(no subject)
That the world
is going
to end someday
does not concern
the wren:
it's time to
build your nest,
you build
your nest.
--Issa, translated by C.K. Williams
---------------------------
and then, from here: https://www.theday.com/article/20100418/ENT03/304189955
this:
Q: Before you found those long lines, you made one intriguing detour. From 1973 to 1976 you translated a collection of haiku by the Japanese poet Issa, taking certain liberties to, marvelously, tease out his meaning. What drew you, O writer of the long line, to the lapidary verse of Issa?
A: It was sort of a negative propulsion. I'd been reading translations of haiku for many years, and learned much from them about poetry and the soul, but then there began to be a lot of haiku written in the U.S., and I felt it was a fake industry, so I decided to violate the rules of real haiku, and make little poems that embodied the Western literary traditions. I chose Issa's poems to work with because among the great Japanese poets, his poems have the least edge of sanctity in them, and a strong commitment to ordinary life.
-------
and also, not quite entirey relevantly, but still wonderfully, this:
Q: Your poems tend to focus on our inner landscapes and the meanings of moments in our lives. Your jealousy poems, for example, are exquisite dissections of that emotion. How did you become so familiar with jealousy?
A: By being jealous, fiercely, unreasonably, insanely. When I began writing the series, I thought that I might cure myself of that terrible emotion: fat chance. I'm as jealous as ever, but at least I have the poems.
is going
to end someday
does not concern
the wren:
it's time to
build your nest,
you build
your nest.
--Issa, translated by C.K. Williams
---------------------------
and then, from here: https://www.theday.com/article/20100418/ENT03/304189955
this:
Q: Before you found those long lines, you made one intriguing detour. From 1973 to 1976 you translated a collection of haiku by the Japanese poet Issa, taking certain liberties to, marvelously, tease out his meaning. What drew you, O writer of the long line, to the lapidary verse of Issa?
A: It was sort of a negative propulsion. I'd been reading translations of haiku for many years, and learned much from them about poetry and the soul, but then there began to be a lot of haiku written in the U.S., and I felt it was a fake industry, so I decided to violate the rules of real haiku, and make little poems that embodied the Western literary traditions. I chose Issa's poems to work with because among the great Japanese poets, his poems have the least edge of sanctity in them, and a strong commitment to ordinary life.
-------
and also, not quite entirey relevantly, but still wonderfully, this:
Q: Your poems tend to focus on our inner landscapes and the meanings of moments in our lives. Your jealousy poems, for example, are exquisite dissections of that emotion. How did you become so familiar with jealousy?
A: By being jealous, fiercely, unreasonably, insanely. When I began writing the series, I thought that I might cure myself of that terrible emotion: fat chance. I'm as jealous as ever, but at least I have the poems.