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Sado Island

silk tree · 13 Apr 2003, 03:07 · from urth-v0304.mbox · original

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From: silk tree <albizia at feafaroth.org>
Subject: Re: (urth) Sado Island
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 22:07:31 -0500
Message-ID: <urth-v0304-3159 at digest.urth.net>
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On Saturday, April 12, 2003, at 04:46  PM, Alice K. Turner wrote:
> > http://www.worldhaikureview.org/pages/whcjapan15.shtml

> It is not a pastiche of Basho. It is the man himself (17th c.), and=20
> this is
> a very famous poem. Here are a few more translations.

I have been wondering why Wolfe translated the wild sea as
cold sea? I have not read the short story, maybe it would be obvious
if I had.

btw, that page where I found the Basho haiku explains about Sado island=20
and
the Star Festival:

"The Milky Way (according to an ancient legend associated with Star
Festival) excites pity for the Altair-Vega couple. They can meet  only
once a year at the time of the Star Festival called Tanabata in East=20
Asia.
Sado recalls the sadness of noble people who were exiled there, such as
the famous Noh-dancer Zeami or Saint Nichiren (Buddhist)."

I looked this up on google and found that the festival is on July 7th=20
(so
it's not in winter (was wondering if that could explain the cold.) but=20
one
interesting thing about the legend is that if it rains on that day, the=20
couple
will be prevented from meeting.

http://www.watanabegumi.co.jp/jpculture/tanabata/tanabata.html

the translations you found...I like this one the best.

       rough sea
       the Milky Way is crossing over
       to Sado

I am going to check my the book of haiku I have translated by Hass to=20
see
if this Basho is in there. I would like to see what he has to say about=20
it.

Anyway, in this poem since the sea is rough, perhaps it is raining. And
since it set on Sado, it is even more sad due to the mortal people who=20
are
exiled there.

> [...]      As you gathered from the six-year-ago posts, the other=20
> fragments are
> from Milton's "Il Pensoroso" and Tennyson's "Enoch Arden." I think the=20
> Basho
> poem and the Tsubaki tribute are both intended to evoke feelings of=20
> humility
> at our small place in the universe, which is certainly a theme in the=20
> Urth
> series.

mimosa


--=20




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