Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Butterfly Dream: Ulster Hedgerow Haiku by Marion Clarke

English Original

Ulster hedgerow
the steady click
of golf balls

for Seamus Heaney

Marion Clarke


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

阿爾斯特綠籬
穩定地擊打
高爾夫球 

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

阿尔斯特绿篱
稳定地击打
高尔夫球


Bio Sketch

A member of the Irish Haiku Society, Marion Clarke is a writer and artist from Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland. Her work was highly commended in the IHS 2011 International Haiku Competition and, in summer 2012, she received a Sakura award in the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival contest. A selection of her haiku featured in the first national collection of haiku from Ireland, Bamboo Dreams, edited by Anatoly Kudryavitsky. Marion’s poetry and artwork can be found at http://seaviewwarrenpoint.wordpress.com/

2 comments:

  1. In Marion's haiku, Ulster is more like a typical bedroom community in North America, and it is sociopolitically different from the Ulster of the Troubles, one that is vividly portrayed in Heaney's haiku below:

    Springtime in Ulster:
    aerials in hedges, squawk
    of walkie-talkies

    Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney, 2008

    Marion's skillful use of allusion makes the contrasts between her haiku and Heaney's poignant.


    Note: below is excerpted from the Wikipedia entry, titled The Troubles:

    The Troubles (Irish: Na Trioblóidí) is the most common name for the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that spilled over at various times into the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe. The Troubles began in the late 1960s and is considered by many to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement of 1998. However, sporadic violence has continued since then.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Below is excerpted from Marion comment on Heaney's haiku:

    ... anyone who has lived during The Troubles in Northern Ireland will immediately recognise the 'squawk of walkie-talkies' of the British Army as they patrolled the hedgerows here. An inspired choice of words!...

    For more info., see "Dark Wings of Night: Seamus Heaney and His View of Haiku," which can be accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/2013/08/dark-wings-of-night-seamus-heaney-and.html

    ReplyDelete