{"id":6583,"date":"2019-10-18T09:05:37","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T16:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6583"},"modified":"2019-10-18T09:05:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T16:05:37","slug":"buson-this-cold-winter-night-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/18\/buson-this-cold-winter-night-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Buson – This cold winter night"},"content":{"rendered":"

This cold winter night
\nby Buson<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Sam Hamill<\/font><\/p>\n

This cold winter night,
\nthat old wooden-head Buddha
\nwould make a nice fire<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Poetry of Zen: (Shambhala Library)<\/a>, Edited by Sam Hamill \/ Edited by J. P. Seaton<\/font><\/p>\n


\n\/ Image by thanapat<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

Chilly weather this morning. Makes a person cast about for a source of warmth\u2026 Hmm\u2026<\/p>\n

Every time I come across this haiku it makes me laugh. It works beautifully on several levels and can suggest almost opposite meanings. Superficially, we are contemplating an act of sacrilegious vandalism \u2014 hungrily looking at a large wooden Buddha head, perhaps it is neglected or fallen, and fantasizing about setting it on fire for a little comfort. On the other hand, the head engulfed in flames is a common image in Asian iconography to represent enlightenment, a variation on the nimbus or halo \u2014 so the haiku can just as easily be saying something about warming oneself through spiritual illumination.<\/p>\n

The haiku shocks, it even offends, at the same time that it inspires awakening \u2014 a masterful joke!<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Buson<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Poetry of Zen: (Shambhala Library)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Moon Over Tagoto: Selected Haiku of Buson<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/small><\/td>\n<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n
\n\"Buson,<\/a><\/td>\n\nBuson<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Japan (1716 \u2013 1784) Timeline<\/a>
\nBuddhist<\/a> : Zen \/ Chan<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Taniguchi Buson (or Yosa Buson) was known in his day primarily as an excellent painter, but today he is often grouped with Basho and Issa as among the finest writers of haiku poetry.<\/p>\n

He was born outside of Osaka, Japan, but lost both parents while still young. He moved to Edo (Tokyo) to study painting and haiku. He later settled in Kyoto, making a name for himself as a painter.<\/p>\n

When we compare Buson with Basho, Buson\u2019s haiku are more crafted than Basho\u2019s, showing the precision of a painter\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Buson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This cold winter night by Buson English version by Sam Hamill This cold winter night, that old wooden-head Buddha would make a nice fire \u2014 from The Poetry of Zen: (Shambhala Library), Edited by Sam Hamill \/ Edited by J. P. Seaton \/ Image by thanapat \/ Chilly weather this morning. Makes a person cast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2308,40,650,622,2306,2307,277,118],"class_list":["post-6583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-buddha-statue","tag-buddhist-poetry","tag-buson","tag-fire","tag-halo","tag-nimbus","tag-zen-haiku","tag-zen-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6583"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6584,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6583\/revisions\/6584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}