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Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Warm winter



"Within the year
Spring has come again;
The one year:
What should I say: that it's last year,
Or that it's the year to come?"

A waka by Ariwara no Motokata
Graciously made accessible by Dr. Thomas McAuley

3 comments:

R.L. Bourges said...

lovely, all of it.
And in my ongoing series "Polyglossia made easy", I point out that the British "ladybird", American "ladybug" translates into French as "coccinelle" or "bête à Bon Dieu" (God's bug); Added to a Japanese waka translated by a doctor in Limerick, I suggest tossing with a few dandelion greens for a perfect spring luncheon.
;-)

am said...

In the dark of this early morning in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, the rain is beginning to sound like spring rain. Three daffodil bulbs are up in one of the planters on my porch.

There are a few ladybugs who make their home in my home all winter. It is good to be going through a second winter accompanied by always engaging glimpses of "random ordinariness" seen in the light of the Southwest region of the United States through the eyes of Chatoyance.

Thanks so much for introduction to waka today.

Dale said...

I didn't even see the ladybug until the comments drew attention to it. I was so impressed by the William Morris patterning of the leaves -- quite wonderful, all filled-in, like medieval ornamentation.