An Imagist Poem by Amy Carpenter

Grey fog,
Misty tendrils of smoke

rolling...

creeping...

gliding...

across reality

Until...

The Wind shifts

and Reality alters

to fit the new.

My Imagist Photographs

Selected Works by Amy Lowell

A London Thoroughfare. 2 A.M.

They have watered the street,

It shines in the glare of lamps,

Cold, white lamps,

And lies

Like a slow-moving river,

Barred with silver and black.

Cabs go down it,

One,

And then another,

Between them I hear the shuffling of feet.

Tramps doze on the window-ledges,

Night-walkers pass along the sidewalks.

The city is squalid and sinister,

With the silver-barred street in the midst,

Slow-moving,

A river leading nowhere.

Opposite my window,

The moon cuts,

Clear and round,

Through the plum-coloured night.

She cannot light the city:

It is too bright.

It has white lamps,

And glitters coldly.

I stand in the window and watch the

moon.

She is thin and lustreless,

But I love her.

I know the moon,

And this is an alien city.The day is fresh-washed and fair, and there is a smell of tulips and narcissus in the air.

Bath

The sunshine pours in at the bath-room window and bores through the water in the bath-tub in lathes and planes of greenish-white. It cleaves the water into flaws like a jewel, and cracks it to bright light.

Little spots of sunshine lie on the surface of the water and dance, dance, and their reflections wobble deliciously over the ceiling; a stir of my finger sets them whirring, reeling. I move a foot and the planes of light in the water jar. I lie back and laugh, and let the green-white water, the sun-flawed beryl water, flow over me. The day is almost too bright to bear, the green water covers me from the too bright day. I will lie here awhile and play with the water and the sun spots. The sky is blue and high. A crow flaps by the window, and there is a whiff of tulips and narcissus in the air.

(Note: Top featured photograph is by Terri Moody)

Works Cited: "Amy Lowell." Famous Poets and Poems. N.p., 2006. Web. 3 Jun 2010.

More Poems of William Carlos Williams

Nantucket

Flowers through the window
lavender and yellow

changed by white curtains –
Smell of cleanliness –

Sunshine of late afternoon –
On the glass tray

a glass pitcher, the tumbler
turned down, by which

a key is lying – And the
immaculate white bed

This is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Works Cited: "William Carlos Williams." Poem Hunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010.

The Leader: Amy Lowell

By the time Imagism as a movement had run its course, Amy Lowell was seen as its leader. Although Imagism effectively ended in 1917, its impact on the literary world was immense. Imagism was part of a larger movement known as Modernism and Modernism opened the door for more unconventional styles of art and poetry. Free verse, surrealism and other avant-garde styles became more popular as the century passed. And Imagism itself survived in amateur writings and readers like me who appreciate its clarity and beauty.

Works Cited: "Amy Lowell." Famous Poets and Poems. N.p., 2006. Web. 3 Jun 2010.

Free Verse! Free Verse! The Poems of William Carlos Williams

Metric Figure

There is a bird in the poplars!
It is the sun!
The leaves are little yellow fish
swimming in the river.
The bird skims above them,
day is on his wings.
Phoebus!
It is he that is making
the great gleam among the poplars!

It is his singing
outshines the noise
of leaves clashing in the wind.

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

Arrival

And yet one arrives somehow,
finds himself loosening the hooks of
her dress
in a strange bedroom--
feels the autumn
dropping its silk and linen leaves
about her ankles.
The tawdry veined body emerges
twisted upon itself
like a winter wind . . . !

Works Cited: "William Carlos Williams." Poem Hunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010.

The Poems of Ezra Pound

Possibly the father of Imagism, the Ezra Pound poems I've selected closely resemble haikus.

In a Station of the Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

Alba

As cool as the pale wet leaves
of lily-of the valley
She lay beside me in the dawn.




The Encounter

All the while they were talking the new morality
Her eyes explored me.
And when I rose to go
Her fingers were like the tissue
Of a Japanese paper napkin.

Works Cited: "Ezra Pound." Poem Hunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010.

More Poems by H.D.

