Gettysburg
the hushed silence
of snow
Honourable Mention, World Haiku Review December 2012
Gregory Longenecker
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
蓋茨堡
雪花飄落
的沉默
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
盖茨堡
雪花飘落
的沉默
Bio Sketch
Gregory Longenecker’s work has appeared in numerous publications in the United States and abroad and was featured in A New Resonance, 9 by Red Moon Press. Two editions of the Red Moon Anthologies of English-language haiku have carried his work (2013 & 2014) and Modern Haiku Press, Haiku 2014 and Haiku 2016, as well. Currently on the editorial staff of the Living Haiku Anthology Gregory was a co-judge in the Haiku Society of America’s 2016 Haibun Contest.
This is a good example of using "Utamakura" (poetic place name)to effectively anchor the poem in a larger communal body of poetic and cultural associations, thus broadening the significance (thematic, historical, or emotional) of the bare words in the poem.
ReplyDeleteThe sharp contrasts between the two parts (blood-boiling fighting vs silent snowfall) of the poem are emotionally effective.
Notes:
1 "The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point" (Wikipedia Entry, "Battle of Gettysburg," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg)
One of the popular snow globes sold in the USA is the one depicting the Battle of Gettysburg.
2 For more info. about Utamakura, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, titled "A Rhetorical Device, Utamakura (Poetic Place Names),"http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/2016/09/to-lighthouse-rhetorical-device.html