{"id":1449,"date":"2015-08-27T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T04:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:21","slug":"aug-27-smiling-quietly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/08\/27\/aug-27-smiling-quietly\/","title":{"rendered":"Aug 27 – “. . . smiling quietly.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, \u00a0August 27 – \u00a0\u00a0 “Observing all things \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0With dispassion \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0But remembering well”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes it happens that browsing new poetry changes you. \u00a0This morning\u2019s browsing did that. \u00a0 I am preparing tomorrow\u2019s post today; \u00a0tomorrow, I will be driving home from Guelph where Bill Clarke, sj lives, my spiritual director for three decades. \u00a0The 4+ hour drive refreshes me with little rituals — buying coffee at the same I-94 exit just south of Port Huron; \u00a0singing \u201cO Canada\u201d to Lake Huron while crossing The Blue Water Bridge; \u00a0standing still by a country church, empty of people on weekdays, and remembering the last months of my life. \u00a0 Not a time to work with my laptop writing Friday\u2019s post.<\/p>\n

This morning, browsing \u201cA Week of Being Here,\u201d Kenji Miyazawa met me for the first time. \u00a0I\u2019d never heard of him. \u00a0This poem was found in his trunk after he died in his early thirties, \u00a0It stops me just like Lake Huron and the country church do. \u00a0 \u00a0I think this Buddhist poet will meet readers of the list again.<\/p>\n

Even more than most poems, \u201cBe Not Defeated\u201d should reward reading aloud with pauses. \u00a0 Have a good weekend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

{Kenji Miyazawa\u00a0(\u5bae\u6ca2 \u8ce2\u6cbb\u00a0Miyazawa Kenji?<\/a><\/sup>, 27 August 1896 \u2013 21 September 1933)\u00a0was a\u00a0Japanese<\/a>\u00a0poet<\/a>\u00a0and author of\u00a0children’s literature<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Hanamaki, Iwate<\/a>\u00a0in the late\u00a0Taish\u014d<\/a>\u00a0and early\u00a0Sh\u014dwa periods<\/a>. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, a\u00a0vegetarian<\/a>, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian\u00a0social activist<\/a>.[1]<\/a>}<\/sup><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0Kenji Miyazawa: “Be Not Defeated by the Rain”<\/a><\/p>\n

\"rain\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Unbeaten by the rain
\nUnbeaten by the wind
\nBested by neither snow nor summer heat
\nStrong of body
\nFree of desire
\nNever angry
\nAlways smiling quietly
\nDining daily on four cups of brown rice
\nSome miso and a few vegetables
\nObserving all things
\nWith dispassion
\nBut remembering well
\nLiving in a small, thatched-roof house
\nIn the meadow beneath a canopy of pines
\nGoing east to nurse the sick child
\nGoing west to bear sheaves of rice for the weary mother
\nGoing south to tell the dying man there is no cause for fear
\nGoing north to tell those who fight to put aside their trifles
\nShedding tears in time of drought
\nWandering at a loss during the cold summer
\nCalled useless by all
\nNeither praised
\nNor a bother
\nSuch is the person
\nI wish to be<\/p>\n

\"Miyazawa\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Be Not Defeated by the Rain” by\u00a0Kenji Miyazawa.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Translated from the original Japanese by Hart Larrabee. Text as\u00a0posted<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Tomo <\/strong>\u53cb<\/strong><\/a>(08\/05\/2012).<\/p>\n

Curator’s note:<\/em>\u00a0After the poet’s death, a black notebook containing this text was found in his trunk. The poem appears in bold strokes amidst his repetitious copying of a Buddhist mantra. According to its date (November 3, 1931), he had composed it while on his deathbed. He was only in his thirties. Visit\u00a0this link<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to view a photograph of the poem in the notebook, the original Japanese text, two very different translations (including Larrabee’s, which I prefer), and interviews with the interpreters.<\/p>\n

Posted by Phyllis Cole-Dai on Aug 19, 2015 12:00 am<\/p>\n

Art credit:<\/em>\u00a0“Girl in the rain,”\u00a0Gicl\u00e9e print<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Pavlo Tereshin.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday, \u00a0August 27 – \u00a0\u00a0 “Observing all things \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0With dispassion \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0But remembering well” Sometimes it happens that browsing new poetry changes you. \u00a0This morning\u2019s browsing did that. \u00a0 I am preparing tomorrow\u2019s post today; \u00a0tomorrow, I will be … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1449"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1455,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions\/1455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}