Sogi
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- For the village in Samoa, see Sogi, Samoa
Sogi (1421-1502) was a Japanese poet. He came from a humble family from the province of Kii or Omi, and died in Hakone on September 1, 1502. Sogi was a Zen monk from the Shokokuji temple in Kyoto and he studied poetry, mostly renga poetry. In his 30’s he became a professional renga poet. During war, he visited various cities of Japan, meeting important people such as patrons, other poets and his two pupils. After traveling throughout Japan, he came back to Kyoto and was very respected by others.
His type of writing was the renga, which was a type of Japanese poetry. In the renga, two poets joined to do a poem, one wrote a section with his own ideas and then the other adds another section. The two poets form a single poem and the renga poems are usually longer than other types of poetry and can have up to 100 verses. Renga poetry is a fun form of entertainment that anyone can enjoy. Arising from the court tradition of waka, renga was cultivated by the warrior class as well as by courtiers, and some among the best renga poets, such as Sogi, were commoners.
Sogi is considered the greatest master of renga, because of two poems called “Three Poets at Minase” and “Three Poets at Yuyama”. His writings were made of short stanzas, to form a single poem with many changes of mood and direction. This wonderful poet left more than 90 works (anthologies, diaries, poetic criticisms, manuals, among others). Before his death, he wrote Sogi Alone, which mostly includes his memories.
[edit] Quotes
“Life in this world is brief as time spent sheltered from winter showers.”
