Carpe Diem – Ghost Writer #13 – June 18, 2014

Today Kuheli’s Ghost Writer post is written about a haiku poetess, Chiyo-Ni or Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703 – 1775).  Here’s some of what Kuheli has to say about Chiuo-Ni:

She showed a childhood gift for poetry and had already gained fame for her haiku while she was still a teenager. Her early haiku were influenced by Basho and his students, though as a haikai poet in later period she developed her own unique style but her verses were mostly dealing with nature. In later period of her life, around 1755 Chiyo-ni became a Buddhist nun.

 

On the post there are two examples of Chiyou-ni’s haiku, one given by Chèvrefeulle in his introduction and the other by Kuheli:

taoraruru hito ni kaoru ya ume no hana

the flowering branch of the plum
gives its scent
to him who broke it off

© Chiyo-Ni

 

suzushisa ya / suso karamo fuku / yabu tatami

the coolness
on the bottom of her kimono
in the bamboo grove

© Chiyo-ni

 

Chiyo-ni

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Now I will try to write in the style of this great poetess:

sweet wet grass
cooling sore feet
of the weary pilgrim

soft silk robes
whispering as she walks
among the roses

jasmin perfumed air
after the rainstorm
petals on the ground

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For more information on the post please click Carpe Diem Haiku Kai – Ghost Writer # 13 Kuheli

For a selection of poems written by Chiyo-ni pleas click HERE