A Wolf in Firefly's Clothing?

[Gabi Greve]

It says in the Japanese reference,  about the use of kigo.
You can also decuct it from the grammar

ookami ni
hotaru ga hitotsu
tsuite ita


hotaru GA
ookami NI

But never mind, that would lead too far into language explanation.
(Maybe you start some online lessons for Japanese ? )

Gabi

[AlanSummers]

On a tangent or two or may segue:

I also wonder if the original sightings of fireflies and wolves gave substance to the concept of firefoxes?

Secondly I'd be mor interested in why Tohta Kaneko's C word haiku was so important. I've only spotted it in English/Japanese once on the Internet and can't locate it again.

Is that haiku so important because it dispelled the myth amongst the Japanese populace at large that haiku isn't fluffy nature or fluffy kitten land.

A lot of hobby haiku in Japan is like the equivalent of Westerners being Victorianesque I believe.

Alan

[Peter Yovu]

If I had had a dream in which I experienced a wolf and a firefly, I would think it a very powerful dream indeed, and a gift, though I may be assuming too much. Insofar as how one apprehends a dream may be helpful in looking at a poem like this, it is the atmosphere with which an image is imbued that is telling (and untellable). And atmosphere will be imbued with feeling. We know, I suppose, that the appreciation of any haiku worth its salt, requires a slowing down, or a suspension of such things as reason and the need to know or be certain. A poem like this may require something additional, crossing a threshold into an altered, or atmospheric state. It requires, for one, entering the darkness of night, or else the firefly is not visible. In that place, perhaps, a wolf is of the darkness: the night is its substance. How can I say that? Because I see by the light of a firefly.

[Don Baird]

A wolf;
one firefly clinging to it
                —Kaneko Tohta

I believe this poem is a direct reference to the author himself.  The wolf has been extinct in Japan for a long time.  Unless he is reminiscing something of a personal experience (I highly doubt), then the poem is one of self reflection (spiritually) or fantasy.  I prefer to ponder the idea that the poet is self reflecting ... seeing himself as the wolf (on the brink of extinction/death) and referencing his spirit clinging to his own life and guiding the way.  The spiritual importance of the firefly cannot be ignored here but the use of it in conjunction of the wolf is superbly more powerful.  Another aspect that imparts a huge hint as to the poets mindset/intent is the use of just "one firely".  This poem could have easily read "fireflies cling to it" ... etc.  Being so specific as to one firefly is an example of craftsmanship, intent and the possible self reference to Tohta himself.

Don

[Lorin]

Hi All:

Today's Per Diem poem is

A wolf;
one firefly clinging to it
                —Kaneko Tohta

This has been acclaimed as a very powerful poem in the Japanese. Does it retain this power in English? What do you think?

j

Jim,
I'd be interested to know why this poem has been acclaimed as a very powerful poem in the Japanese, who has acclaimed it and what they said in support of their acclamation. I suspect there are several layers, and perhaps it's also technically an admirable poem in Japanese, but of course I can only guess.

Thanks, Gabi, for your response...ok, the main season is indicated in the grammar...that's enough for me.  8) (So late in my life & so much to learn, learning Japanese isn't one of the priorities. ) Might I ask you one more thing? I imagine 'firefly' is one of the older kigo that has a hon'i embedded in it: can you tell us about this hon'i?

- Lorin

[Gabi Greve]

Firefly
http://worldkigo2005.blogspot.com/2005/06/fireflies-hotaru-05.html

Sorry, no time for more, we are just fighting a day of snow and the night to come will be more snow ...


One clue :

If someone were to make a haiga of this poem, where would you place the ONE firefly,
the one spark in the life of an ageing "wolf" ?

btw, we have "personification" , but what if a human compares himself to animals,
is that "animalification" ?

Tohta sensei is one of the best-loved haiku personalities in Japan, entertaining us all for years with regular TV appearances, talking freely about his life and his "wild" side (yasei).
I guess that is one reason why the poem is so famous in Japan.

http://wkdhaikutopics.blogspot.com/2007/03/kaneko-tohta.html

Gabi

[AlanSummers]

Gabi said:

SNIP

One clue :

If someone were to make a haiga of this poem, where would you place the ONE firefly,
the one spark in the life of an ageing "wolf" ?

SNIP

Gabi

Kuniharu Shimizu has already done this. ;-)

Alan

[Gabi Greve]

aaa Alan , why spoil the fun ???



well, Kuniharu sensei shared his work with the WKD
http://wkdhaikutopics.blogspot.com/2011/02/kaneko-tohta-wolf-haiku.html


Don't peek before you have made up your own image !