Oread

Whirl up, sea
Whirl your pointed pines.
Splash your great pines
On our rocks.
Hurl your green over us-
Cover us with your pools of fir.

Sea Rose

Rose, harsh rose,
marred and with stint of petals,
meagre flower, thin,
sparse of leaf,

more precious
than a wet rose
single on a stem --
you are caught in the drift.

Stunted, with small leaf,
you are flung on the sand,
you are lifted
in the crisp sand
that drives in the wind.

Can the spice-rose
drip such acrid fragrance
hardened in a leaf?

The Mysteries Remain

The mysteries remain,
I keep the same
cycle of seed-time
and of sun and rain;
Demeter in the grass,
I multiply,
renew and bless
Bacchus in the vine;
I hold the law,
I keep the mysteries true,
the first of these
to name the living, dead;
I am the wine and bread.
I keep the law,
I hold the mysteries true,
I am the vine,
the branches, you
and you.

Stars Wheel in Purple by H.D.: An Analysis

Stars Wheel in Purple
By H.D.

Stars wheel in purple, yours is not so rare
as Hesperus, nor yet so great a star
as bright Aldeboran or Sirius,
nor yet the stained and brilliant one of War;

stars turn in purple, glorious to the sight;
yours is not gracious as the Pleiads are
nor as Orion's sapphires, luminous;

yet disenchanted, cold, imperious face,
when all the others blighted, reel and fall,
your star, steel-set, keeps lone and frigid tryst
to freighted ships, baffled in wind and blast.

The poems of Hilda Doolittle gave birth to the Imagist movement so it is only proper that we start our exploration of Imagisim with her. This poem may feel confusing at first but the first step to understanding it would be a little background in astronomy.

Hesperus is the "evening star" (Venus in the evening)
Aldeboran is the brightest star in the Taurus constellation
Sirius is know as the "Dog Star" and is the brightest star in the night sky
"the stained and brilliant one of War" refers to the planet Mars
the Pleiads are a group of stars in the Taurus constellation
"Orion's sapphires" referrs to the line of stars in the constellation Orion that make up Orion's belt

Even if you knew or guessed that all those things were astronomical bodies doesn't the poem make more sense now that you know a little bit more about the night sky?

So what H.D. is saying, this star, "wheeling through space" (i.e. moving smoothly) is not rare, like a sighting of Hesperus and it's not as bright as Aldeboran or Sirius or Mars. It's not as pretty as the Pleiads or Orion's belt is but there is something special about it.

What's special about the star, along with clues to what this star is can be found in the last stanza. H.D. tells the star that when "all the others blighted, reel and fall,/your star, steel-set, keeps lone and frigid tryst/to freighted ships, baffled in wind and blast."

When all the other stars fail, this star stays stationary ("steel-set") and never breaks it's appointment ("tryst") to lost and frightened (here the play on words is the similarity between "freighted" meaning loaded with cargo and "frightened") ships "baffled in wind and blast" at sea.

What other star could this be but the North Star in the constellation of the Big Dipper? While unremarkable in many ways, this star is the second most important star in the sky after our own sun. H.D. is reminding the star of this when it might be feeling outshone by its brighter, prettier neighbors.

This star, moving smoothly through a deep purple night sky keeps sailors on course in a lonely ocean.

Works Cited: "H. D. - Stars Wheel in Purple." American Poems. N.p., 16 Jan 2006. Web. 3 Jun 2010.

(Note: Featured photograph was taken by Terri Moody)

The Imagist Manifesto and Imagism's Link to Haikus

The following is a excerpt from an Imagist Manifesto, which explains what Imagism as a movement set out to do.

From an Imagist manifesto:

1. To use the language of common speech, but to employ the exact

word, not the nearly-exact, nor the merely decorative word.

2. We believe that the individuality of a poet may often be better

expressed in free verse than in conventional forms. In poetry, a new

cadence means a new idea.

3. Absolute freedom in the choice of subject.

4. To present an image. We are not a school of painters, but we

believe that poetry should render particulars exactly and not deal in

vague generalities, however magnificent and sonorous. It is for this

reason that we oppose the cosmic poet, who seems to us to shirk the real

difficulties of his art.

