WALKING

Shiki also wrote that the beginning poet should constantly take walks and travel all over, in every season. 

 
The subjects of his poems need not be restricted to famous places, however; if one looked about calmly and carefully, subjects could be found everywhere. 

Even in a little garden where one could take no more than than ten steps, the poet might find a new subject every day.  

Thus, it was not the poem-journey itself that was the absolute value, but the observation of nature:  the former was the means to the latter.

NOTE: 

A lot of my walking lately is done in my mind and I think I do it to relieve other nagging concerns that just won't quit. 

I walk in my sleep and talk in my sleep, but it’s fine because, as Shiki says, walking reveals and illuminates.

Walking the dogs tonight, I noticed how our tree array in the pre-summer evening light looks like the cover of the Yale Younger Poets edition of John Ashbery’s Some Trees I used to own, a book that once meant so much to me.

Music Link: Fats Domino -- Walking To New Orleans.

Able Was He

A March 9, 1816 letter written in English by French emperor Napoleon the 1st is presented Sunday, June 10, 2012 in Fontainebleau, South of Paris, before being auctioned. The letter was sold for €325 000 ($406 000). AP Photo/Remy de la Mauvinière.


By:   Thomas Adamson, Associated Press  FONTAINEBLEAU (AP).- 



   An illuminating letter written by Napoleon in English, sold at auction Sunday for €325,000 ($405,000), offers a window into the mind of the French emperor, struggling with syntax of the language of enemy Britain. The standard-sized sheet of paper is a homework exercise Napoleon sent to an English teacher for correction in 1816 and was sealed with the imperial eagle wax stamp. It's one of three such English-language letters by Napoleon in the world, according to the auction organizers, and was bought by Paris' Museum of Letters and Manuscripts in a dramatic bidding war near the Chateau of Fontainebleau, one of Napoleon's south of Paris. The selling price — five times what was predicted — suggests the document's historic value, as rare proof that Napoleon, who famously dismissed England as a "nation of shopkeepers," learned to speak the language of Shakespeare late in life. He wrote the letter while a captive by the British in the remote island of Saint Helena following his defeat at Waterloo, according to the Osenat auction house.

    The house's president, Jean-Pierre Osenat, says Napoleon's English lessons were "very noble, respectful." "He really had a great admiration for England, the rules and history. The English have the wrong idea: Napoleon didn't hate them, he was just a military man, and the French interests were different to the English," he said. But did admiration alone lead the empire-building Frenchman to learn English? It seems that vanity, too, may have played a role — and though he was stranded on the South Atlantic Ocean island, he still cared about what people thought.


    "Of course, he was always very worried about his image. He wanted to read what was said about him in the English press," added Osenat, with a wry smile. Whatever the reason and despite Napoleon's best efforts — months of hard study, often late into the night — the letter shows he still had some way to go in mastering the language of Shakespeare. It begins: "It's two o'clock after midnight, I have enow sleep, I go then finish the night with you." Napoleon addressed the letter to the Count Las Cases, his teacher, "at his bonk" — thought to be the word "bunk" misspelled. In a moment of surprising humility, Napoleon Bonaparte asks his teacher in the letter to indulge him and correct his mistakes. The document offers insight into the historical jigsaw puzzle of who Napoleon became when imprisoned and in exile. After defeat at Waterloo, under constant watch and allowed only a small entourage, the great leader became depressed and neared death.

   "It's very moving, since it's one of the last pieces of writings in English before his death," said 19th-century manuscript expert Alain Nicolas. "At the end he's written: 'Four o'clock in the morning,' so he wrote that in two hours. He took some time to write it. ... It shows he couldn't sleep and took his time. He had painful cancer in the stomach. He was an insomniac," Nicolas said. The letter shows a different face to Napoleon, pensive and in pain, than that of the feared emperor who conquered swathes of Europe. The hours he spent toiling on a mere 13-line sheet also reveal a Napoleon grappling with the many hours alone. "He had a lot of moments to sit and reflect in Saint Helena. Learning English was a way to fill his time. It was near the end of his life: he used it as a time to think about his life, his campaigns, regrets and remorse," Nicolas added. Napoleon died in island exile on May 5, 1821, aged 52.

