japanese love poems
Monday, 23. July 2007, 17:57:48
This was a labor of love for me. first of all because it was an
assignment given to me by my wife, jean bennett, who was also
the editor. she gave me a pile of translated japanese poems
that she had collected and asked if i wanted to do the
illustrations for the book.
doubleday & company, inc., was publishing gift books and had
already brought out collections from the portugese and
chinese love poems.
i took it very seriously and spent a long time preparing.
serendipitously, the metropolitan museum of art in new york
city was just having two special shows, (the kind with twenty
foot banners billowing from the pediment of the main
entrance}.one show was 'ukiyo-e' woodblock prints. the other
was 'momoyama' screens. i devoured all of these masterpieces
with my eyes until the japanese style was imbedded in my
repertoir of imagery. i began to imagine that i had been
japanese in a past life.
then i went to work and painted four of the watercolors for the
book. i couldn't feel like illustrating any of the other poems.
they were elusive and without specific visions. so with jean's
permission, i began to research japanese poetry. in the
process of finding four more poems that stimulated my
imagination, i doubled the number of poems in the collection. i
poured through hundreds of books at the library of the 'met',
columbia university and the main public library at 42nd st.
some of these books were ancient treasures.
reading reading
reading... sketching sketching sketching. it was four months
before i ever even touched a brush. then i began to produce
eight watercolors and eight black sumi-e chapter dividers.
it was by the sea of iwami
where the clinging ivy creeps across
the rocks,
by the waters of cape kara
a land remote as the speech of far
cathay--
yes, there where the seaweed grows,
clinging to rocks fathoms beneath the
waves,
and where on the stony strand
the seaweed glows like polished gems.
my young wife dwells there
who like seaweed bent to the current
of love,
the girl who slept beside me
soft and lithesome as the gem-like
water plants.
now those nights seem few
when we held each other close in sleep.
we parted unwillingly,
clinging to each other like ivey creepers;
my heart ached and swelled
against the ribs that would hold it,
and when my yearning drew me
to pause, look back, and see her,
once again
waving her sleeves in farewell,
they were already taken from my sight,
hidden by the leaves
falling like a curtain in their yellow whirl
at the crest of mount watari,
a crest like a wave's that bears a
ship away.
although i longed for her--
as for the voyaging moon when it glides
into a rift of clouds
that swallow it up on mount
yakima, where,
they say, men retire with their wives--
i took my lonely way, watching the sun
coursing through the sky
till it sank behind the mountains,
though i always thought
myself a man with a warrior's heart,
i found that my sleeves--
wide as they were, like our bedclothes--
were all soaked through with tears.
ENVOYS
my gray-white horse
has carried me at so swift a pace
that i have left behind
the place where my beloved dwells
beneath the cloudland of the distant sky.
o you yellow leaves
that whirl upon the autumn slopes--
if only for a moment
do not whirl down in such confusion,
that i may see where my beloved dwells.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (8th century)
NARA PERIOD
assignment given to me by my wife, jean bennett, who was also
the editor. she gave me a pile of translated japanese poems
that she had collected and asked if i wanted to do the
illustrations for the book.
doubleday & company, inc., was publishing gift books and had
already brought out collections from the portugese and
chinese love poems.
i took it very seriously and spent a long time preparing.
serendipitously, the metropolitan museum of art in new york
city was just having two special shows, (the kind with twenty
foot banners billowing from the pediment of the main
entrance}.one show was 'ukiyo-e' woodblock prints. the other
was 'momoyama' screens. i devoured all of these masterpieces
with my eyes until the japanese style was imbedded in my
repertoir of imagery. i began to imagine that i had been
japanese in a past life.
then i went to work and painted four of the watercolors for the
book. i couldn't feel like illustrating any of the other poems.
they were elusive and without specific visions. so with jean's
permission, i began to research japanese poetry. in the
process of finding four more poems that stimulated my
imagination, i doubled the number of poems in the collection. i
poured through hundreds of books at the library of the 'met',
columbia university and the main public library at 42nd st.
some of these books were ancient treasures.
reading reading reading... sketching sketching sketching. it was four months
before i ever even touched a brush. then i began to produce
eight watercolors and eight black sumi-e chapter dividers.
it was by the sea of iwami
where the clinging ivy creeps across
the rocks,
by the waters of cape kara
a land remote as the speech of far
cathay--
yes, there where the seaweed grows,
clinging to rocks fathoms beneath the
waves,
and where on the stony strand
the seaweed glows like polished gems.
my young wife dwells there
who like seaweed bent to the current
of love,
the girl who slept beside me
soft and lithesome as the gem-like
water plants.
now those nights seem few
when we held each other close in sleep.
we parted unwillingly,
clinging to each other like ivey creepers;
my heart ached and swelled
against the ribs that would hold it,
and when my yearning drew me
to pause, look back, and see her,
once again
waving her sleeves in farewell,
they were already taken from my sight,
hidden by the leaves
falling like a curtain in their yellow whirl
at the crest of mount watari,
a crest like a wave's that bears a
ship away.
although i longed for her--
as for the voyaging moon when it glides
into a rift of clouds
that swallow it up on mount
yakima, where,
they say, men retire with their wives--
i took my lonely way, watching the sun
coursing through the sky
till it sank behind the mountains,
though i always thought
myself a man with a warrior's heart,
i found that my sleeves--
wide as they were, like our bedclothes--
were all soaked through with tears.
