poem anthology haiku
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Ten Poem Anthology
#1 Haiku
Mountains and Plains,
All are taken by the snow-
Nothing remains.
Naito Joso (1661-1704)
The image is of mountains and plains completely covered by snow, making it seem like the scene disappeared.
There is a very cool and cold theme portrayed in this haiku. The poet does a wonderful job showing the image of white snow taking over the large mountains. The existence of snow is extremely clear-cut and sends a pure impression to the reader. An interesting paradox is seen between the large mountains appearing so tough, been cleared out by the innocent, feeble, white snow. The fact that something so light in weight and healing can clear away the massive mountains is truly a key point in this haiku. Joso may be extending this to human relations implying that size does not equal power.
To be able to put down such a strong idea on snow shows that Joso must have seen something that struck his heart. The final sentance, "nothing remains" really gave me a good idea of how much snow there was in this beautiful scenic view...