Exhausted,
time to find a lodging-
hanging wisteria
Basho
I thought this haiku really moved well from the feeling of oppressive tiredness to that of peaceful relaxation. We see that the speaker is exhausted, and in need of lodging, giving the sense perhaps that they are a traveler and have walked a great distance, now too weary to go further. It then ends with the image of hanging wisteria, progressing from walking, so slowing to find a place to rest, and finally stopping on the peaceful image of dangling flowers, from which one might imagine that after long traveling, a well deserved resting place has been reached.
The holy mirror,
repolished, is also pure-
blossoms of snow.
Basho
In this haiku there is lots of beautiful imagery and also symbolism. It gives the image of a holy mirror, one that has had to have been repolished. This suggests that the mirror has become tainted or dirty, impure. It is reminiscent of how someone pure may sin. However, we see that something tainted does not have to stay that way, as the mirror can be repolished, returning to its orginal pure state, and suggesting that humans can do the same. This reborn purity is reinforced by the last line which cites 'blossoms of snow', creating an image of newly fallen, white snow. The white can be also connected back to the mirror to create a moon-like image, white and circular, which would again suggest holy purity.
Taking a midday nap
feet planted
on a cool wall
Basho
I quite liked this haiku because it really made me think of peaceful summer naps. Midday suggests warmth, and perhaps a bit of lazyness, as one is stopping whatever they have been doing to take a nap in the middle of the day. The feet are planted on a cool wall, again adding to the sense of warmth and lazy relief, as hot feet are cooled down and lifted from having to support the body as it carried out its daily tasks. The fact that the wall is cool also gives a sense of peacefulness, as it shows that the person napping will not be so warm as to be uncomfortable. Overall, it made me want to take a nap myself, haha.
Good job, I really liked your analysis of the second poem. I also did this poem, but I really liked the connection that you found in this poem to the idea of redemption.
ReplyDeleteI liked in the second how you applied it to humanity. That was pretty cool. I liked how all three poems you picked, especially the first and the last..were pretty "chill." The first has elements of exhaustion in it, but at the end there is some relaxation when that wisteria is found. The last one was just relatively warm(even though Basho uses the word 'cool' in it) and relaxing, as was your analysis!
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