 March 9, 1816 letter written in English by French emperor Napoleon the 1st is presented Sunday, June 10, 2012 in Fontainebleau, South of Paris, before being auctioned. The letter was sold euro 325 000, ($406 000). AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere. By: Thomas Adamson, Associated Press FONTAINEBLEAU (AP).- An illuminating letter written by Napoleon in English, sold at auction Sunday for €325,000 ($405,000), offers a window into the mind of the French emperor, struggling with syntax of the language of enemy Britain. The standard-sized sheet of paper is a homework exercise Napoleon sent to an English teacher for correction in 1816 and was sealed with the imperial eagle wax stamp. It's one of three such English-language letters by Napoleon in the world, according to the auction organizers, and was bought by Paris' Museum of Letters and Manuscripts in a dramatic bidding war near the Chateau of Fontainebleau, one of Napoleon's south of Paris. The selling price — five times what was predicted — suggests the document's historic value, as rare proof that Napoleon, who famously dismissed England as a "nation of shopkeepers," learned to speak the language of Shakespeare late in life. He wrote the letter while a captive by the British in the remote island of Saint Helena following his defeat at Waterloo, according to the Osenat auction house. The house's president, Jean-Pierre Osenat, says Napoleon's English lessons were "very noble, respectful." "He really had a great admiration for England, the rules and history. The English have the wrong idea: Napoleon didn't hate them, he was just a military man, and the French interests were different to the English," he said. But did admiration alone lead the empire-building Frenchman to learn English? It seems that vanity, too, may have played a role — and though he was stranded on the South Atlantic Ocean island, he still cared about what people thought. "Of course, he was always very worried about his image. He wanted to read what was said about him in the English press," added Osenat, with a wry smile. Whatever the reason and despite Napoleon's best efforts — months of hard study, often late into the night — the letter shows he still had some way to go in mastering the language of Shakespeare. It begins: "It's two o'clock after midnight, I have enow sleep, I go then finish the night with you." Napoleon addressed the letter to the Count Las Cases, his teacher, "at his bonk" — thought to be the word "bunk" misspelled. In a moment of surprising humility, Napoleon Bonaparte asks his teacher in the letter to indulge him and correct his mistakes. The document offers insight into the historical jigsaw puzzle of who Napoleon became when imprisoned and in exile. After defeat at Waterloo, under constant watch and allowed only a small entourage, the great leader became depressed and neared death. "It's very moving, since it's one of the last pieces of writings in English before his death," said 19th-century manuscript expert Alain Nicolas. "At the end he's written: 'Four o'clock in the morning,' so he wrote that in two hours. He took some time to write it. ... It shows he couldn't sleep and took his time. He had painful cancer in the stomach. He was an insomniac," Nicolas said. The letter shows a different face to Napoleon, pensive and in pain, than that of the feared emperor who conquered swathes of Europe. The hours he spent toiling on a mere 13-line sheet also reveal a Napoleon grappling with the many hours alone. "He had a lot of moments to sit and reflect in Saint Helena. Learning English was a way to fill his time. It was near the end of his life: he used it as a time to think about his life, his campaigns, regrets and remorse," Nicolas added. Napoleon died in island exile on May 5, 1821, aged 52.

