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Unfolding Bud
Naoshi Koriyama
About Naoshi Koriyama
Naoshi Koriyama is a aJspanese poet who studied English Literature in the United States and return to teach in Japan. He began to write poems while he was away from home and went on to publish nine collections in English, besides three translated from japan. He has recently published a collection entirely in Japanese. This poem compares the flowering of a water-lily to the process of understanding a poem. It is a simple poem but rich in meaning.
One is amazed
By a water-lily
Unfolding
With each passing day,
Taking on a richer colour
And new dimensions.
One is not amazed,
At a first glance,
By a poem,
Which is as tight-closed
As a tiny bud.
Yet one is surprished
To see the poem
Gradually unfolding,
Revealing its richer inner self,
As one reads it
Again
And over again.
Available Answers
- 1.
Does the water-lily 'open up' (that is, bloom) quickly over a night or day,or gradually over a few days? What supports your answer?
- 2.
What is amazing about that process of opening up? What two things change each day?
- 3.
What is our first reading of a poem compared to? Do we find that surprising?
- 4.
When are we actually surprised about the poem? What causes it?
- 5.
Does the poem just unfold as time passes or does it happen when we do something a few times? Do what?
- 6.
The water-lily grows larger in size and gets a deeper colour as it unfolds. What does the poem do?
4 more answer(s) available.