Friday, February 8, 2013

petals on a bough



The small bird
let a chirp
from its beak:
    I heard
woodnotes, whin-
gold, sudden.
The Lagan 
    blackbird.

The Blackbird of Belfast Lough

(Early Irish poem) The title of this post is from Seamus Heaney,
who sees a similarity between ancient Irish poetry and haiku.

"this worldness. ... Both are alert to their physical surroundings yet possess a strong sense of another world to which poetry promises access. In each case, it’s as if the poet is caught between the delights of the contingent and the invitations of the transcendent."


1 comment:

  1. A graceful photo. I like Heaney's thoughts about the literal and the transcendent.

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