August 2010
73 posts
Hyakunin Isshu poem 67 by Suō no Naishi
春の夜の
夢ばかりなる
手枕に
かひなく立たむ
名こそ惜しけれ
If I lay my head
Upon his arm in the dark
Of a short spring night,
This innocent dream pillow
Will be the death of my good name.
(source)
“although the wind...”
by izumi shikibu
although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.
処暑 (Shosho) - limit of heat
Today, August 23, is the start of Shosho, one of the 24 solar terms of the traditional East Asian calendar. Shosho is the second term of autumn.
As you may remember, I’m going to keep track of the traditional calendar here on Heian Kyaa!, since the seasons are so important to Heian aesthetics, and to Japanese aesthetics in general. I’m also doing it because I live in a tropical country that doesn’t have four seasons in the way that Japan does, so I need to consciously teach myself about how four seasons work. ;) “Limit of heat” sounds about right to me; even here, it’s starting to get a bit cooler, and it’s continuing to rain.
“This body
grown fragile, floating,
a reed cut from its roots
If a stream would ask me
to follow, I’d go, I think.” —Ono no Komachi, from The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu (via liamtyler)
grown fragile, floating,
a reed cut from its roots
If a stream would ask me
to follow, I’d go, I think.” —Ono no Komachi, from The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu (via liamtyler)
