Tanka
Celadon jar
filled with sweet-scented leaves
of Eglantine . . .
remember our last meeting
in the English countryside?
Lu
Shih
Year of the Dragon
Weather forecast: sunny and windy.
Swirling above the open field,
March snow glitters and falls,
A mimicry of mica dust.
Between spasms of wind/snow coupling,
The blank expanse is still;
Somewhere a snowplow makes contact
With the Dragon’s lashing tail.
*Lu Shih:
(Chinese, 'regulated song') A verse form popular in China in
the t'ang and Sung dynasties. It was also referred to as the
chin-t'i shih to keep the term distinct from the ku-shih or
'old songs.' The verse was characterized by extensive
parallelism and an elaborate tonal pattern. This formal
structure also influenced the fu or 'prose poem' of later
centuries (Super
Glossary).
Lu
shih poetry comprises two or more
sets of balanced parallel couplets of five or seven
syllables to a line. This poetic form was developed and
established during the T'ang dynasty and has elements in
common with its Japanese cousin, the haiku. Initially, the
lu shih began as part of a longer work, but
eventually became its own poetic form in isolation. The
lu shih examines juxtaposed images to create its
effect, especially contrasting images. The lu shih
differs from the haiku in that it is not static;
that is, rather than examine the still image of a single
moment, the lu shih is freighted with action.(Humanities:
EDSITEment! Lu Shih—The Couplets of T’ang)
