doodles
a construction
by DW Bender
haiku april 28th 2001
prose (with revisions) january 18th 2003
arrangement by DW Bender & paul t conneally
________________
The bell
of the temple is silent,
But the sound continues
Coming out from the flowers.
Matsuo Basho (2)
From time to
time synaesthesia is mentioned in relationship to haiku and particular haiku by
classic poets. One should consider the original with the translations, as one
Japanese haiku, written in characters, may be interpreted in various ways...
suzushisa
ya kane
wo hanaruru
kane no
koe
As the bell
tone fades,
Blossom scents take up the ringing,
Evening shade.
Matsuo Basho (3)
...therefore
translations differ. The "bell /blossom" haiku by Matsuo Basho
(1644-1694) has been interpreted as an "incredibly synaesthetic
experience" [Odin 1984], but researchers in the field are doubtful
that he actually had synaesthesia.
Temple
bells die out.
The fragrant blossoms remain.
A perfect evening!
Matsuo Basho (4)
I'm not
synaesthetic that I know of. I saw five 2's right off in the Ed Hubbard 5-2 pop
out test for 'grapheme-colour' synaesthesia, but no colors.(4b,5)
I
always wondered
how the sky would taste
blue popsicle
But I do have
sensory, or intuitive "atmospheres" akin to or in addition to
emotional feelings which can sometimes be dramatic, other times subtle...
black
ink
how painted lines
on paper move me
...in
response to hand-drawn or hand-painted lines, numbers, letters, writing,
symbols, sounds, musical notes or chords, colors and any number of things.
April
morning
the coolness of grass
also feels green
It would
probably not be classified as synaesthesia, but I think most people might have
the same sort of responses which can be mood-altering, or which are a sort of
creative-connectivity.
even
the sun
is not as yellow
new dandelion
By whatever
creative vehicle a person develops or expresses him/herself, these atmospheres,
feelings and connections might be the inner-inspirator.
O orange
your name sounds
so round
This could be
"heightened sensual awareness", which may be developed by
artists and other creatives...(4a)
red
rose
in you every color
but the one you wear
I recalled a haiku series I'd made last year
from some of my poems on color, which relates to synaesthesia and/or heightened
sensual awareness and it came to mind when reading the articles on synaesthesia.
what is
purple?
the scent of lavender
or a fresh bruise
I've found it in my files and write them here to share
with you...
the
white space
on the side of this page
invites doodles
1. WHChaibun
Message 1676
From: "Paul Conneally"
Date: Sat Jan 18, 2003 10:40 am
Subject: synaesthesia
2. members.xoom.virgilio.it/zardoz65/English/AliveDharma/Poesie.html
3.
PSEUDOSYNAESTHESIA IN LITERATURE
www.macalester.edu/~psych/whathap/UBNRP/synesthesia/literature.html
"Of course,
we are all familiar with one type of pseudosynaesthesia: metaphor. That's right,
the literary device that teachers once pounded into your head often takes on a
synaesthetic quality. Critics differ as to whether the extremely vivid forms of
synaesthetic metaphor should be attributed to the author's actually being
synaesthetic, or whether the author was merely trying to achieve a
synaesthetic-like experience. Of course, the two ideas are not mutually
exclusive; the author may have had synaesthesia, and then tried to reproduce his
sensations for the rest of the world to know.
Basho
The Japanese Haiku poetry of Basho (1644-1694). We have only the inference made
by Odin (1984) concerning the transitions made in Basho's work from one sense
modality to another. For instance, he quotes as "an intensly synaesthetic
experience of nature" the following:
As the bell tone fades,
Blossom scents take up the ringing.
Evening shade.
Odin suggests that "the reverberating sound of a fading bell tone merges
with the fragrant perfume of flower blossom, which in turn blends with the
shadowy darkness of evening shade". Our experience of individuals with
synaesthesia has been that auditory stimulation at once gives rise to the visual
synaesthesic percept. Therefore the temporal progression from the ringing of the
bell tone to the 'ringing' of blossom scents seems to suggest that Basho is
relating metaphor rather than a genuine synaesthesic percept. This does not
necessarily mean that Basho did not have synaesthesia, simply that there is no
conclusive evidence either way. ..."
4. Science: HEARING COLOURS, EATING SOUNDS, BBC Radio 4, Presenter: Georgina
Ferry, writer and broadcaster.
(a) Pale
yellow Cs, turquoise Thursdays and wine-flavoured Vs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/hearingcolours.shtml
"...there are
many who deliberately cultivated a heightened perception for extra artistic
effect: our culture is littered with poets, artists and musicians, including
Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Kandinsky, Messaien and Scriabin who have claimed to have
synaesthesia. Today, thanks to fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging),
neuroscientists are able to prove that synaesthetic experience is a genuine
phenomenon. ..."
(b) Synaesthetic Perception
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/hearingcolours2.shtml
"If you think you may have 'grapheme-colour' synaesthesia - seeing specific
colours in response to specific letters and numbers - take a look at this
'pop-out' test (courtesy of Ed Hubbard). It's not an acid test for synaesthesia,
but grapheme-colour synaesthetes should quickly be able to distinguish a shape
among the numbers.
How quickly do you see the '2's among the '5's? ..."
5. http://www.imprint.co.uk/jcs_8_12.html
V.S. Ramachandran and E.M. Hubbard
Synaesthesia — A Window Into Perception, Thought and Language
"We investigated grapheme–colour
synaesthesia and found that: (1) The induced colours led to perceptual grouping
and pop-out, (2) a grapheme rendered invisible through ‘crowding’ or lateral
masking induced synaesthetic colours — a form of blindsight — and (3)
peripherally presented graphemes did not induce colours even when they were
clearly visible. Taken collectively, these and other experiments prove
conclusively that synaesthesia is a genuine perceptual phenomenon, not an effect
based on memory associations from childhood or on vague metaphorical speech.
..."
