Comments on: Matsuo Basho: a new hearing

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:23:24 +0000

Thanks for stopping by – glad you liked.

By: gautami

gautami — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:41:50 +0000

I liked the way you interpreted those. They too work so very well.
I am checking out those diffrent translations. Thanks for the link.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 00:49:51 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, y’all, and a warm welcome to those of you who are visiting for the first time! I know my first “remix” is the most successful as a free-standing poem, but if I’d put it last, you’d still be chuckling about the poor frog and it would ruin the effect. (In Pennsylvania, we tend to put mitigated, artificial wetlands right next to highways, thus negating most of their wildlife benefit. They probably do that elsewhere too, I don’t know.)

For what it’s worth, Basho’s frog hokku has probably been translated more times than the Bible. Here are thirty different English versions.

I just found a nifty public-domain illustration to add to the post.

By: poet with a day job

poet with a day job — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:24:41 +0000

amazing stanzas…I adore them all. And of course, the greatest compliment is that they make me want to go be in that green humidity and just listen. wonderful…

By: Regina Clare Jane

Regina Clare Jane — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:48:08 +0000

Yikes, watch out for that last one, little froggie!
These were wonderful, Dave! So glad to have visited you today!

By: Teju

Teju — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:49:20 +0000

Out at the clubs in the city, the sound you often hear is of the crowd crying “remix.” It’s a magic word now, which means something specific, but also functions as a spur to a good time. So, artists release original recordings prefaced with shouts of “remix! remix!”

It reminds me of street vendors (of CDs, DVDs) in Lagos who ask if you want the “original original” or the “fake original.”

I love remixes in general. And I like what you’ve done here, especially with (1) which reads like an original original.

By: pauline

pauline — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:33:38 +0000

I read the first and thought, Oh! I love this and then I read the second and on down to the last and then I loved them all.

By: Fred Garber

Fred Garber — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:13:34 +0000

Dave….very cool translation! Western poetry often has some romantic notions about the difference between the natural world and the manmade. I like the easy flow of your words and your world. The guerrilla poetry idea is tremenous. On my way to lunch at the chili dog place I will put up a poem somewhere.

By: Crafty Green Poet

Crafty Green Poet — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:51:03 +0000

I enjoyed your versions as much as the straight translations. Put together they really make us think about how much tranquillity we ‘ve lost in modern life