Cherry blossoms and "Essays in Idleness"

[betsuni]

"Should we look at the spring blossoms only in full flower, or the moon only when cloudless and clear? To long for the moon with the rain before you, or to lie curtained in your room while the spring passes unseen, is yet more poignant and deeply moving. A branch of blossoms on the verge of opening, a garden strewn with fading petals, have more to please the eye. Could poems on the theme of, 'Going to see the blossoms to find them already fallen' or 'Written when I was prevented from going to see the flowers' be deemed inferior to 'On seeing the blossoms'? It is a natural human feeling to yearn over the fallen blossoms and the setting moon -- yet some, it seems, are so insensitive that they will declare that since this branch and that have already shed their flowers, there is nothing worth seeing any longer.

"In all things, the beginning and the end are the most engaging. ... Are blossoms and the moon merely things to be gazed at with the eye? No, it brings more contentment and delight to stay inside the house in the spring and, there in your bedroom, let your heart go out to the unseen moonlit night. The man of quality never appears entranced by anything; he savors things with a casual air. Country bumpkins, however, take flamboyant pleasure in everything. They will wriggle their way through the crowd and stand there endlessly gaping up at the blossoms, sit about under the trees drinking sake and indulging in linked verse-making together and, finally, oafishly break off great branches of blossoms to carry away. ... As for blossoms, the single cherry is best. The double cherry was once found only in the old capital of Nara, but these days it is everywhere, it seems. The cherries of Yoshino are all single flowers. The double cherry is a peculiar thing, gaudy and distorted, and there is no need to have it in the garden. The late-flowering cherry is also unattractive. It is repulsive to see it crawling with insects.

"When a large vessel filled with water is pierced with a tiny hole, though each drop is small it will go on relentlessly leaking until soon the vessel is empty. The city is filled with people, but not a day would go by without someone dying. ... Be they young, be they strong, the time of death comes upon all unawares. It is an extraordinary miracle that we have escaped it until now."

Yoshida Kenko, "Essays in Idleness" (1330)

"During their brief explosion, the cherry blossoms are said to represent the aesthetics of poignant, fleeting beauty: ephemeral, delicate in their passing. The way to celebrate their poignancy, naturally, is to drink large amounts of sake and sing raucous songs until you topple over backward. It is all very fleeting and beautiful. ... In addition to Cherry Blossom Viewing, you have Moon Viewing, Snow Viewing, Wildflower Viewing, Autumn Leaf Viewing, and Summer Stargazing. As a service to readers, I have prepared a handy chart listing each phenomenon, the season in which it appears and the correct way in which to observe it:
Cherry blossoms Spring Drunk on sake
Wildflowers Summer Drunk on sake
Harvest moon Autumn Drunk on sake
Autumn leaves Autumn Drunk on sake
Snow on ancient temples Winter Drunk on sake"

Will Ferguson, "Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan"

[Easterncedar]

1. Lovely.

The birdsongs, the images, the words of Yoshida Kenko are all very soothing to my anxious heart. Thank you, betsuni.

[brer cat]

2. K&R