Haiku about loneliness (23rd of November 2012)

(Taigi)

Haiku is not only poetry primarily concentrated on nature. Nature is, of course, in traditional haiku usually there, in "special" season-determining words (kigo). But, even when it is about natural phenomena, about fireflies, cherry blossom, haiku speaks also about us who, through the poet, relive what she/he lived through.

It is a great mastery to summarize in 17 syllables a natural phenomenon and a feeling, but there are haiku masters who were excellent at that. Of course, Issa is probably the first among them. But Taigi was also pretty good at that, and I bring his haiku about loneliness in this post.

We wish to share a sighting of a firefly with persons dear to us, we call them to enjoy with us in nature and beauty. But, when the one we wanted to say to "Look!" is not here, sighting of a firefly becomes a lonely and sad event. Taigi does not say where is the one who is not here, haiku is too short a form for such a thing, but we feel that he is not here for some serious reason, that he is not just absent by chance.

The illustrations I made for this post remind me of >> haiga paintings which were often made by haiku masters to illustrate their poems. Basho did it, but Buson was probably the haiga illustrator with the greatest skill. Buson was Taigi's faithful friend and colleague.

Tan Taigi (1709-1771) was a poet who was, similar as Issa, known by "human", emotional component in his haiku poems. He belonged to the Basho revival, i.e. he advocated return to the traditional haiku poetry as was written by Basho. Taiki also taught haikai and haiku, to courtesans and kabuki actors. He called his home a nightless hut (Fuya) because he and his guests used to spend sleepless nights in it.

Shiki has contributed much to popularizing and reviving Taigi's poetry. I wrote about Shiki a little bit in >> a previous post.

To end this post, I bring another of Taigi's haikus:

(Taigi, translated by Keisen)

Last updated on 23rd of November 2012.