haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering! 7th September.

haikaiTALKS: haiku aesthetics - YŪGEN | a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree

host: Lev Hart

7th September 2024

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree

Haiku Aesthetics: YŪGEN 1

Your host for haikaiTALKS Lev Hart

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Aesthetics: YŪGEN 1

Marilyn Ashbaugh's haiku introduces us to yūgen, an aesthetic ideal in which beauty is tinged with mystery, awe or wonder:

       reaching down

       to feed the baby

       Milky Way

       (HAIKUsutradhar, Nov. 17, 2023.)

A baby is new, while the Milky Way is ancient. The Milky Way is vast and self-sustaining. A baby is small and dependent. The relationship between an infant and her caregiver is intimate, while the galaxy is endlessly distant. Marilyn’s images have one thing in common: An infant can equal the stars in evoking mystery, awe and wonder.

Is a mother about to feed her child under the stars, or is the Milky Way itself reaching down to nurse the baby? marilyn is too good a poet to dispel the mystery. She writes in the spirit of Basho’s dictum, “The haiku that reveals seventy to eighty percent of its subject is good. Those that reveal fifty to sixty percent, we never tire of." As if in response to Basho’s question, “What is the use of saying everything?” marilyn shows us what can be achieved by saying just enough.

Should you accept it, your mission is to write two haiku with yūgen. Be careful not to say too much, and remember the kigo. When has nature filled you with mystery, wonder and awe?

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Thank you for doing this for us, Lev.

Members,

Please give your feedback on others' commentary and poems too. _()_

This is an exciting phase for haikaiTALKS! Have fun! Keep writing and commenting! _kala