bôtan no hyaku no yururu wa yu no yôni
peonies --
hundreds swaying
like a hot bath
 MORI
Sumio (1919-)
yamaguni no sora ni asoberu rakka kana
in the mountainside sky
cherry petals play
as they fall ...
KUSAMA
Tokihiko (1920-2003)
tsuki ichirin tôko ichirin hikariau
the disk moon
the disk frozen lake
reflecting each other
HASHIMOTO
Takako (1899-1963)
kogarashi no hate wa arikeri umi no oto
bitter winter wind
ends there --
sound of the sea
IKENISHI
Gonsui (1650-1722)
comment:
The word kogarashi reminds us Japanese of the bitter cold wind in the
winter which may be beyond imagination for people in warmer countries.
I have spent some winters in a colder country than Japan, but I felt the
Japanese winter was much colder than that. It may be because of the moisture
and the housing architecture. The kogarashi in the Edo Period must have
been much severer than now, which may explain the reason why this haiku
became popular then.
Gonsui, later surely influenced modern poets like YAMAGUCHI
Seishi who wrote a related haiku about the WW II suicide bomber pilots
in his famous haiku:
umi ni dete kogarashi kaeru tokoro nashi
out to the sea --
bitter winter wind
has no place to return
ten mo chi mo nashi tada yuki no furishikiru
no sky
no land -- just
snow falling
KAJIWARA
Hashin (1864-?)
comment:
This haiku is quite famous outside of Japan; in fact, there are several
translations in English and other languages like Flemish and Dutch. But
it is not famous in Japan and is not even cited in the saijiki. Saijiki
are the books of season words which are quite important for Japanese haiku
poets, and they came in many different sizes. Even a small saijiki has
references to one or two haiku by a famous poet. This haiku by Hashin,
however, cannot be found in any saijiki as far as I know. But I chose
this haiku because it is a great haiku and is cited by haiku books in
many foreign countries.
This haiku was first translated by MIYAMORI Asataro (before English professor
at Keio University) and his translation was later read by famous Western
haiku translators: R. H. Blyth and Harold Henderson. This haiku is easy
to translate; there are some haiku that are good but still untranslatable,
but this haiku is both good and very translatable, thus its appeal. The
haijin Hashin was a disciple of Kyoshi and a druggist; other than that
his background is unknown, but he left behind this one good haiku.
mizugame ni kaeru ukunari satsukiame
a frog floating
in the water jar --
summer rain
MASAOKA
Shiki (1867-1902)
comment:
For most European people frogs are grotesque and strange little animals.
In Japan frogs live in paddy fields, and because of their charming sound
and harmless nature (in fact they keep the rice paddies from bad insects),
they have been referred to as a spring season word from ancient times.
They are different from ugly toads. Many haiku have been made on them,
one of the most famous being the one by Basho: "old pond / a frog
jumps in / the sound of water". Shiki is best known among modern
haiku poets, and this haiku was first translated by Blyth, and, following
its strange destiny, was picked up by the American beat poets.
This well-known haiku of Shiki's, was translated by R.H.Blyth
like this:
a frog floating
in the water jar --
rain of summer
Interestingly, much later when American beat poet Allen
Ginsberg (1926-1998) read Blyth's translations in the 1950's and began
practicing his own haiku, he wrote a very similar one:
a frog floating
in the drugstore jar
summer rain on the pavement
hajimete no yuki yami ni furi yami ni yamu
first snow --
begins in the darkness
ends in the darkness
NOZAWA
Setsuko (1920-1995)
kogarashi no ima ya fukutomo chiru ha nashi
bitter winter wind --
blowing now
yet no leaves to drop
NATSUME
Sôseki (1867-1916)
fuyunami wa sono kage no e ni kutsugaeru
winter waves
break and turn over
their own shadow
TOMINAGA
Fûsei (1885-1970)
matenrô yori shinryoku ga paseri hodo
from a skyscraper
the new green leaves
like parsley
TAKAHA
Shugyo (1930-)
shiawase no machiiru gotoku hatsugoyomi
as if happiness
is waiting ahead --
the new calendar
INAHATA
Teiko (1931-)
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