Robert Spiess' Nature of Sabi Haiku
For centuries haiku poets have been attempting to find that beauty in aloneness. This beauty in the state of being alone is referred to as sabi. Matsuo Basho exemplefied this concept with haiku in the most innovative part of his poetic life and wrote many great pieces utilizing it. This is not the sad state of being alone that many contemporary westerners might associate with the word, but rather a state of being contented and at peace with oneself allowing the simplicity and beauty in nature to be observed. As an outdoorsman and hunter, I have some experience with this concept before I even knew what it was. I have spent many hours alone in the woods, sometimes never speaking a word for hours—just observing, listening, and seeing things that many people never see because they have not taken the time do really observe their surroundings. Given my affinity to this aesthetic concept, I would like to reiterate exactly what it is and how Robert Spiess does well to use this concept in his book, The Turtle's Ears. He wrote the haiku for this piece while he was on a 2,200 mile solitary canoe trip through many various rivers, streams, and tributaries throughout the Midwest. This is similar to how Matsuo Basho traveled on his own journeys back in his time as a poet. He was alone, traveling on foot and only carrying the bare necessities. For these reasons, I believe that Robert Spiess has captured the true essence of the concept of sabi in his book, The Turtle's Ears.
Basho sought the aesthetic of sabi during the peak of his poetic creativeness. According to Makato Ueda, this specific time period was from 1686 to 1691. Although his poems encompassed a wide range of topics, forms, and meanings, they all had a similarity that made them unique to Basho. This was his emphasis on sabi. His most famous haiku that uses this approach is the following:
The old pond—
a frog leaps in,
and a splash.
Matsuo Basho (Translation by Ueda), Matsuo Basho, 53
In the poem you can picture the quietness and the feeling of being alone because you are focused enough on your surroundings to hear the frog make a splash as it jumps in the water. This is exactly the same atmosphere that surrounds much of the haiku in Spiess' book. Spiess does well to use this because he is in solitude simply observing and appreciating the environment around him. For example:
In the calm of dawn
a doe nuzzling the stream
. . . ripples
Robert Spiess, The Turtle's Ears
As you can see, in this haiku you picture yourself being alone. The imagery is fantastic. You see the doe gently grazing the surface of the water. The stream is flowing, birds chirping and calling, the smell of the fresh air, and the heat of the sun beating down onto your skin. Sight, sound, touch, and smell are all present. It is quiet apart from the sound of nature. There is no human element to the haiku whatsoever, much like Basho's poetry.
Here are some other haiku that Spiess wrote on his journey throughout the Midwest:
Around the bend
a log lying in the stream
—the turtle's ears
Robert Spiess, The Turtle's Ears
This haiku, I feel, really exemplifies the aloneness and connection with nature. It can be taken one of two ways. The first time I read it, I thought the turtle was inside a hollowed out log that echoed all of the sounds around him heightening his sense of hearing. Then, after a second look, I think that the log was floating in the stream and the turtle was sitting on top of it. You cannot see the turtle at first, but once you get a closer look, you notice its ears, which are tiny little holes on each side of its head. You are so focused and drawn into the scene itself that you actually notice this. This is what gives this poem its sabi. Another poem that has a different feeling to it that also contains the concept of sabi is this one by Spiess:
A fine sleet at dusk;
mallards in the marshy cove
float beneath their wings
Robert Spiess, The Turtle's Ears
The reason this one is different is because it has the playful touch of humor that often accompanies good haiku. In the scene you can see a small group of mallards sitting in the sleet. It is cold and wet, and you can imagine the rain and snow hitting your face. The water is also being dented by the precipitation. At first, the haiku has a feeling of gloom and sadness, but the last line shifts to humor because it says the ducks are shielding themselves from the rain with their own wings. This is giving the ducks an element of humans. This personification helps shift the haiku into a happier and more tranquil poem. Once again, there is the absence of an actual human presence, giving the haiku a feeling of being alone in the environment.
Robert Spiess has a poem that I think matches up great with one of Basho's as well. During Basho's sabi time period, he wrote this haiku about the timelessness of nature and the landscape around us all.
Quietness—
Sinking into the rocks,
A cicada's cry.
Matsuo Basho (Translation by Ueda), Matsuo Basho, 52
Moonlight falling
on the boulders in the stream;
woodland whippoorwill
Robert Spiess, The Turtle's Ears
In both of these poems you can get the feeling of loneliness and tranquility when reading. There is no human presence. As claimed by Ueda, you get a "sublime" feeling (Ueda, 52). You get this feeling because in the great expanse of the universe you have this tiny creature fulfilling its purpose to its fullest extent. In the first, there is the tiny cicada calling away, while in the second it is the tiny bird, called a whippoorwill, making its distinct noise. You get the feeling that both of the haiku occur at night or late evening. The contrast is great between the strong image of the rocks and boulders in each versus the tiny creatures that serve as a glimmer of hope in the vast expanse of the world they inhabit.
There are many more haiku that use the concept of sabi in Spiess' book. Here is another written about the connection between a turtle and a deer:
Drifting around a bend
—the sliding turtle's plash
tells a downstream deer
Robert Spiess, The Turtle's Ears
I particularly like this poem because it shows the connection that two animals that are of different species and do not interact in any way share. In order to witness the cause and effect relationship between the turtle splashing and the deer fleeing, the atmosphere would have to be very quiet and the observer would need to be completely focused on his or her surroundings. It can be said that there is a human element in this haiku, but it could also be interpreted as any other predator that would cause a turtle and deer to flee. The important thing is the turtle's sliding into the water alerts the deer of an undesirable presence telling it to run for cover. There are many different relationships like this among animals in nature that do not have any direct relationship with each other. This haiku could also be linked to another one of Spiess' from his book about a beagle scaring a fox.
