Collection of Complicated Inner Thoughts & Reflection on Impermanence (Mujō)
I have created a collection of Japanese poetry that specifically explores the complex internal and emotional reflections that are part of the struggles that all humans experience. Humans are even more likely to experience all these complex feelings when there is a sense of impermanence in their life that they cannot accept or move on from. In this class, we learned that in Buddhism, impermanence and accepting change a key practices known as mujō. The eight poems I selected range from ancient to modern. Some are in tanka structure and others are in haiku format, but I selected all of them for their similar themes relating to complex inner thoughts due to mujō with love, joy, grief, and loss. Whether it is the changing of the seasons, loss of a child, or the ending of a relationship, all the poems that were used to create this collection capture a moment where the person is stuck between acceptance of the mujō and still longing for what they once had. This collection allows the reader to sit with all these complex feelings within a difficult situation and learn how mujō can affect your life and emotions depending on how you deal with it.
Tawara Machi- Salad Anniversary
Page 3 of the PDF
Last poem on the page
"Still there, really?
What I desire
What I want to believe in:
We two, beside each other
lying sprawled on the sand.”
Analysis: Tawara’s poems were made to modernize tanka poems and relate them to more modern readers. Tanka poems try to show the effects of nature in relationships and people having a longing feeling for a form of permanence in their lives, while so many complications and struggles surround them. In Buddhism, it is important to learn and understand that impermanence is almost always going to occur in your life, so it is limiting to wish for stability/permanence when that cannot happen.
This poem has a good image of two supposed lovers lying out on the sand of a beach, one of them seems to be asking, “still there, really?”, which suggests one of them has a sense of impermanence and doesn’t want to stay static in the sand. The author then writes that they have desires and something to believe in, but they don’t seem to be acting on their thoughts. This is interesting because they seem to be holding on to their happiness and love in the sand, while at the same time, they seem to want more and feel a need for change, but still don’t act on it. This poem aligns with my collection's theme of “Change and Inner reflection” because it is discussing this in-between phase of these two people, and they don't know whether to move and grow or stay sprawled together on the beach, “happy and in love.”
Tawara Machi- Salad Anniversary
Page 9 of the PDF
Last poem on the page
"Here I'm with someone
I want to love all my life.
and meditating
With sadness on the membrane
dividing truth and falsehood."
Analysis: I selected this Tawara poem because this tanka poem describes the complexity of the human emotions we all experience. To be more specific, the person described in this tanka is struggling with what they desire and what their true reality is. The part that says “with sadness on the membrane diving truth and falsehood” sounds pretty complex, but what I understand is that there is the truth, which is our reality, and there are falsehoods we face, which isour consciousness creating desires, and there is a thin line to what you can accept as “truth” in your life/head. The person in this poem is also meditating, which implies the person is having deep, inner, complex thoughts that they need to sit and work through to understand. This poem aligns with my collection’s theme because we are reading about someone's internal struggle to face their sad reality or live in a type of delusion with their desires.
Tawara Machi- Salad Anniversary
Page 13 of the PDF
Only poem on the page
"Now that I never
have to wait for you again
They are alike:
a clear, sunny Saturday,
a Tuesday when it rains."
Analysis: In this tanka poem, Tawara is getting past an internal battle of getting over a breakup with a not-so-great man, who seemed to be in control of her. She seems to tell us that she almost has a feeling of numbness toward this man now that she doesn’t need to wait for him anymore. She says that a sunny Saturday feels almost equal and the same as a rainy Tuesday, and when I think about comparing these two types of days, they give me very different vibes. Rainy weekdays are usually slow going and kind of boring and sad, but a sunny weekend day is the total opposite of that because you can go outside and have fun and free time. But for Tawara, she has felt a loss of emotional differences for the different types of days, and they now feel the same for her because she is no longer shackled to this man and his opinions. This poem aligns with my collection because it shows how the end of a relationship can cause her to be pretty much emotionally numb to anything in her life, and she is thinking deeply about how all these days now feel the same for her.
Basho haiku & Out in the streets
Page 3 of the PDF, page 349 in the text copy
Poem #813
“Winter [1677]
Robes of frost he dons,
And for the bedclothes spreads the wind-
Castaway child.”
Analysis: These Haiku poems are harder to fully understand what is going on because they are so short and mostly describe seasons as expressions of the person's emotions/feelings. In this poem, the readers are imagining a winter scene with a child who is out in the cold. It says “robes of frost” and “bed clothes of wind” make me feel cold, and also sad for this child who is outside. Thinking of a young child, you think of their innocence and how they need to be protected and taken care of, but this child is alone and cold.