Gabi




.

[Lorin]

well, I haven't seen anyone's haiga on this, and rather than looking it up, Gabi, I can tell you where I imagined the firefly when I read the poem.

I saw it clinging to the wolf's tail. Why, I don't know...maybe because the wolf is extinct, but still has some sort of presence in people's minds, like the thylacine, and the firefly is endangered in Japan and would be gone too, if both the government and private enthusiasts didn't breed and release them.

Very sad to know those little island wolves are extinct, and the means by which this was achieved. My dog (I could never bring myself to have another dog) when I was a kid was poisoned with a strychnine bait.

I'll look at the links, see if I can find the hon'i.

Nope, still can't find the hon'i, 'essence' or the like, though I appreciate the additions you made to the firefly page. I understand that it has a lot of associations in Japan, but can't find anything equivalent to 'the joyfulness of Spring' or the like, the 'code' part.


ps... I'm not in facebook, so someone will have to tell me about the haiga.  8)
- Lorin

[chibi575]

A parody to demonstrate

alight
on a mountain wolf --
a rednecked bug

Without both the cultural and current history of Kaneko Tohta's poem, much would be lost to many readers.

old pond:
a Thoreau'n
frog

PONDer this?

(Deepest respect to all authors referenced).

[Lorin]

alight
on a mountain wolf --
a rednecked bug

ok, thanks, I think I get the picture... Tohta's poem is about Tohta?

Yours is funny, Dennis.  :) A good parody, if it's on the right track...& I suspect that it is.

(ps...you don't need the 'proper grammar' in yours. I believe the expression is just 'redneck'?...'redneck bug', lose the '-ed' for authenticity/ plausibility. )

- Lorin

[chibi575]

Lorin...  I think, that's the original translation to English, "red-necked" bug/insect.

http://books.google.com/books?id=z460V-B1HrYC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=Basho+firefly+haiku&source=bl&ots=zWpomkOtVQ&sig=fY_bllNBkZfDeVWsT_xp4DYrUuI&hl=en&ei=I19bTcSQAoHMgQf_gK2iDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Basho%20firefly%20haiku&f=false

This is the google link I found.

[Lorin]

ooops... ok, Dennis, I've looked at the translation you provided...'red-necked insect'. It's not clear to me who the translator for that one is.

;D 'redneck[ed] bug' takes it to a whole different place! Interesting variation, though. 8)

- Lorin

[Mary Stevens]

Hi, Jim.

Can you recommend some sources that discuss its power for the Japanese?

It feels powerful to me, but I cannot articulate why. Something about the juxtaposition between solitariness and calling out—but very quiet and in the way of things. And the combination of two ways of being intense: with physical strength and speed and with luminescence and flashiness. And the incredible rarity of the poet getting to witness this unlikely and beautiful pairing.

I know nothing of its symbolism to the Japanese, and doubt that symbolism is really why they perceive it as powerful. I also doubt that the wolf's potential extinction came into play when it was first written, though it certainly adds poignancy for present-day readers.

Thanks,

Mary

[beagset]

Hi Jim,
  a belated hello,belated reply. Many persons being global travelers, able to hike the American rockies or anywhere where wolves still exist, may have encountered a lone wolf. At first I thought this as powerful as Basho's " a crow has perched" ku. the wolf in its dark world has a firefly cling to it. but then I learned this could possibly be a second hand moment--desktop about an unfortunate extinct animal. Therefore,
I would wish the poet to invoke a more honest approach:

my dream:
on the wolf
a firefly clings



or if it is a statue:


on a stone wolf
a firefly clings
then moves on...


better for the firefly to pick a living creature of flesh and blood now than to attach itself to celebrity or extinct mammal. I've read that one specie of firefly lure other fireflies to their death by a mimic of a certain light that attract males looking to mate--then chomp--the unsentimental end and dinner for the trickster.
   Nature is what it is. I find the sketch from life avoids celebrity-facade or self-identification. Every poet is a local poet ruled over by nature rather than by mind. Put me in the Basho or Shiki camp where
haiku refer to world rather than to ego. Not that you can't write subjectively with certain thoughts about history or things no longer--just that I don't want to rely on biographical knowledge, a country of myths. Associations without season words or location usually wind up senryu or parody. enjoyed this thread, paul cordeiro