In praise of morning glories— a flower loved by all

This morning again

the morning glories

—blue and scarlet—

are in bloom.

It is my wish

each morning

to be able to

offer just such

a bright and cheerful

refreshing smile

to the world.

The blue blossoms are princes,

the scarlet ones princesses!

Morning glories

will always be

happy and graceful

princes and princesses.

Their name is celebrated

in the poems of

The Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves.

Opening fully

in the early dawn,

morning glories

were beloved

by the people of

that rustic era,

and later in

the sophisticated

aristocratic Heian culture.

Lady Murasaki,

the author of The Tale of Genji,

famously entitled one

of her novel’s chapters

“Morning Glories.”

In her reflections

in The Pillow Book,

another court lady, Sei Shonagon,

counted the morning glory

among the foremost of

late-blossoming flowers.

One lady indicated

the blue and scarlet blossoms

of the morning glories and

exclaimed, “Ah, such beauty!”

In the sight of

morning glories blooming

we see hope

and nature

and humanity

and the energy of life,

deep and heartfelt communication,

the serenity of a peace

that is beyond words.

This flower

has been loved

by people in all ages.

Few flowers have held

such an intimate place

in ordinary people’s lives.

Originating in the tropics

morning glories have

spread throughout the world.

They are said to have reached Japan

through China, a country to which

we are always so indebted.

Gazing on morning glories,

the poet laureate

sings their praise.

For they are poetry

incarnate.

In Goethe’s words:

   What shall always bring us together?

   Love.

When we regard

the morning glories

we do so with love.

The noble-minded

are naturally drawn

to all they see

and inspired to

poetic flight.

The renowned haiku poet

Matsuo Basho wrote:

   I am a man

   who has his breakfast

   with the morning glories.

He is said

to have addressed this

to a young disciple

who was leading a disorderly life—

your teacher awakens

early each day

and eats a proper breakfast

gazing at morning glories

before starting the day’s work…

A well-ordered life—

this is the rhythm that ensures

the triumphant blossoms

of morning glories

will flower in our hearts.

Oh, morning glories!

With your serene

and virtuous beauty

give strength

to the unhealthy,

troubled people of the world;

empower them to spread

fair and mighty wings

forever and a day!

Kobayashi Issa wrote this wry verse:

   The visage of the morning glory—

   human faces somehow leave

   so much to be desired.

He seems to be saying that

compared to this handsome flower

the human face appears

imperfect and incomplete.

Like morning glories

brightly lit by the rising sun,

let us set out

with a beaming visage

and fully live each day.

With each new

and coming year

the poet hopes to see

the princes and princesses

of morning glories!

He always looks forward

to their next encounter.

I offer my earnest thanks

to my friends with radiant smiles

who planted and raised these

noble flowers,

these princes and princesses

of happiness.

Thank you! Thank you!

   August 27, 2007

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The Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves (Jpn Man’yoshu): the oldest existing short poem anthology in Japan, compiled in the mid-eighth century. It was a time when not only the nobility but ordinary people as well freely expressed their feelings in the form of short poems.

The Heian period (794–1185): the era that followed the Man’yo period.

Lady Murasaki or Murasaki Shikibu (late tenth to early eleventh century): Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the imperial court during the Heian period. Her masterpiece, The Tale of Genji, is considered the world’s first novel.

Sei Shonagon (c. 966–c. 1017): Japanese court lady and author of the famous essay The Pillow Book.

“What shall always bring us together?”: trans. from Goethe, “Aus den Briefen an Frau v. Stein” in Werke: Hamburger Ausgabe in 14 Bänden, vol. 1, p. 128.

Matsuo Basho (1644–94): Japanese poet recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku.

“I am a man”: trans. from Matsuo, Basho haikushu,. 53.

Kobayashi Issa (1763–1827): Japanese poet regarded as one of the four great haiku masters.

“The visage of the morning glory”: trans. from Maruyama, Kobayashi Issa: Hito to sakuhin, p. 227.