A beagle baying
—along the wooded streamside
a fox doubles back
Robert Spiess, The Turtle's Ears
These two can be connected because the presence of a fox actually comforts and relaxes animals like deer, raccoons, and coyotes. The fact that Spiess was able to witness exactly how cunning and sly a fox is shows that the atmosphere surrounding him was one of aloneness. The fox is one of the first animals to be alerted to any kind of danger, such as the beagle baying. The beagle is a sign of human, or outside, presence and if the fox were to signal a warning and disappear then all of the animals that were nearby would also know that something was not right and that they needed to seek safety. These connections are just parts of the beauty and complexity of nature that can be observed using the concept of sabi. In fact, one can venture to say that it is nearly impossible to witness these beauties without using the concept of sabi. Without being quiet, alone, and focused, it is too easy to be distracted and miss theses occurrences throughout the wilderness.
Some more haiku of Robert Spiess that exemplify the concept of sabi well are the following:
Muttering thunder . . .
the bottom of the river
scattered with clams
Autumn's drying sedge;
now and then the old canoe
flushes wisps of snipe
an autumn morning;
a deer in the shrouding mist
fords the shallow stream
Robert Spiess, The Turtle's Ears
Each of these haiku exemplifies the feeling of aloneness. None of them convey hints of a human presence. In the second one, it gives the image of a canoe. The reader can infer that there is a human present in the canoe, but that human is alone and Spiess is avoiding actually stating or picturing the person in the haiku. Each one paints a detailed scene of what is going on with its imagery and sensory techniques. There are also other underlying feelings that are going on. The first one, with the thunder, gives a feeling of ominousness and apprehension for the upcoming storm. You get the feeling that there is a bad storm ahead because the only living creatures that are being observed are the clams. In the second, you get the feeling of excitement and wonder as every time the canoe passing a patch of tall grass there could be something hiding in it. In the last, there is a very tranquil feeling with the cool, autumn mist covering the landscape in the morning and the deer confidently and calmly conquering the obstacle of the river. In a sense you can get the power and persistence of nature from this scene.
Finally, here are a couple of my other favorites from The Turtle's Ears.
Lean-to of tin
a pintail on the river
in the pelting rain
Drifting with the stream
. . . a doe along the bank
steps between birches
Morning shadows;
a branch of driftwood ahead
lifts it's heron's wings
Once again, in these haiku we get the feeling of aloneness, contentedness, and being completely observant and focused on the happenings of nature. There is no element of a human presence. In each there is a simple occurrence that can be pictured. In the first, you can hear, smell, and see the pouring rain creating dents in the stream. The raindrops are sliding off of the duck's feathers and drops are coming off its long pointed tail. In the second there is the flowing stream. You hear the gently flowing water and birds singing. Then there is the cautious doe appearing on the bank. Trotting parallel to the stream and splitting two birch trees. In the final one, there are the morning shadows on the east side of the stream, since the sun is rising. You see a sculpture of driftwood in the middle of the river. Upon looking closer, the piece of driftwood moves and sudden takes flight because it was actually a heron. In each of these, there is a simple occurrence that is filled with pictures and scenes that appeal to all of the senses.
The important thing to note in each of these haiku from the selection there is little sign of human presence. While Basho existed many years before Spiess, their journeys are almost the same. Basho might be on foot or horseback, while Spiess is in a canoe, but the haiku that stem from each trip are a complete observation of the life that is going on around them. They are observing small specks of dust within this universe complete their destinies by doing what they were put into this world to do. The haiku are not about the writers, but rather the beautiful occurrences in nature that they observe going on around them while on this solitary spiritual journey.
Finally, here are some of my own sabi haiku that I have written while I have been alone with the various creatures of the wilderness.
thunder rolling,
a barred owl seeks
shelter within the oak
ominous clouds,
a turkey vulture sits
on a broken branch
an unsightly creature—
the crawfish swimming
against the current
tall, grassy field,
the fawns learn the
routine from the doe
the coots dance
across the lake's surface
amidst the blossoming trees
To me, implementing the aesthetic of sabi is comparable to deer hunting. You have to stop, observe, listen, be still, be quiet, and focus otherwise you will miss what is going on or keep it from happening in the first place. It does not matter if it is missing the biggest buck of your entire life or watching the two squirrels fighting over a walnut. Of all of the haiku that I have personally read, I think that the ones that implement Basho's concept of sabi make the best and most powerful haiku. This is because they are witnessing things in nature that many people do not ever witness and capturing it in the haiku to be shared. Every time that I read one of Basho's or Spiess' haiku I can get the image that they are each seeing with their own eyes. I might be in a different place and time in my scenes, but the actual events are the same. These scenarios travel all the way from the 17th century up until now and they still have the same power and effect that they did when the ink first hit the parchment.
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Works Cited
Ueda, Makoto. Matsuo Basho. New York: Twayne, 1970. Print.
Spiess, Robert. The Turtle's Ears. Madison, WI: Wells Print., 1971. Print.
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