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A review by rhysquez
Lips Too Chilled by Matsuo Bashō
4.0
It feels weird giving a collection of very short, barely (if at all) interconnected haiku poems a star rating, especially in this case where the pieces almost certainly lose in translation. But this gets 4 out of 5 from me for the beautiful little verbal still lives Bashō creates, and that are able to transcend the shift in language.
Some were forgotten immediately, some stuck, some will definitely continue to haunt me for a while, some work because of their implicit thematic attachment to others.
4 stars for the "Noh cry / of pheasant", for the raincoated monkey, the cheeky self-referentiality, the "moon-wreathed / bamboo grove", the "sweet song / of non-attachment", the "frozen shadow", and the "chrysanthemum / silence".
"Wake, butterfly – / it's late, we've miles / to go together."
Some were forgotten immediately, some stuck, some will definitely continue to haunt me for a while, some work because of their implicit thematic attachment to others.
4 stars for the "Noh cry / of pheasant", for the raincoated monkey, the cheeky self-referentiality, the "moon-wreathed / bamboo grove", the "sweet song / of non-attachment", the "frozen shadow", and the "chrysanthemum / silence".
"Wake, butterfly – / it's late, we've miles / to go together."