Haiku and the Pictograph in EL, "a blue heron " by Patricia Prime -March 2008-


. . . .

This is an EL (Earth Language) experimental page to enjoy
the image of a haiku/short poem originally in English/Japanese.
When you can't see the Japanese parts, please don't mind and just skip those parts , or see here to view Japanese.
地球語の文字や文字絵を用いて詩的表現や翻訳を試みる実験のページです。

日本語文は俳句の下です

I happened to visit the site: "Bernard Gadd Memorial" in the New Zealand Poetry Society.
Mr. Gadd (1935-2007) was a poet member of the society and suddenly passed away in Auckland
last December, so other member's tributes to him were collected in the memorial page.
I've never known about him, but the waves of their thoughts reached me being on the other side of the earth.

Especially this haiku by Patricia Prime caught my eyes.
I've danced with a wild great-blue-heron that was taller than my waist. The bird allowed me
to be five yards away to show his steps. So I started following his steps. Watching me out of
one golden eye; he sometimes made a tricky back-step quickly. We had several wonderful minutes.
Prime's haiku reminded me of this scene, drawing tears with the words, "without returning."
Wild great blue herons in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco usually raise their chicks
on April and May. So they must busy from now on.

In the pictograph, I expressed that a bird flies away into a light;
but only his legs are still wading in the shallows.
I hope Mr. Gadd would enjoy this additional respect too.

The original haiku by Patricia Prime:

a blue heron
wades through the shallows
without returning

The Japanese translation

青鷺がもう戻らない浅瀬を渡る

The EL translation:

   

The symbols in the pictograph:
: bird (鳥), : leg(s) (脚)

The symbols in the EL translation:

{{change, abstract concept}: color, up/a part of heaven)}: blue (青)
{, move, air} (a flying bird shape also): bird (鳥)
{ bird, 42(symbolizing flowing water): water bird (水鳥)
: hyphen (左右の語を1概念としてつなぐハイフン)
{ mouth, hard}: beak(s) (くちばし)
{line, much}: long (長い)
(one concept connected with hyphen): heron ((くちばしが長い特徴の水鳥として)鷺)
(Probably in the future, shorter forms can be made for these names)
(verb mark): to form a verb with the following symbol(s) (続く語とともに動詞を構成する動詞符)
{foot/feet, go}: walk, walking (n.), walk (vi. with gd) (歩行)
: walk (歩く)
{preposition mark, way}: through (~を通って)
{little, under}: shallow under (底浅い)
: water (水)
{preposition mark, not}: without (no joining of the following word originally) (~なしで(の))
{original direction, move}: returning, return (戻る、戻り)

Japanese
ニュージーランドの詩の同人会で編集も担当されてたというBernard Gaddさん(1935-2007)が
昨年の暮れに急にお亡くなりになったそうです。お仲間の方々がそれぞれの思いをつづって
亡き友人に捧げておられるページに出会いました。ローカルな仲間を偲ぶ心が
昔と違って地球の反対側の未知の者にまで寄せ伝わるのが、なんだかいいなと感じました。

なかでもPatricia Primeさんの俳句が私の目を留めました。
私は私の腰丈より背の高い、大青鷺と数分間一緒に踊ったことがあるのです。
その鳥は私が数mまで近づくことを許し、片側の金色の目で私を見つめながら
いたずらっぽくステップを踏むので、懸命に同じように私もついて動きました。
そのシーンをつい思い出して、もどらない・・に、涙を誘われてしまいました。
サンフランシスコ、ゴールデンゲート・パークに棲む野生の大青鷺は、
毎年4月5月に雛を育てます。今頃は準備で忙しいことでしょう。

AR-SA">文字絵は、鳥は天に飛んでいったのに、その脚だけは
まだ浅瀬でちゃぷちゃぷしているふうに表現してみました。
天からGadd さんも楽しんでくださるでしょうか。

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