Week 26: “Irises Bloom”

June 24 – June 30 is the 26th week of 2024.  This week, we remain in the Solar Term of Summer Solstice (June 21 – July 06).  The micro-seasons for this week are “Self-Heal Withers” (June 21 – June 26) and “Irises Bloom” (June 27 – July 01).

Basho, Issa, Buson, Shiki, and Reichhold wrote the poems selected for this week.

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The 24 Solar Terms 

The 24 solar terms were created by farmers in ancient China  (206 BCE and 24 CE) to help guide their agricultural activities. Each solar term is 15 days long and is based on the climate around Xi’an, the capital of China during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). ⁽¹⁾

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice is the tenth Solar Term of the year and the fourth Solar Term of Summer. Its Chinese name Xiazhi means “heat is to come”, indicating the beginning of warmer weather with the peak heat occurring from mid-July to mid-August.⁽²⁾

Season Food: Lychee

The Lychee, or alligator strawberry, is a small, tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia and China. It is a member of the stone fruit family. The lychee tastes “like a cross between a strawberry and a watermelon” and has a strong sweet floral aroma.⁽³⁾

Lychee’s sweet flavor allows it to be enjoyed as a stand-alone snack. However, it can be added to salads or paired with other tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple.  Lychee juice can also be boiled with sugar to create a simple syrup used in cocktails like the Lychee Margarita. 

The lychee is in season from mid-June to mid-July.

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The 72 Seasons

The 72-season calendar was established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai.  Each season lasts for about 5 days and offers “a poetic journey through the Japanese year in which the land awakens and blooms with life and activity before returning to slumber.”⁽⁴⁾

The micro-seasons for this week is  “Self-Heal Withers” (June 21 – June 26) and “Irises Bloom” (June 27 – July 01)

The Iris

The Iris is a perennial flowering plant with over 300 species. Irises are predominantly found in northern temperate zones such as North America, Europe, and parts of Asia. Depending on the species, irises use either bulbous or rhizomatous root strategy.⁽⁶⁾

Most irises bloom in late spring or early summer. The six-petaled iris flower is unique because it has three outer petals that hang down, called “falls”, and three inner petals that stand upright. These upright petals are called “standards”.

Bearded and Beardless Irises

Irises are separated into two main groups:  Bearded and Beardless

Bearded Irises:

Bearded irises have soft hairs along the center of their falls.  Most of the bearded irises are native to central and southern Europe.  The American Iris Society separates these irises into six subcategories: Miniature Dwarf Bearded, Standard Dwarf Bearded, Intermediate Bearded, Border Bearded, Miniature Tall Bearded, and Tall Bearded.  

Beardless Irises:

Beardless Irises do not have soft hairs on their lower petals (the falls).  These irises are mostly native to Asia. One of the best-known beardless iris is the Japanese iris (Iris ensata), also named Japanese water iris.  The flowers of the Japanese iris are about 3 to 6 inches across and come in various colors.  These irises that will do well in damp and boggy areas.  

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Astronomical Season

June 30, the last day of week 30.  June 23 is ten days past the summer solstice and 84 days until the Autumn Equinox (September 22, 2024).  

Moon Phases

On June 28, the Moon was in its Last Quarter phase. The Last Quarter occurs when the Moon is three-quarters of the way through its orbit around the Earth. At this time, the Moon has approximately 50% of its surface illuminated. 

On June 30, the last day of this week, the Moon will be in its Waning Crescent phase with 32.5% of its surface illuminated. The Moon will continue to lose illumination until it reaches the New Moon on July 05.

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Haiku and Kigo 

The kigo, or season word, is one of the key parts of the haiku.  The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society provides us with the following explanation for why we use kigo in haiku. 

“A kigo is a poetic device used in haiku to denote a season; it’s a powerful word or phrase that can conjure up many allusions, historical references, spiritual meanings, and/or cultural traditions. Its use in haiku, a poem of few words, is especially effective because of this power to expand its meaning beyond the literal and to create a larger aura of seasonal mood, historical/ literary context, and/or cultural implications.”⁽⁹⁾

Visit The Haiku Foundation’s “New To Haiku: What is a Kigo?” for more information

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This Week’s Kigo

In The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto “Japanese Iris”, “wild iris”, and  “blue flag” or “rabbit-ear iris” are all potential kigo.

In Jane Reichhold’s A Dictionary of Haiku,  “flowers” and “melon” are relevant summer kigo.

According to the World Kigo Database by Dr. Gabi Greves, Iris (ayame) is a mid-summer kigo  

With all this in mind, let’s read some haiku. 

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Basho

honorable figure
I will bow down to 
rabbit-ear iris 
(translated by Jane Reichhold)

Irises arranged - 
Beneath the eaves 
A sardine skull. 
(translated by Takafumi Saito & William R. Nelson)

This rabbit-ear iris 
inspires me to compose 
another haiku 
(translated by Sam Hamill) 

Issa

the perfect thing
for an old-time evening...
thatch of irises
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

geese and ducks
wipe their feet...
on the irises
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Buson

Splashed
over an iris
hawk droppings
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Every evening
in a soundless rain 
irises
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Shiki

this lone iris
white
in spring twilight
(translated by Sanford Goldstein and Seishi Shinoda)

Reichhold

muskmelon
for desert
the new moon

a swinging gate
on both sides the flowers
open - close

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Haiku invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu about the irises.

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your page and link back. I can’t wait to read what you write! 

Formatting Note:  To eliminate the spaces between the lines of your haiku, hit shift-enter at the end of the line.  For example,

one (shift-enter)
line two (shift-enter)
the third line (shift-enter)

Thanks to LaMon for sharing these instructions!

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Let’s Spread the Joy of Haiku!

Buy a haiku book for the Woodbury Community Library (Woodbury, VT) and help them spread the joy of haiku! Follow this link to see the wish list and how you can help.

Thank you for your support!

You can also support our work by donating at “Buy Me a Coffee” or shopping at our bookstore.

About the Haiku

Basho’s haiku were retrieved from “Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations” Editor: Gábor Terebess.  Issa’s haiku were retrieved from David G. Lanoue’s Haiku Guy. Buson’s haiku was retrieved from Foxfire: the Selected Poems of Yosa Buson, a Translation by Allan Persinger. Jane Reichhold’s haiku were retrieved from the Dictionary of Haiku. Shiki’s haiku was retrieved from The Classic Tradition of Haiku: An Anthology by Faubion Bowers.

1. “The 24 Solar Terms”; China Educational Tours
2. “6 Solar Terms of Summer”; China Educational Tours
3. Schmidt, Darlene. “What is Lychee Fruit”; SpruceEats.com
4. 72 Seasons App
5. “Japan’s 72 Microseasons”; Nippon.com
6. “Iris”; Brittanica
7. “Irises”; Almanac.com
8. “Iris Classification”; The American Iris Society