5. To produce a poetry that is hard and clear, never blurred nor

indefinite.

6. Finally, most of us believe that concentration is of the very

essence of poetry.

Hmm, presenting an image? Language of common speech? Exact wording? What does that sound like?

Now, it’s well-known that Imagism was heavily influenced by Japanese poetry and haikus and I would put it out there that Imagism is really American Haiku. Like I said in my first post, haikus are not really about the rules even though that’s what’s best known about them. The presentation of the image is what’s most important and although the Imagists went about it differently, at their hearts, Imagism and haikus are essentially the same.

Imagism=Haikus that got a little disheveled during their trip across the Pacific Ocean.

Works Cited:

"imagism: defined." UPenn, n.d. Web. 1 Jun 2010.

Before Imagism

Poetry…the name itself sounds pretty. Now, words conjure different images and feeling for different people, but when I hear the word “poetry” or similar words like “poetical” or “lyrical” I imagine things like soft silk, English countrysides and lavender. Girly things. Maybe it’s different for you but poetry still has this reputation of impossible language, improbable metaphors and sometimes being just plain stupid, or worse, boring.

You wouldn’t be the first to dismiss poetry on the diction commonly associated with it: flowery, sentimental and saccharine. In fact, several poets in the early twentieth century felt similarly. Around the turn of the century and for a long time before that, the most common and popular poetry was this kind, called “genteel” poetry. It was pretty, stuff for ladies to embroider onto cushion, meaningless words for young boys to copy and impress their sweethearts, all the things that many people complain about when it comes to poetry. Well a group of poets decided to change this and started a movement known as Imagism.

Ezra Pound is really the father of this movement, which got started in 1912 when he helped a young poetess publish two of her poems. Her name was Hilda Doolittle but she was known primarily by her initials, H.D. Other poets contributed to the Imagism movement including Amy Lowell, Richard Aldington, James Joyce, F.S. Flint, John Gould Fletcher, William Carlos Williams (Free verse! Free verse!) and D.H. Lawrence.

Works Cited:

"Ezra Pound." Poets.org N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Jun 2010.

(Note: I can't put URL in the blog so the Works Cited is technically unfinished but there you are.)

Yosa Buson & Masaoka Shiki

Rounding out this blog's section on haikus are Masters Buson and Shiki. Both wrote most of their work in the late nineteenth century. Below are some of their works.


coming back-
so many pathways
through the spring grass

-Yosa Buson



fresh young leaves
the sound of a waterfall
both far and near

-Yosa Buson







in sorrow
wandering the hill
wild roses flowering

-Yosa Buson

雪ふるよ障子の穴を見てあれば

yuki furu yo
shōji no ana o
mite areba

snow's falling!
I see it through a hole
in the shutter...

-Masaoka Shiki

すゞしさや瀧ほとばしる家のあひ

suzushisa ya
taki hotobashiru
ie no ai

coolness—
a mountain stream splashes out
between houses

-Masaoka Shiki

Works Cited: "The Haiku of Yosa Buson." Greenleaf Company. N.p., n.d. Web. Jun 3, 2010.

"Haiku of Masaoka Shiki." Baymoon.com. N.p., n.d. Web. Jun 3, 2010.

Haikus By Issa

Kobayashi Issa lived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and wrote over twenty thousand works of poetry in his lifetime. He is considered one of the four great haiku masters along with Matsuo Basho, Yosa Buson and Masaoka Shiki all of whose work will appear in this blog.

Two of my favorite haikus by Issa are below.

長閑や鼠のなめる角田川

nodokasa ya nezumi no nameru sumida-gawa

spring peace--
a mouse licking up
Sumida River

and-

山風を踏こたへたりみそさざい

yama kaze wo fumi kotaetari misosazai

fighting the mountain wind
on foot...
a wren



Works Cited: "Haiku of Kabayshi Issa" Haiku Guy. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010

Matsuo Basho's Frog Haiku

The above picture is Matsuo Basho's Frog Haiku, possibly the most famous haiku in the world. Basho lived in the 16oo's and wrote many classic haikus but his best known is this one, written below phonetically. Go ahead, speak it outloud and hear the poetry of it for yourself.

