I hear old owl huntfor early rising rabbits
in shreds of moonlight.
Wings lift the hair on my neck;
setting moon is wrapped in shawls.
Otagaki Rengetsu
One of my resolutions after I depart the firm in a week or so is to spend some time in the afternoons reading and studying a little book called Lotus Moon, the work of an eighteenth century Japanese Buddhist nun named Otagaki Rengetsu (Lotus Moon).
In life, Otagaki Rengetsu (born Otagaki Nabu) was not only an accomplished poet, potter, calligrapher and artist, but a master of the martial arts and an accomplished warrior who spent some years as a attendant (or guard) to a high nobleman of Kameoka. She withdrew from the world, entered a monastery and was ordained as a nun in her early thirties after the tragic deaths of two husbands and three infant children. John Stevens who translated Otagaki Rengetsu's poetry for Lotus Moon writes that she was "as capable of disarming intruders and subduing annoying drunks as she was at making poetry and performing the tea ceremony".
Rengetsu created her poems in an archaic verse form called waka which uses a syllable sequence of 5-7-5-7-7, and her work is both poignant and exquisite. Although she passed from this life many years ago, her voice is clear and melodious. She feels like a much loved sister, someone who has just departed one's home after a long and happy visit, leaving behind her a hint of fragrance and faint echoes of laughter.
The original of the first hanging scroll by Rengetsu which is shown here may be found online at: Bachmann Eckenstein Art and Antiques. Do visit the site, which is full of beautiful Asian art and ceramics.
The second image is usually called "Bridge and Maples" and may be seen at Artnet.
in shreds of moonlight.
Wings lift the hair on my neck;
setting moon is wrapped in shawls.
Otagaki Rengetsu
One of my resolutions after I depart the firm in a week or so is to spend some time in the afternoons reading and studying a little book called Lotus Moon, the work of an eighteenth century Japanese Buddhist nun named Otagaki Rengetsu (Lotus Moon).
In life, Otagaki Rengetsu (born Otagaki Nabu) was not only an accomplished poet, potter, calligrapher and artist, but a master of the martial arts and an accomplished warrior who spent some years as a attendant (or guard) to a high nobleman of Kameoka. She withdrew from the world, entered a monastery and was ordained as a nun in her early thirties after the tragic deaths of two husbands and three infant children. John Stevens who translated Otagaki Rengetsu's poetry for Lotus Moon writes that she was "as capable of disarming intruders and subduing annoying drunks as she was at making poetry and performing the tea ceremony".
Rengetsu created her poems in an archaic verse form called waka which uses a syllable sequence of 5-7-5-7-7, and her work is both poignant and exquisite. Although she passed from this life many years ago, her voice is clear and melodious. She feels like a much loved sister, someone who has just departed one's home after a long and happy visit, leaving behind her a hint of fragrance and faint echoes of laughter.The original of the first hanging scroll by Rengetsu which is shown here may be found online at: Bachmann Eckenstein Art and Antiques. Do visit the site, which is full of beautiful Asian art and ceramics.
The second image is usually called "Bridge and Maples" and may be seen at Artnet.
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