Fernanda Felix Binati has pursued a licentiate degree in Pedagogy with extension case study projects in education. Recently, she has been engaged with teaching multilingual learners from remote areas. Previously, she worked for International House Kazakhstan, as well as was an intern for PCTE and Indo Global Colleges in Punjab, India. Email: fernandabinati@proton.me

 

Haikus

If time is at risk

rage is mistaken for peace

stories are fading

 

the modernity

works for producing money

while life is wasted

 

if time is wasted

no religion can save men

appalled by regret

 

sitting in a grove

watching leaves in early spring

thoughts unravelling

 

soul in nature’s hands

heart is carried by sadness

resounding grievance

 

thoughts of death and loss

cross fatigued bodies of land

a corrosive earth

 

under the green bower

leaves and dreams under my feet

flowers reach for breath

 

nature’s orchestra

an omnipresent existence

the silence is felt

 

budding twigs exposed

rejoice in the breeze of spring

life is unfolding

 

“If this belief from heaven be sent,

If such be Nature’s holy plan,

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man?”

 

What is the link between Lines Written in Early Spring and the haikus?

 

Each haiku was based in one verse of Lines Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth, except the last one which I decided to keep as it was meant to bridge present and past times.

The connections are established between the current time and the 17th century, when the original poem was written.

The styles might differ as they echo different voices but the meaning is preserved and still up to date. The sequence mainly consists of haikus, a short Japanese form (5-7-5 syllables in each line) finishes in quatrains (four lines in a verse) by the original Lines Written in Early Spring.

In the poem, Wordsworth expressed that through contemplation of human actions and nature brought feelings of sadness and grief. As he had thoroughly expressed: ‘... it grieved my (his) heart to think / What man has made of man.’. He also conveyed playfulness in nature and how delightful it was to watch it.

In addition, Wordsworth’s words and the haikus bridge a current reality between the current times, 21st century, and the original poem, written in the 17th century. For this reason, the haikus were not only meant to serve as a reproduction and remembrance of the original poem, but also to draw a parallel between when Lines Written in Early Spring was originally written and the contemporary modern reality.

 

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