Today's Beautiful Gem: Some haikus on autumn by Japanese poets.

"Entering autumn, The painting of flowering plants
A daily task." - Shiki
"Sweeping them up, And then not sweeping them,--
The falling leaves." - Taigi
"At meal-time, in autumn: Through the open door,
The evening sun." - Chora
"A fine day of autumn; Smoke from something
Rises into the sky." - Shiki
"From far and near, Voices of waterfalls are heard,
Leaves falling." - Basho
"Rain over the autumn moon: Beneath the window,
Chestnuts pattering down." - Usen
"The voices of the bell Eddies through the mist,
In the morning twilight." - Basho
"The slanting sun: The shadow of a hill with a deer on it
Enters the temple gate." - Buson
"The coolness: The voice of the bell
As it leaves the bell!" - Buson
"An autumn night; Dreams, snores,
The chirping of crickets." - Suio
"Autumn's bright moon, However far I walked, still afar off
In an unknown sky." - Chiyo-Ni
"Not yet having become a Buddha, The ancient pine-tree,
Idly dreaming." - Issa
"Wisps of my hair Quivering together with the plumes
Of the pampas grass." - Issa

Note: This is what Tagore has to say on haiku: "There is not only
brevity of wording in these poems; there is also brevity of feeling
which is not disturbed by the heart's emotion; it may be called the
heart's economy. I think there is something deeply symbolical of
Japan in this." To an extent, Tagore himself modelled his volume
`Fireflies' based on the structure of haikus. I presented some a
few months ago (more later).

Om Santih! Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

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