The silent sentinels and the moon

KAWASE HAZUI : TREES, SHADOWS AND THE MOON?

WOODCUTS?

Slowly silently now the moon?

Walks the night in her silver spoon

This way and that she peers and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees

???????????Walter de la Mare

An artististic debut at 35 years Japanese woodcut master known for his Visions of Japan was drawn to the shade and shadows of the moonlit night and trees to create a set of nocturnal masterpieces.

The moon in all its phases ,the moonlight casting its dulcet notes on the silhouette of trees, and the hushed silence of a tensile landscape became his leitmotif to create a stellar set of works that echoed the eternal truth of nature’s infinite insignia in front of man’s mortality.

The majestic silhouettes of the matsu (Japan’s iconic pine trees, symbols of fortitude and courage) and the sugi (the enormous old-growth cedars, symbols of power and longevity) reach into the nocturne toward the crescent and lean into the gloaming hour, backlit by the full Moon.

By carefully carving small nips from his woodblock, he could exploit the unprinted paper’s whiteness to conjure the impression of falling flakes. These landscapes are like visual poems they extol the beauty and wistful ways of expressing the power and poetry of nature.Compositional control and the magic of contrasts become the most important alchemy of these woodcuts.This woodcut brings back the words of Silver by Walter de La Mare.

' Silver’ is a fourteen-line sonnet that follows a?rhyming?pattern of aabbccddeeffgg. With this?rhyme scheme, the poem conforms to the known “Clare” or line-rhymed sonnet form. Poetry lovers?can also take note of the?repetition?utilized in this piece. De la Mare has chosen to repeat the word “silver” a total of eight times.’ at least once within each rhyming?couplet.??There are also moments of?internal rhyme and half rhyme This can be seen most prominently in the first four lines with the use of the words “Slowly” and “silently” as well as “peers” and “sees.” There is a very prominent?rhythm?to the first four lines as well.