Haiku harusamu 寒き春（さむきはる） / Haiku for This Cold Spring…Kyoshi & Issa
Posted: March 20, 2014 Filed under: English, Issa, Japanese, Kyoshi | Tags: Spring Haiku Comments Off on Haiku harusamu 寒き春（さむきはる） / Haiku for This Cold Spring…Kyoshi & Issa
Takahama Kyoshi (1874-1959)
Translations by Katsuya Hiromoto
.
春風や闘志いだきて丘に立つ
harukaze ya / tohshi idaki te / oka ni tatsu
.
Spring wind:
Full of fight
I stand on the hill
.
眼つむれば若き我あり春の宵
Me tsumureba / wakaki ware ari / haru no yoi
.
Shutting my eyes
I find a young me found
In the spring evening
.
この庭の遅日の石のいつまでも
Kono niwa no / chijitsu no ishi no / itsumademo
.
The rocks in this garden
Remain forever
In the lengthening days of spring
.
何事も知らずと答へ老の春
Nanigoto mo / shirazu to kotae / oi no haru
.
”I know nothing”
Is my answer:
Spring in my old age
.
これよりは恋や事業や水温む
kore-yori wa / koi ya jigyoh ya / mizu nurumu
.
From this time on
Love, enterprise, and such:
Water has warmed up
. . .
The following haiku by Kyoshi were translated by Aya Nagayama and James W. Henry:
.
時ものを解決するや春を待つ
Toki mono o kaiketsu suru ya haru o matsu
.
May time solve
Worries and difficulties –
Awaiting the spring
(1914)
.
金の輪の春の眠りにはひりけり
Kin no wa no haru no nemuri ni hairikeri
.
I have entered
The golden circle of
Spring slumber
(1942)
.
闘志尚存して春の風を見る
Tohshi nao sonshite haru no kaze o miru
.
Steadfast in my soul
My fighting spirit remains
And I see the spring breeze
(1950)
.
独り句の推敲をして遅き日を
Hitori ku no suikou o shite osoki hi o
.
In your solitude
Honing and perfecting your haiku –
On a slow spring day
(1959)
. . .
Plus: two by Issa – to have with your cup of tea :-)
(Issa was the haiku pen-name of Kobayashi Nobuyuki Yataro. Issa means Cup of Tea.)
Issa / 一茶 (1763-1828)
.
まん六の春と成りけり門の雪
manroku no haru to nari keri kado no yuki
.
some “proper spring”
this is!
snow at the gate
(1822)
.
春立や愚の上に又愚にかへる
haru tatsu ya gu no ue ni mata gu ni kaeru
.
spring begins –
more foolishness
for this fool
(1823)
. . . . .
Fuyugomori / 冬篭り : Issa’s Haiku of Winter Seclusion
Posted: December 13, 2013 Filed under: English, Issa, Japanese | Tags: Haiku Comments Off on Fuyugomori / 冬篭り : Issa’s Haiku of Winter Seclusion
Toronto, Canada, December 2013…
The early arrival of not cold but unusually cold temperatures we associate with January – normally – may have people feeling sad – or feeling S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Well, poetry’s been there before; witness these Haiku composed two hundred years ago…
. . .
Kobayashi Issa / 小林 一茶 (Japanese poet and lay Buddhist priest, 1763-1828)
.
no nashi wa tsumi mo mata nashi fuyugomori
no good deeds
but also no sins…
winter isolation.
(1819)
.
asana-asana yaki daiko kana fuyugomori
morning after morning –
damn roasted radishes –
winter seclusion!
(1794)
.
fuyugomori akumono-gui no tsunori keri
winter seclusion…
on a foul food eating
binge.
(1821)
“Foul food” may have referred to cicada pupae or “bee worms” but might also have meant beef – something prohibited by Issa’s Buddhism.
.
he kurabe ga mata hajimaru zo fuyugomori
the farting contest
begins again…
winter confinement.
(1816)
.
hito soshiru kai ga tatsunari fuyugomori
another party held
to badmouth other people –
winter confinement.
(1822)
.
sewazuki ya fushô-bushô ni fuyugomori
the busy-body reluctantly
begins…
his winter seclusion.
(1825)
.
neko no ana kara mono wo kau samusa kana
buying from the peddlar
through the cat’s door…
it’s cold!
(1822)
.
fuyugomoru mo ichi nichi futsuka kana
one more day
of winter confinement…
makes two.
(1824)
. . . . .
Gabi Greve writes:
Fuyugomori / 冬篭り means “winter seclusion/isolation/confinement” in Japanese.
In rural Japan, especially in the Northern areas along the coast of the Sea of Japan, the winter was long and brought enormous amounts of snow. There was nothing much to do but wait it out. Farmhouses were difficult to heat and the family huddled around the hearth – irori – in the kitchen. Great endurance was required during such winter seasons.
Fuyugomori also may refer to cold-season hibernation – the habit of bears – and the “fantasy” of numerous Canadians at this time of year!
.
. . . . .
Zócalo Poets 