More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=55927[/url]
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A March 9, 1816 letter written in English by French emperor Napoleon the 1st is presented Sunday, June 10, 2012 in Fontainebleau, South of Paris, before being auctioned. The letter was sold euro 325 000, ($406 000). AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere. By: Thomas Adamson, Associated Press FONTAINEBLEAU (AP).- An illuminating letter written by Napoleon in English, sold at auction Sunday for €325,000 ($405,000), offers a window into the mind of the French emperor, struggling with syntax of the language of enemy Britain. The standard-sized sheet of paper is a homework exercise Napoleon sent to an English teacher for correction in 1816 and was sealed with the imperial eagle wax stamp. It's one of three such English-language letters by Napoleon in the world, according to the auction organizers, and was bought by Paris' Museum of Letters and Manuscripts in a dramatic bidding war near the Chateau of Fontainebleau, one of Napoleon's south of Paris. The selling price — five times what was predicted — suggests the document's historic value, as rare proof that Napoleon, who famously dismissed England as a "nation of shopkeepers," learned to speak the language of Shakespeare late in life. He wrote the letter while a captive by the British in the remote island of Saint Helena following his defeat at Waterloo, according to the Osenat auction house. The house's president, Jean-Pierre Osenat, says Napoleon's English lessons were "very noble, respectful." "He really had a great admiration for England, the rules and history. The English have the wrong idea: Napoleon didn't hate them, he was just a military man, and the French interests were different to the English," he said. But did admiration alone lead the empire-building Frenchman to learn English? It seems that vanity, too, may have played a role — and though he was stranded on the South Atlantic Ocean island, he still cared about what people thought. "Of course, he was always very worried about his image. He wanted to read what was said about him in the English press," added Osenat, with a wry smile. Whatever the reason and despite Napoleon's best efforts — months of hard study, often late into the night — the letter shows he still had some way to go in mastering the language of Shakespeare. It begins: "It's two o'clock after midnight, I have enow sleep, I go then finish the night with you." Napoleon addressed the letter to the Count Las Cases, his teacher, "at his bonk" — thought to be the word "bunk" misspelled. In a moment of surprising humility, Napoleon Bonaparte asks his teacher in the letter to indulge him and correct his mistakes. The document offers insight into the historical jigsaw puzzle of who Napoleon became when imprisoned and in exile. After defeat at Waterloo, under constant watch and allowed only a small entourage, the great leader became depressed and neared death. "It's very moving, since it's one of the last pieces of writings in English before his death," said 19th-century manuscript expert Alain Nicolas. "At the end he's written: 'Four o'clock in the morning,' so he wrote that in two hours. He took some time to write it. ... It shows he couldn't sleep and took his time. He had painful cancer in the stomach. He was an insomniac," Nicolas said. The letter shows a different face to Napoleon, pensive and in pain, than that of the feared emperor who conquered swathes of Europe. The hours he spent toiling on a mere 13-line sheet also reveal a Napoleon grappling with the many hours alone. "He had a lot of moments to sit and reflect in Saint Helena. Learning English was a way to fill his time. It was near the end of his life: he used it as a time to think about his life, his campaigns, regrets and remorse," Nicolas added. Napoleon died in island exile on May 5, 1821, aged 52.

More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=55927[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org

PINE

to every needle

of the needled pine it clings --

the pearl white dew

forming but to scatter

scattering but to form 

matsu no ha no

ha goto ni musubu

shiratsuyu no    

okite wa kobore           

koborete wa oku                                   

                              

NOTE:   This Masaoka Shiki tanka from 1900 is one of a group of poems he composed about dew upon pine needles.  His translator and biographer, Janine Beichman, thinks this is the best of the series.  Like many people, I have strong feelings about and associations with pine trees.  Having always been up and out-and-about early, I easily recognize the phenomenon and experience  Shiki paints so beautifully and accurately here.  We’ve watched a number of  evergreens grow up from infancy at our house in Tuxedo, New York, both specimens the previous owner planted and our own Christmas trees, which mark all the years of Jane’s childhood.  

Probably my favorite is a tiny ornamental tree we picked up for a song that the grower certainly never meant for post-Christmas planting.  Seeing it standing from our terrace as a mature, but still small, strong, firmly rooted tree, among its now-giant siblings, is wonderful.


Shortly, much too soon for me, my dear daughter will be returning to Maine's  woods where she'll be among millions of fragrant pines, each an individual, but seen from above, from the windows of the low-flying airplanes bound for Portland for example, all part of a vibrant evergreen civilization.  We haven't many pines where we live in Pennsylvania.  I hope and expect Jane will "twig" the change and make friends with the trees in all their changes and all their constancy.   