ENVOYS
my gray-white horse
has carried me at so swift a pace
that i have left behind
the place where my beloved dwells
beneath the cloudland of the distant sky.
o you yellow leaves
that whirl upon the autumn slopes--
if only for a moment
do not whirl down in such confusion,
that i may see where my beloved dwells.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (8th century)
NARA PERIOD
(6%)
WIDGETIZE
Allan # 23. July 2007, 19:22
Illustrating love-poems. That´s grand. You´re very skilled - and have been for a long time obviously
scott cumming # 23. July 2007, 19:27
☜☞Sarah☜☞ # 24. July 2007, 04:54
Such a thing for a man to admit! Even if not completely true, if only in the love poem...such as thing.
Sarah
scott cumming # 24. July 2007, 05:00
i know what you mean. i used to brag "i haven't cried since i was thirteen."
now i wish i could cry. i remember how good it felt after you got that all out.
anyway, i have laughed until i cried.
Cheryl # 24. July 2007, 12:41
I hope one day you'll be able to cry again.
scott cumming # 24. July 2007, 15:07
Quentin S Crisp # 24. July 2007, 17:27
Thanks very much for posting this. That's a great illustration, and the translations quoted are some of the better ones I've read (unfortunately some of them can be quite bad, written by second rate academics).
I will have to look out for the book.
solid copper # 24. July 2007, 23:52
Michael and Gwen # 27. July 2007, 16:06
M & G
Eliane a/k/a Elly # 28. July 2007, 21:04
The poems are sweet, very graphic, and I like that they don't rhyme in English. Do they rhyme in Japanese?
scott cumming # 29. July 2007, 06:40
and i regret to say that i do not know if they rhyme in japanese. i am not even sure that japanese poetry rhymes at all.
all the research i did was of poems already translated.
i appreciate your coming solid copper... just a little mystified by your impatience with reading poetry. has life become so fast?
m&g welcome back. thank you for the compliment.
quentincrisp... amazon has many copies. i keep giving them away. but there are some out there. the last one i bought cost me forty dollars. this is interesting... my wife told me that doubleday burned thousands of copies of this book. for some reason, i don't know. maybe because there are a few bared breasts?
solid copper # 29. July 2007, 08:15
scott cumming # 29. July 2007, 09:03
but i understand your meaning. it must be irritating to read a translation into english of something which is so much better in it's original form.
Lois # 30. July 2007, 19:15
Kimberly # 2. August 2007, 07:20
and if i can find the book, u can best believe that i'd buy it as well.
edited @ 3:30 am
here's a link that you may find interesting as well, scott...and this is where i will get my copy from.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330033228723
scott cumming # 2. August 2007, 09:24
naturally, for sentimental reasons, since she has passed on. i bid on it at the price of $35.00 which i can ill afford. but this is very important to me.
so i went to amazon.com. they have two copies in good condition for $18.
the last copy i bought for a friend cost me $47.00 weird how these things work.
so here's the link for you to get a copy of the book for less than the ebay auction price.
that way we won't be bidding against each other. o.k.? and you will be saving money in the long run.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000GL2TO8/ref=sr_1_olp_4/002-8731769-9024018?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186045869&sr=8-4
Kimberly # 2. August 2007, 09:36
i can do the e-bay one as a buy now with my pay pal account...which i would gladly do for you, if u don't mind.
scott cumming # 2. August 2007, 09:40
Kimberly # 2. August 2007, 11:47
as for repayment or commission or whatever u want to call it, just look at it this way...
friendship is priceless,
to put a price on friendship,
would be like putting a price on a persons head.
KIM
scott cumming # 2. August 2007, 19:26
this dialogue has been fun. do i dare publish my pm, with my address? no i will take my address out, and publish my side of the dialogue. or should i? maybe i will make a new post of the material with samples from the books.
i don't know... have to think.
Kimberly # 3. August 2007, 01:36
leave the rest private, like it was meant to b.
scott cumming # 3. August 2007, 02:17
Kimberly # 6. August 2007, 21:23
scott cumming # 6. August 2007, 21:38
Kimberly # 6. August 2007, 22:05
Anonymous # 3. June 2008, 16:55
beautiful!
Anonymous # 4. October 2008, 21:10
nice i like it very intresting good job kudos to you
scott cumming # 4. October 2008, 23:14
Anonymous # 16. October 2008, 09:35
i think its beautiful,your illustrations are so moving
theoracle2006 # 4. March 2009, 02:36
Thanks for keeping this site up. Every so often I think about the originals and wonder where they are.
Maureen Nelson
Olympia, WA
scott cumming # 4. March 2009, 02:57
i remember bob and anita telling the story about how you had come accross the book. it's too bad i wasn't in contact with you because you could have had your pick. i only have two left. the rest were sold to survive a couple of years of homelessness on the venice beach boardwalk. i was starving and sold them one by one for as little as $20 apiece.
i sold one to a friend who sent it to her mother in new york for a christmas present. that was the one in this post. the young man leaving his new bride and looking back through the falling leaves.
wow, so cool.... now you have found opera. my opera experience has done a lot to keep me connected with others.
thank you so much for commenting. you really made my day, as they say.
also to answer your question... my hungryeyegraphics.com (link on sidebar for I_ArtMan) but i have larger resolution files on disc.
i don't want to promise too much until i can be sure i can find them in the pile of back-ups. it will be a project. from digital photos of the originals even a lifesize print could be generated i think.
Quentin S Crisp # 4. March 2009, 12:11
scott cumming # 4. March 2009, 20:35
Quentin S Crisp # 4. March 2009, 20:39
scott cumming # 4. March 2009, 21:02
Quentin S Crisp # 4. March 2009, 22:57
scott cumming # 4. March 2009, 23:28
Anonymous # 3. November 2009, 09:58
may I know the title of the poem? Its so beautiful
scott cumming # 3. November 2009, 18:08
Anonymous # 26. November 2009, 10:04
nice poem!
scott cumming # 26. November 2009, 20:48