A Chime of Windbells

by Harold Stewart

Hardcover beautifully bound in gilt decorated natural and green linen, no dust jacket, within card slipcase. Pages are bound folded, with lovely full colour illustrations throughout. Some surface colour loss to the decorated slipcase, and board spine is slightly sunned. No other notable faults. LW

Genres: Poetry

236 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Brent L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although some may object to the way the author translates these Haiku, I enjoyed the format of this book and found the poems beautiful and pleasing to read.
The seasonal arrangement makes this a perfect book to dip into in small doses, following along with the changing year.
The paintings were interesting and pleasing to look at.

The essay at the end regarding cultural and religious influences on Haiku was rather dense - and I am not educated enough to judge its accuracy - but it was a fascinating read.

[Ben Norwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

must haikus be forced to rhyme?

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is interesting, and beautifully illustrated, but I don’t agree with much of what it’s doing or how it’s doing it. I find the justification behind translating each haiku into a rhyming couplet to be flimsy. It creates a lovely moment, but it presumes that there aren’t other ways to make the poems musical. I also don’t love the essay that follows the poems. I don’t trust how it depicts the spiritual and cultural influences behind the poems. Not every older book feels like a relic of its time, but this one certainly does.