• About

Candia Comes Clean

~ Candid cultural comments from the Isles of Wonder

Tag Archives: Japanese poetry

Integrity

22 Saturday May 2021

Posted by Candia in Personal, Poetry, Psychology, Relationships, Social Comment, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

fourteen lines, graciousness, honour, integrity, Japanese poetry, visiting friends

About two years ago I was experimenting with using Japanese poetic

frameworks and was trying to paraphrase and utilise poetry from the Tale

of Genji etc, but attempting to re-phrase the little cameos in my own words. 

This poem seems to have been left out, so I offer it to you now.

Sometimes you visit,

unexpectedly, a friend

and you stumble on

evidence of graciousness.

No show is put on:

it is their habitual

way of doing things.

It reflects nobility.

Even if you were to spy

on them, you would find

they’d behave in the same way.

they’re true to themselves,

whether they are being watched,

or not.  It’s integrity.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Time Marches On

26 Tuesday Nov 2019

Posted by Candia in History, Literature, Nature, Personal, Poetry, Psychology, Social Comment

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Graves, Japanese poetry, memento mori

File:Japanese grave marker.jpg

Photo of kanji by Jmettlen on Wikimedia Commons

 

Even our friends’ graves

will one day be ploughed over.

Grief diminishes

through time and we smile once more.

Calligraphy on

headstones will be eroded.

The deceased’s peers die;

his name is then forgotten.

The pines which are deemed to live

for a thousand years

are, in actual fact, chopped down –

disrespectfully,

or just pragmatically,

according to how life’s viewed.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

I Know What I Like

21 Wednesday Feb 2018

Posted by Candia in Arts, Poetry, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

choka, cliches, Japanese poetry, lyricism, onomatopoeia, rhyme, scansion

The old verse is best:

toil is ennobled by it.

Even a beast’s cry is onomatopoeic.

I know what I like

and I don’t mean a good rhyme,

necessarily,

or rigid scansion.

Even transferred epithets

can be somewhat trite.

Melodic lyricism

conveys true feeling.

Even cliches from the past

have elements of truth.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Deferred Gratification

06 Tuesday Feb 2018

Posted by Candia in Poetry, Psychology, Social Comment, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

choka, deferred gratification, discrimination, Japanese poetry

Another re-vamp of the 14th century Japanese monk’s

observations:

 

Some people just live

to view the next spectacle.

Deferred gratification

is alien to them;

anticipation is lost

on such as these types.

They drink while they wait

and then push their way forward,

to seize the best views,

shoving past others

who have queued up patiently.

Discrimination

is lacking.  Anything thrills.

They can’t wait for the next show.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Handwriting of the Dead

28 Thursday Sep 2017

Posted by Candia in Nostalgia, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

calligraphy, despondency, handwriting, Japanese poetry, Longevity

File:Genji emaki YOKOBUE Ms.JPG

 

 

 

The dead’s handwriting

has power to affect us.

The ink was as fresh

as if only yesterday

the brush had been dipped.

He blurred the paper with tears

and re-read her words;

then consigned them to the flames.

Smoke spiralled to the heavens.

He no longer craved

longevity from the gods.

As the snow drifted,

his despondency increased.

The end of the year approached.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Dutiful Visits

25 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Humour, Literature, Nostalgia, Poetry, Relationships, Romance, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

choka, Japanese poetry, Lady Hitachi, Murasaki Shikibu, Seidensticker, Tale of Genji

 

(Wikipedia.  Murasaki Shikibu portrait

Author: Kano Takanobu; )WalkerPlus)

 

When the letter came,

he did not let her see it.

It was pathetic,

but he saved the woman’s face;

she was a princess!

Murasaki was unique –

she should understand.

But why was he so nervous

if the other meant nothing?

Lady Hitachi

is the one he visits now.

No woman need fret:

she has a ginormous nose!

There is no competition.

 

(I have used Edward Seidensticker’s translation of

‘The Tale of Genji’ throughout.  I have taken his prose

and cut, paraphrased and transformed the material,

re-shaping it into chokas and tankas.  My intention was

to capture the spirit of the tale, but to return it to poetry

by using traditional Japanese forms.

Seidensticker made the work accessible to me, for which

I am indebted.)