Furu ike ya

kawazu tobikomu

mizu no oto

I'll provide a translation. The thing is though, there's not just one. There are as many as thirty different translations of this poem, each one trying to get to the heart of what Basho was trying to convey. Here's the most literal of the translations:

Old pond — frogs jumped in — sound of water.

Translated by Lafcadio Hearn

But other translators attempted to not just translate the literal meaning of the words but to expand on what they thought Basho's original idea was. Some of my favorite translations are below.

A lonely pond in age-old stillness sleeps . . .

Apart, unstirred by sound or motion . . . till

Suddenly into it a lithe frog leaps.

Translated by Curtis Hidden Page

The ancient pond

A frog leaps in

The sound of the water.

Translated by Donald Keene

The old pond is still

a frog leaps right into it

splashing the water

Translated by Earl Miner & Hiroko Odagiri

Old dark sleepy pool

quick unexpected frog

goes plop! Watersplash.

Translated by Peter Beilenson

Listen! a frog

Jumping into the stillness

Of an ancient pond!

Translated by Dorothy Britton

At the ancient pond

a frog plunges into

the sound of water

Translated by Sam Hamill

Ancient silent pond

Then a frog jumped right in

Watersound: kerplunk

Translated by John S. Major

old pond

a frog leaps in —

a moment after, silence

Translated by Ross Figgins

ancient is the pond —

suddenly a frog leaps — now!

the water echoes

Translated by Tim Chilcott

There once was a curious frog

Who sat by a pond on a log

And, to see what resulted,

In the pond catapulted

With a water-noise heard round the bog.

Translated by Alfred H. Marks

Okay, so that last one takes a few liberties but the point is still the same. Notice how each different translation brings to mind a slightly different picture? The power of words can be very subtle.

Works Cited: "Matsuo Bashô: Frog Haiku." Bureau of Public Secrets. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010.

Chowaney, Nonin. "Haiku by Basho." Zen Calligraphy. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2010.

What are Haikus?

Simply put, haikus are a style of poetry developed in Japan that are based on syllables. But this is too narrow a definition. First of all, it is misleading. English speaking people learn that that a haiku has three lines of 5,7 and 5 syllables when really, the English idea of a syllable is not what is counted in the Japanese language. If you wrote haikus in Japanese, you would count mora, not syllables. Mora (or on) are not counted the say way as syllables are. One mora is counted for a short syllable, one for an elongated vowel, diphthong (two consonants that create one sound such as “th”), or doubled consonant, and one more for an "n" at the end of a syllable. Now, since there is no history of counting English wordsounds this way, English haikus are based on syllables rather than mora. The way to write an English haiku that would be the closest linguistically to Japanese haikus would be to write one with twelve syllables as the duration of speaking time of twelve English syllables is very close to seventeen Japanese mora.

Two other Japanese concepts that get lost when haikus are translated into English are kigo and kirenji. Kigo is a “season word” that tells the reader in which season the experience being written about occurs. It’s not surprise of course that many haikus, Japanese, English and indeed any other language, are about nature.

Also not present in non-Japanese haikus are kirenji. Translated “cutting word”, kirenji is a form of spoken pronunciation. In traditional Japanese poetry, there are eighteen kirenji used for emphasis. Of course, not many languages have spoken pronunciation so it is hard to transfer this concept when translating haikus.

Last, but not least when trying to understand what haikus are is the idea that although we are counting syllables and lines and trying to stay within the parameters of the style, haikus have to present something. A good haiku should, with very few words, be able to evoke specific and detailed images. When writing haiku the most important thing is not really counting syllables or mora but choosing the perfect words to best describe what you want the reader to see in his or her mind. When you’ve got that, then you can write a good haiku.

Works Cited: "Official Definitions of Haiku and Related Terms." Haiku Society of America. N.p., 18 SEP 2004. Web. 3 Jun 2010.