The Botanical Basho, edited
and English versions of Japanese poems by Gerry Loose (with Toda Yoshin),
Botanic Gardens Press, Glasgow, UK, 2001.
Reviewed by
Susumu Takiguchi
Oxford, England
Editor and translator, Gerry Loose is the current Poet in Residence at the
Botanic Gardens of Scotland. What a fitting place to work in and write or
translate haiku as part of one's job! Out of over six thousand species in these
botanic gardens, Loose singled out three species as themes for a small book of
poetry.
One theme is musa basjoo, or the
Japanese banana, also known increasingly by its Japanese name, basho.
Another theme is diospyros kaki, known to Japanese people as kaki,
and called persimmon in English. The third, pinus, or pine, is
called matsu by the Japanese. Treated one by one, musa basjoo, kaki
and matsu each contain a collection of haiku authored by a number of
British poets, presented with some of the old Japanese masters in English
translation The Botanical Basho is the result.
Under musa basjoo, various poems depicting the characteristics of this
plant are displayed. For example:
ao ao to shoji ni utsuru basho kana .....Shiki
green.....green
with
reflected basho
the paper screen
toro kiete basho ni kaze no wataru oto .....Shiki
the garden lantern goes out
wind sounds
through the basho
basho nowaki shite tarai ni ame wo kiku yo
kana .....Basho
the basho in the autumn gate
.............the tap of rain
in the tub tonight
Under the theme of diospyros kaki,
the followings attract one's attention:
shibui toko haha ga kui-keri yama no kaki .....Issa
the mother eating
the sour bits
mountain persimmons
waga suki no kaki o kuwarenu yamai kana
.....Shiki
those persimmons I love
but can't eat
...................I'm ill
kaki amata kui-keru yori no yamai kana
.....Shiki
I've eaten so
............many persimmons
I'm ill
kaki-kiu no hokku konomi to tsutoh beshi .....Shiki
persimmon eater
poetry lover
say that
of me
sato furi-te kaki no ki motanu ie mo nashi
.....Basho
.....the
village grows old
not one house
.....without a persimmon tree
a persimmon tale
in the book
your spectrum of colours
your kaleidoscope of shapes
your mystery
in your ripeness
from ounce to pound
from tart to honeyed
abundant variety
but on the supermarket shelf
you're a round flame of gold
waxy with sweetness
Aonghas MacNeacail
Lastly, let us look at some poems under the theme of matsu:
ware ue-shi matsu mo oi-keri aki no kaze .....Issa
that pine I planted
getting old too
autumn winds
the mist's lifted
leaving pinetrees
more pinetreelike
Kevin MacNeil
A19. 16 Feb, 99 (en route to Finland)
huddled contorta
try to lie under the wind
bare larch shake it off
Ian Stephen
Morven Gregor's colour photograph, a detail of musa
basjoo (basho) illustrates the cover. The striking green colour,
black lines, white stripes and biomorphic shapes look almost like an abstract
painting. Heightening the effect, neither title nor translators' names are
printed thereon. Visiting the gardens of The Botanical Basho...
Whenever you listen
to wind in the pines
you are not listening
to wind in the pines
Thomas A Clark
| Back
| Next |
