CRAFT STUDIO:SKELETONS BY IKKYU-SAN
What I Was Reading:
Ikkyu-san wrote a series of poems called “Skeletons” after falling asleep in a graveyard. He dreamt that the skeletons were all alive and living as they had when they still had flesh on their bones. One of them approached him and said the lines below. Ikkyu was one of the most prominent monks in Japanese history, yet he was irreverent about many things. He famously enjoyed alcohol and women until his end. He lived from 1394 to 1481.
This world
Is but
A fleeting dream
So why be alarmed
At its evanescence?
What Moves I Notice the Writer Making:
- The author is trying to encourage the reader to forego any attachments to ‘this world’ and to embrace detachment.
- He is sparing with his words and leaving pregnant pauses for dramatic effect.
Possibilities For Writers:
- Ask students to write about all of the things that they feel ‘attached to’ in this world.
- Ask students to write about all of the things they could easily live without.
- Ask students to either agree with Ikkyu’s philosophy or disagree with it and give their examples/reasons.
- Ask students to write about what advice someone who has died (either famous or personal) would likely give them.
Guest writer William Biolsi is an ESL/EFL teacher who spent 19 of his last 24 years living in East Asia. He is currently enrolled as a BEd student at the University of New Brunswick