 

The New Bronze Age

"I sometimes think that gastronomes are returning to bronze age practices.  The Apollonians had no gastronomic pretensions; nevertheless, after work in the summer, they repaired with a loaf of bread and a flask of wine to a little promontory of rock frequented by sea urchins (Paracentrotus livdus).  Picking them off the rocks underwater, they bashed in their prickle-covered shells with knife or stone, emptied them, then dipped some bread into the shell to extract their succulent orange ovaries to the accompaniment of jokes and laughter."

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Note:  Pretty brutal, I think, but honest and original, like everything in Honey From A Weed.  I came to love eating sea urchin a long time ago as part of a sushi menu, and at one point even tried (pretty fecklessly) to deal with them at home using the French device called a coupe-oursins, which purports to sheer off the shell-top, but doesn’t work perfectly, at least in my hands.  

I was surprised several years ago to read that the Japanese now purchase most of their uni from Maine fishermen because Americans haven’t discovered or don’t greatly care for the taste and texture of sea urchin.  Anyway, although sea urchin isn’t a caviar-league expense, I haven’t indulged in quite some time because it is certainly a luxury that seems out of place at the moment.  

As with most non-vegetable foods (and especially ones like oysters, which are consumed alive), I feel guilty for ever having eaten sea urchin, although I hope the uni world population will forgive me on Judgement Day and consider that they’ve gotten theirs back based on two painful episodes where I had to dig their poisonous spines out of my heel.  Even on a beautiful Sint Maarten beach, that was no picnic. 

Moon-Sane

 

 

 

  24.

Awed by her splendor

Stars near the lovely

moon cover their own

bright faces

                    when she

is roundest and lights

earth with her silver 

 

 

Best Days in June 2012

Below are the best days for activities, based on the Moon's sign and phase in June.

For Cutting Hay:

• 12, 13

For Setting Eggs:

• 8, 9

For Fishing:

• 1–4, 19–30

 

Poem:  Sappho.

Activity suggestions:  Farmers Almanac.

Illustrations:

Upper:   Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night Over The Rhône.

Second:  Georges Rouault, Christ On The Outskirts.

Third:   Leonardo da Vinci, Drawing Of The Moon.

Below:  Caspar David Friedrich, Man and Woman Contemplating The Moon.

NOTE:  I once posted a piece called Moonmad, which took its night-title from a mysterious, chthonic Max Ernst cast bronze sculpture to which I appended a crazed, but justified, ranting series of complaints.  This Sappho fragment finds (or renders) me Moon-Sane instead. 

I wish I had posted this earlier and I apologize to anyone possibly interested in fishing and egg-setting moments passed. I’m happy to learn there are future June dates to pursue these activities.  

This poem and these pictures right my skiff tonight.

Overpayment/Offset

My life and career have been far
 
Too interesting and

I find I've paid the price.

I have generally been much

Too nice and

I find I've paid the price.


Pursuant to our Agreement,

Which I would hereby like to cite,

I have overpaid and believe 


I am forthwith entitled to receive :
 
A)  A refund ; 

or, in the alternative

B)  A credit. 

Big Rat, Big Rat

 

 

Big rat, big rat,

Do not gobble our millet !

Three years we have slaved for you,

Yet you take no notice of us.

At last we are going to leave you

And go to that happy land ;

Happy land, happy land,

Where we shall have our place.

 Big rat, big rat,

Do not gobble our corn !

Three years we have slaved for you,

Yet you give us no credit.

At last we are going to leave you

And go to that happy kingdom ;

Happy kingdom, happy kingdom,

Where we shall get our due.

 

  

Big rat, big rat,

Do not eat our rice-shoots !

Three years we have slaved for you.

Yet  you did nothing to reward us.

At last we are going to leave you

And go to those happy borders ;

Happy borders, happy borders

Where no sad songs are sung.

From:  The Book Of Songs, translated from the Chinese by Arthur Waley, New York, Grove Press, 1960.

All images Banksy except below Blek-Le-Rat.