Icicles
Uejima Onitsura (c. 1700)
Uejima Onitsura (1660-1738) was recognised as an outstanding poet already in his teens. He left the service of a local lord to devote himself entirely to ‘The Way of Haiku’. He declared that for him the essence of Haiku should be
sincerity.
David Hinton writes about the concept of sincerity in eastern thought.
Accordingly he set aside all artefact going directly to his
truth.
A comparison with the elliptical truth sought by Bob Dylan in his song 'Sad Eyed Lady'
Here he asks ‘why do we appear to come across difference in the world’ (the world that is
independent
The idea of noumenon might offer one version of a world independent of us.
of humans) when, as many Buddhists like himself believe, it is the human mind that constructs such
differences.
Boundaries as examples of differences which human beings construct.
Why on earth should we have
experience
Another Japanese poet, Onitsura, wishes the world was less ephemeral.
of differences which we conjure; differences which then lead to our delusion?
Above translation by Stephen Addiss, Fumiko Yamamoto and Akira Yamamoto. (2002) Haiku Landscapes Weatherhill, Connecticut.
Icicles on the edge of Loch Skene in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, reflected in its dark peaty water.
Above hovering on blue introduces a link: click to go, move away to stay.
Saturday 22nd September 2018
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