This poem aligns with my collection if I think about it in a less literal way because we all know when a baby is near or on/in their mother they are warm and happy, so having this kid alone with no one to take care of him is making him not only physically cold but also mentally. This poem is about abandonment and how this child must suffer with these consequences just because nobody wants to take care of him: he is a “castaway.”. Even though this poem is short, the harshness of the cold and understanding that the child is alone creates this whole world of complex thoughts, where you hope this child will be okay out in the cold because he doesn’t deserve this treatment.
Basho haiku & Out in the streets
Page 9 of the PDF, page 360 in the text copy
Poem #852
“Still skin and bones-
With not the strength as yet
To get out of bed.”
Analysis: This Haiku poem has very few words, but the words selected are very powerful, and they make you feel connected to the person they are describing. They are struggling from either an illness or they are mentally unwell because it says they don't have the strength to leave their bed. This reminds me of when someone is going through depression or is recovering from an illness, because in your head, you want and know you should be getting out of bed, but at the same time, your mind and body can’t successfully get enough strength to lift yourself out of bed. The author does say they are “skin and bones,” which makes me think the person is so skinny and weak that they cannot even get out of their bed. Although there could be a more metaphorical side to this poem, with it being about depression, I think this is a more literal poem to express how much suffering comes from physical challenges.
This poem aligns with my collection because they are stuck in bed thinking about how weak and unwell they feel. This is a very vulnerable and complex moment to analyze. It’s complex because while it is simple that the person is just expressing their weakness, they also aren’t asking for sympathy or being dramatic about their suffering; it feels authentic. Even though it is not mentioned in the poem, as a reader and a human with my own emotions, it suggests to me that not only do they have physical weakness, but they may also have emotional and/or spiritual pain, which makes this short poem so complex and interesting to read.
Gotoba Teika Shinkokinshu
Page 3 of the PDF, page 187 in the text copy
Poem #369
“When did you have time
To send forth these crimson leaves,
Mountain cherry tree?
Wasn’t it just yesterday
That I grieved for your blossoms?”
Analysis: This poem beautifully explains how time passes almost too quickly and humans feel they never have enough time; they are showing this image of time passing through the cherry tree. The cherry tree seems to have already shifted from its blossoming forms to crimson leaves, and the poet cannot seem to believe it has already happened. The blossoming should be happening in spring, and the crimson colors in the leaves happen in fall, meaning quite a bit of time has passed. But he still asks, “Wasn’t it just yesterday…?” which is normally said to be slightly exaggerated but implies that time has rushed by for that person and they wish they could go back and have time slow down.
This poem aligns with my collection because we all know seasons don’t last forever, and we will see the trees changing colors and forms throughout the year. The speaker is appreciating the leaves and the blossoms, but their internal battle is more so about the time they feel they don't have. They have no control over when the trees change, and they aren’t saying they want that control; the person just wants to understand how their time has slipped from their hand without realizing it. Both their joys and sadness in seeing the change overlap here, making them confused on an emotional and or spiritual level.
Issa The Year of My Life
Page 8 of the PDF, page 75 in the text copy
Poem: Rakugo, on the death of a child:
“I search the faces
of dancing children, looking
For one like my child’s”
Analysis: The scene this poem has you imagining is very complex because the idea of children dancing is a joyful occasion, but it also expresses the sorrows that the father is going through, unhealed grief due to his child's passing. The father is clearly not there for the joy of the children or the celebration going on, he is just searching for the child he has lost, which is a heartbreaking image. By saying “looking for one…” makes me think he is still longing for his child, even if he is out doing other things.
This poem aligns with my collection because the joy in the background of all the sorrow the father is facing makes this a very complex internal situation that the father doesn't have any control over. This poem also has a strong idea of impermanence to it because the father knows his child is gone, but still cannot let go of searching for them. If he could find a way to understand that nothing amazing or beautiful can last forever, maybe his sorrows and complicated inner thoughts would lessen.
Shinkei Sogi Three Poets at Minase
Page 13 of the PDF, page 309 in the text copy
Poem: #677
“Have you not learned before this
That all things must always change?”
Analysis: This poem is very direct and short, with a tone that almost seems strict. There is no natural symbolism in this or imagery to have you imagine a beautiful scene; it feels like a Buddhist person is trying to teach you the proper ways of Buddhism. Even though the poem is simple, it still has depth because so many people don’t understand the idea of impermanence, and it feels like the author is trying to wake you up from this bad habit of thinking that things can be permanent. It forces the reader to look inward and start to think about our actions and feelings towards imperfection because our suffering is coming from not letting go.
This poem perfectly fits into this collection because it provides the overall message of my selection of poems: life is defined by mujō, and acceptance of this impermanence can lead to peace.I wish each person in all the poems could hear these teachings because maybe then they would be able to let go of their sorrows and struggles and try to move on to a better place of understanding.
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