A sedoka is a poem created by writing two katauta or stanza of 5/7/7 syllables … each stanza is a stand alone poem, but they complete themselves being placed together.
The Four Seasons by Vivaldi is one of my favorite pieces by this composer! This is Summer …from Carpe Diem’s Haiku Kai Special for this lovely musical prompt. I decided to write not a normal haiku or tanka for this post but a sedoka with a haiku.
Summer
humid haziness
sun drenched morning dawns brightly
changeling northern Italy
sudden thunder-storms
swallows spiral in the wind
inconstant summer nature
teeming life
sun bursts through dark clouds
rain drenched bees
Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice the fourth of March 1678 and died on the 28th of July 1741. He was the son of a barber, who loved music and taught his son to play the violin when he was very young. He showed an early aptitude for music. He is now considered a master of Baroque composition, unfortunately in his day though he had a certain amount of success, he died in poverty.
Two points struck me when I looked into Vivaldi’s life:
The first being that there are no biographies of Vivaldi before the 20th century, because after his death his music fell into obscurity to only be revived in the 20th century!
The second is that he was an ordained Catholic priest though this really shouldn’t have surprised me, most of the lower class children were sent to the seminary when they showed special talents which their family couldn’t afford to develop. For more about Antonio Vivaldi follow this Wikipedia Link.
Here’s another musical link to a piece by Vivaldi, maybe less know, but very beautiful. I think you’ll enjoy it:
walking through these woods
each night in my winter dreams
birds uplift my soul
meeting with my love
though his face I’ve never seen
summer’s rose blossoms
taiko and flute
blessing this cold day with warmth
rhythmic tapping smile
drummer and flutist
on my iPod make me skip
warming winter sun
This was born from an inspiring piece of music that Chevrefeuille introduced this morning on his post Carpe Diem Haiku Kai:
I noticed of course that in the prompt Chevrefeuille wrote two haiku for the music, so I too did the same…but I put them together and so it’s now a Sedoka 🙂 I’ve often seen Carpe Diem Haiku Kai over the weeks and have been inspired by the prompts which are very imaginative and stimulating. If you want to try your hand at haiku…and more perhaps, I think that you might enjoy this blog too. Have a look.
From Sahm King at WDBWP a new poetry prompt: take a look at the two images provided and write a poem about your first impression…in Sahm’s words:
“What poetry, if any, do the images evoke? Don’t confine yourselves to a particular theme based on the image. Instead, write a piece based on your very first impression, regardless of what that impression is and even if it has nothing at all to do with the image. Write what you feel right off the bat.”
The photos:
Autumn in the hood
Autumn in the hood 2
Sedoka
sharp autumn colors
cowled figure beyond the fence
contemplating life
summer’s sad passing
cold uncertainties abound
early snow this year
My life goes forever onward
Whether I try or I just drift
Like wood that navigates the ford
My life goes forever onward
Whether I’m entertained or bored
Or if I curse or pray the Lord
My life goes forever onward
Whether I try or I just drift.
Sedoka
Afternoon
This morning’s bright sun
Hid behind the clouds at noon.
My heart grew heavy, tears fell.
My thoughts were of you,
Hiding yourself inside clouds
To protect your soul from life.
"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists" Eric Hoffner
Noreen Crone-Findlay talks about the crafts she loves with her friend, Tottie Tomato. They'll be sharing tutorials, how to's and step by steps for spool knitting, crochet, doll making, small loom weaving, wood working, paper crafts and all manner of other fun crafts. This is a family friendly blog.
Carpe Diem's Tanka Splendor is part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. It's a weekly tanka-meme in which you can write and share tanka inspired on a given prompt every Saturday (mostlty, sometimes it will be on another day).
"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists" Eric Hoffner
Noreen Crone-Findlay talks about the crafts she loves with her friend, Tottie Tomato. They'll be sharing tutorials, how to's and step by steps for spool knitting, crochet, doll making, small loom weaving, wood working, paper crafts and all manner of other fun crafts. This is a family friendly blog.
Carpe Diem's Tanka Splendor is part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. It's a weekly tanka-meme in which you can write and share tanka inspired on a given prompt every Saturday (mostlty, sometimes it will be on another day).