English Original
neon lights
fade in dawn's lilac glow
on the footpath
clubbers, drug-fucked
in bedraggled revelry
Christine Judd
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
霓虹燈
在黎明淡紫色的光芒中漸漸消逝
人行道上
嗑藥後神智不清的夜店派對舞者
沉醉於衣衫襤褸地狂歡
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
霓虹灯
在黎明淡紫色的光芒中渐渐消逝
人行道上
嗑药后神智不清的夜店派对舞者
沉醉于衣衫褴褛地狂欢
Bio Sketch
Christine Judd is an Australian writer and poet living in the Orange wine region of New South Wales. She has resided in Sydney and India for many years previously. Chris has recently rediscovered her love for haiku, senryu and tanka. By day, she works in the mental health field and has written books on emotions and trauma.
This modern tanka is a quintessential example of onihishigitei ("the style of demon-quelling force"). By intentionally shattering the "elegant" expectations of the form—traditionally reserved for the sublime in nature or romance—it replaces classical refinement with the visceral grit of the modern street.
ReplyDeleteThe tanka establishes a "poetic trap" in L 2 with "dawn's lilac glow." This soft, ethereal imagery evokes a classic aesthetic, only to be "quelled" by the spatial descent to the "footpath" in L 3. This vertical drop from the sky to the concrete mirrors the physical and chemical "comedown" of the subjects.
Furthermore, the compound word, "drug-fucked," which is used to modify clubbers in L 4, is the definitive onihishigitei move. The diction is intentionally jarring and aggressive, stripped of any romantic veneer. It forces the reader to confront the raw, physiological exhaustion of urban excess. This linguistic violence is furthered by the percussive weight of "bedraggled revelry" in L5, an oxymoron that captures the messy, depleted tail-end of the night.
Ultimately, the tanka doesn't just describe a scene; it mimics the experience of a hangover. By tackling the "demons" of the city with such blunt force, the poet proves that the tanka remains a powerful tool for capturing the unrefined truths of contemporary life.
Onihishigitei is the style of demon-quelling force, and it is characterized by its “strong or even violent or vulgar diction.” (Brower, p. 406) This style refers to poems whose “imagery or treatment conveys an impression of violence. Such poems are found in particular in Book XVI of Man’yoshū." (Brower and Miner, p. 247)
DeleteReferences:
Robert Hopkins Brower and Earl Roy Miner, "Japanese Court Poetry," Stanford University Press, 1988
Robert H. Brower, 'Fujiwara Teika's Maigetsusho,' "Monumenta Nipponica," 40:4, Winter, 1985, pp. 399-425.
For more examples, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, "Onihishigitei, Style of Demon-Quelling Force," accessed at https://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2013/05/to-lighthouse-onihishigitei-style-of.html