Obscure Metaphor

Here are today’s Wonderful Words:

The room remained the same, so everyone ended up looking at each other while the five syllables of his name simply hung in the air. What had begun as a haiku ended as a koan.

The Golden Spruce, John Vaillant, page 168

Background

The Golden Spruce is a story about Grant Hadwin, a man who cut down a one-of-a-kind tree to draw attention to the evils of the logging industry. These sentences come from the description of the courtroom on the day Hadwin was supposed to appear for his crime.

What makes it wonderful?

The description begins with the judge calling his name: Thomas Grant Hadwin.

Then, nothing.

Silence, punctuated by the sounds of people shuffling in their seats, twisting and turning to get a glimpse of the man who destroyed their beloved golden spruce.

Hadwin never arrived.

Instead, he had paddled his kayak into the treacherous waters of Hecate Strait and was never seen again.

But at the point of the judge calling his name, no one knew Hadwin’s fate. Everyone expected him to be in the courtroom. His whereabouts were an unanswerable question.

And therein lies the genius in Vaillant’s words.

What began as a haiku ended as a koan.

A haiku is a poem with three lines. The first line has five syllables. The second line has seven syllables. And the last line has five syllables.

The judge called Hadwin’s name: Thomas Grant Hadwin. Five syllables.

A koan is commonly thought of as a story, question, or riddle with no logical solution—an unanswerable question.

Hadwin never arrived. He was never seen again. His whereabouts, an unanswerable question.

So when Vaillant compared the circumstances of the day to two types of literature, he was spot on. They began with five syllables and ended with an unanswerable question.

What a wonderful description!

Let's get technical

I suppose you would call this a metaphor—a comparison of unrelated things where the reader understands the qualities of one by way of the other.

The events that day were neither a haiku nor a koan.

But they had distinct similarities to each. And to say, what began as a haiku ended as a koan, was clever, thought provoking, and delightful.

Creative comparisons are exceptionally pleasing for the readers who understand them. This sentence would’ve left most people scratching their heads. But the ones who got it smiled with delight. I don’t recommend lacing your writing with obscure metaphors, but sparingly they can be beautiful.

Happy writing,

Joe