David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


01 March 2021

style free ] content ahead ( aeiou!


I said
Style free to do what I please
Style free to ride the breeze
Style free I can't stay
Got to got to got to get away
Yeah ow!
Tear me loose baby
Yeah! Owh!
Style free to ride on the breeze
Style free to do what I please
Style free I can't stay
Style free I got to I got to get away
Style free I'm gone baby, right now, don't try to hold me back
Style free go on down the highway
Style free I got to, got to, got to
Style free bye bye baby

- Slave Guitars, after Jimi Hendrix

Wikipedia : Kawahigashi Hekigotō (河東碧梧桐; February 26, 1873 – February 1, 1937) was a Japanese poet and modern pioneer of the haiku form.[1]

Kawahigashi Hekigotō was born in Matsuyama. He was the son of a Confucian scholar and his childhood was steeped in the Chinese classics. He was a childhood friend of the poet and novelist Kyoshi Takahama. Kawahigashi and Kyoshi left school together in 1894 and moved to Tokyo.[2]

Kawahigashi and Kyoshi became the chief disciples of the modern haiku master Shiki Masaoka. Kawahigashi succeeded Shiki as haiku editor of the magazine Hototogisu ("Cuckoo") in 1897 and the newspaper Nippon ("Japan") in 1902. After Shiki's death, Kawahigashi and Kyoshi became leaders of two factions of Shiki's followers, the latter more conservative and eventually the journal Hototogisu became centered on this aesthetic, while the former was more zealous and experimental. Kawahigashi extended the innovations of Shiki and abandoned the 5-7-5 syllable pattern of 17 on in favor of free verse and calling his verse tanshi instead of haiku. He continued to use the seasonal word (kigo), but some of his followers even abandoned that.[2][3]

In 1917, Kawahigashi wrote:

Any arbitrary attempt to mould a poem into the 5-7-5 syllable pattern would damage the freshness of impression and kill the vitality of language. We sought to be direct in expression, since we valued our fresh impressions and wanted our language to be vital. This soon led us to destroy the fixed verse form and to gain the utmost freedom of expression.[3]

Among Kawahigashi's works are two books of commentary, Haiku hyōshaku (1899) and Shoku haiku hyōshaku (1899), and the haiku collection Hekigotō kushū (1916). Kawahigashi was also a travel writer, publishing Sanzenri ("Three Thousand ri") in 1906.[1] He visited Europe and America in 1921 and China and Mongolia in 1924.[2] Kawahigashi was also a journalist, calligrapher, art critic, noh dancer, and mountaineer.[2]

Hekigotō Kawahigashi died on 1 February 1937 in Tokyo.[1]


 Kawahigashi Hekigotō                                        collection FIAPCE

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