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Lavender

25 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by Candia in art, Arts, Literature, Poetry, Romance, Writing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Genji, Japanese poetry, Murasaki, Peeping Tom

 

Genji seeks healing

for his burning fever but,

like a Peeping Tom,

he spies on all the ladies :

Murasaki is his choice.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Muntjac

21 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Candia in Animals, Environment, Nature, Poetry, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bussokusekika, Dumbleton Hall, Japanese poetry, Muntjac

My first example of Bussokusekika.  All you Japanese poetry experts

out there, have I got it right?  I am using the structure 5,7,5,7,7,7.

 

Male Reeves's muntjac at Dumbleton Hall

(Photo by Nilfinian… at Dumbleton Hall.

Wikipedia)

 

Muntjac deer, freeze-framed,

hoping that you are unseen;

your ears are alert.

Every sound I make, you hear.

Your rasping bark at mid-night

lets me know you are still there.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

My name is Candia. Its initial consonant alliterates with “cow” and there are connotations with the adjective “candid.” I started writing this blog in the summer of 2012 and focused on satire at the start.

Interspersed was ironic news comment, reviews and poetry.

Over the years I have won some international poetry competitions and have published in reputable small presses, as well as reviewing and reading alongside well- established poets. I wrote under my own name then, but Candia has taken me over as an online persona. Having brought out a serious anthology last year called 'Its Own Place' which features poetry of an epiphanal nature, I was able to take part in an Arts and Spirituality series of lectures in Winchester in 2016.

Lately I have been experimenting with boussekusekeika, sestinas, rhyme royale, villanelles and other forms. I am exploring Japanese themes at the moment, my interest having been re-ignited by the recent re-evaluations of Hokusai.

Thank you to all my committed followers whose loyalty has encouraged me to keep writing. It has been exciting to meet some of you in the flesh- in venues as far flung as Melbourne and Sydney!

Copyright Notice

© Candia Dixon Stuart and Candiacomesclean.wordpress.com, 2012-2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Candia Dixon Stuart and candiacomesclean.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Recent Posts

  • Giant Hogweed
  • Willow Witch
  • Marbled Whites
  • Friar’s Court, Clanfield
  • Bee Orchid

Archives

  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012

Categories

  • Animals
  • Architecture
  • art
  • Arts
  • Autumn
  • Bible
  • Celebrities
  • Community
  • Crime
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Family
  • Fashion
  • Film
  • gardens
  • History
  • Home
  • Horticulture
  • Hot Wings
  • Humour
  • Industries
  • James Bond films
  • Jane Austen
  • Language
  • Literature
  • Media
  • Music
  • mythology
  • Nature
  • News
  • Nostalgia
  • Olympic Games
  • Parenting
  • Personal
  • Philosophy
  • Photography
  • Poetry
  • Politics
  • Psychology
  • Relationships
  • Religion
  • Romance
  • Satire
  • Sculpture
  • short story
  • short story
  • Social Comment
  • Sociology
  • Sport
  • Spring
  • St Swithun's Day
  • Summer
  • Summer 2012
  • Supernatural
  • Suttonford
  • television
  • Tennis
  • Theatre
  • Travel
  • urban farm
  • White Horse
  • winter
  • Writing

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

acrylic acrylic painting acrylics Alex Salmond Andy Murray Ashmolean Australia Autumn barge Blenheim blossom Border Terrier Boris Johnson Bourbon biscuit boussokusekika Bradford on Avon Brassica British Library Buscot Park charcoal Charente choka clerihew Cotswolds David Cameron dawn epiphany Fairford France FT funghi Genji George Osborne Gloucestershire Golden Hour gold leaf Hampshire herbaceous borders Hokusai husband hydrangeas Jane Austen Kelmscott Kirstie Allsopp Lechlade Murasaki Shikibu mushrooms National Trust NSW Olympics Oxford Oxfordshire Pele Tower Pillow Book Prisma reflections Roger Federer Sculpture Shakespeare sheep Spring Spring flowers still life Suttonford Tale of Genji Thames Thames path Theresa May Victoria watercolour William Morris willows Wiltshire Winchester Cathedral winter

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,575 other followers

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Candia Comes Clean
    • Join 1,575 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Candia Comes Clean
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: