Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) composed more than 25'500 haiku in his life. His interest in Tanka and Haiku dates back in his young age, at first he started to write Chinese poems. His pen name originated from a poem he wrote about a kind of Japanese cuckoo singing until he coughed blood. He was suffering a long time from TB. Soseki Natsume was one of Shiki's best friend, they met for gatherings to write haiku. Shiki worked as a newspaper correspondent. In 1897, he and his disciples founded the literary journal Hototogisu.
柿食えば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺
while eating kaki
I hear the bell ringing
at Horyu-ji Temple
水無月の虚空に涼し時鳥
in the coolness
of the empty sixth-month sky...
the cuckoo's cry
木をつみて夜の明やすき小窓かな
the tree cut,
dawn breaks early
at my little window
一重づゝ一重つゝ散れ八重櫻
scatter layer
by layer, eight-layered
cherry blossoms !
名月の出るやゆらめく花薄
at the full moon's
rising, the silver-plumed
reeds tremble
ちる花にもつるゝ鳥の翼かな
entangled with
the scattering cherry blossoms—
the wings of birds!
麥蒔やたばねあげたる桑の枝
wheat sowing—
the mulberry trees
lift bunched branches
松杉や枯野の中の不動堂
pine and cypress:
in a withered field,
a shrine to Fudō
すゝしさや神と佛の隣同士
in the coolness
gods and Buddhas
dwell as neighbors
御佛に尻むけ居れば月涼し
I turn my back
on Buddha and face
the cool moon
月涼し蛙の聲のわきあがる
the moon is cool—
frogs' croaking
wells up
すゞしさや瀧ほとばしる家のあひ
coolness—
a mountain stream splashes out
between houses
春風に尾をひろげたる孔雀かな
fanning out its tail
in the spring breeze,
see—a peacock !
柿くへば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺
I bite into a persimmon
and a bell resounds—
Hōryūji
稻の花道灌山の日和かな
rice flowers—
fair weather on
Dōkanyama
稻刈るや燒場の烟たゝぬ日に
rice reaping—
no smoke rising from
the cremation ground today
古庭や月に湯婆の湯をこぼす
old garden—she empties
a hot-water bottle
under the moon
いくたびも雪の深さを尋ねけり
again and again
I ask how high
the snow is
雪ふるよ障子の穴を見てあれば
snow's falling!
I see it through a hole
in the shutter...
雪の家に寢て居ると思ふばかりにて
all I can think of
is being sick in bed
and snowbound...
障子明けよ上野の雪を一目見ん
open the shutter !
I'll just have a look
at Ueno's snow !
春雨や傘さして見る繪草紙屋
spring rain:
browsing under an umbrella
at the picture-book store
榎の實散る此頃うとし鄰の子
the nettle nuts are falling...
the little girls next door
don't visit me these days
しぐるゝや蒟蒻冷えて臍の上
it's drizzling...
devil's tongue, cold on
my belly button
鬚剃るや上野の鐘の霞む日に
getting a shave !
on a day when Ueno's bell
is blurred by haze...
餘命いくばくかある夜短し
how much longer
is my life ?
a brief night...
楊貴妃の寐起顏なる牡丹哉
the peony seems
to think itself Yōkihi
as she awakes
藤の花長うして雨ふらんとす
wisteria plumes
sweep the earth, and soon
the rains will fall
黒きまでに紫深き葡萄かな
from purple deep
in a bowl of grapes
to blackness !
病牀の我に露ちる思ひあり
I thought I felt
a dewdrop on me
as I lay in bed
紅梅の散りぬ淋しき枕元
crimson plum blossoms
scattered over the loneliness
of the bed...
紅梅の落花をつまむ疊哉
fallen petals of
the crimson plum I pluck
from the tatami
絲瓜咲て痰のつまりし佛かな
the gourd flowers bloom,
but look—here lies
a phlegm-stuffed Buddha !
痰一斗絲瓜の水も間に合はず
a quart of phlegm—
even gourd water
couldn't mop it up
をとゝひのへちまの水も取らざりき
they didn't gather
gourd water
day before yesterday either
ごて々と草花植し小庭かな
a jumble of
flowers planted—
see, the little garden !
the scattering cherry blossoms—
the wings of birds!
麥蒔やたばねあげたる桑の枝
wheat sowing—
the mulberry trees
lift bunched branches
松杉や枯野の中の不動堂
pine and cypress:
in a withered field,
a shrine to Fudō
すゝしさや神と佛の隣同士
in the coolness
gods and Buddhas
dwell as neighbors
御佛に尻むけ居れば月涼し
I turn my back
on Buddha and face
the cool moon
月涼し蛙の聲のわきあがる
the moon is cool—
frogs' croaking
wells up
すゞしさや瀧ほとばしる家のあひ
coolness—
a mountain stream splashes out
between houses
春風に尾をひろげたる孔雀かな
fanning out its tail
in the spring breeze,
see—a peacock !
柿くへば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺
I bite into a persimmon
and a bell resounds—
Hōryūji
稻の花道灌山の日和かな
rice flowers—
fair weather on
Dōkanyama
稻刈るや燒場の烟たゝぬ日に
rice reaping—
no smoke rising from
the cremation ground today
古庭や月に湯婆の湯をこぼす
old garden—she empties
a hot-water bottle
under the moon
いくたびも雪の深さを尋ねけり
again and again
I ask how high
the snow is
雪ふるよ障子の穴を見てあれば
snow's falling!
I see it through a hole
in the shutter...
雪の家に寢て居ると思ふばかりにて
all I can think of
is being sick in bed
and snowbound...
障子明けよ上野の雪を一目見ん
open the shutter !
I'll just have a look
at Ueno's snow !
春雨や傘さして見る繪草紙屋
spring rain:
browsing under an umbrella
at the picture-book store
榎の實散る此頃うとし鄰の子
the nettle nuts are falling...
the little girls next door
don't visit me these days
しぐるゝや蒟蒻冷えて臍の上
it's drizzling...
devil's tongue, cold on
my belly button
鬚剃るや上野の鐘の霞む日に
getting a shave !
on a day when Ueno's bell
is blurred by haze...
餘命いくばくかある夜短し
how much longer
is my life ?
a brief night...
楊貴妃の寐起顏なる牡丹哉
the peony seems
to think itself Yōkihi
as she awakes
藤の花長うして雨ふらんとす
wisteria plumes
sweep the earth, and soon
the rains will fall
黒きまでに紫深き葡萄かな
from purple deep
in a bowl of grapes
to blackness !
病牀の我に露ちる思ひあり
I thought I felt
a dewdrop on me
as I lay in bed
紅梅の散りぬ淋しき枕元
crimson plum blossoms
scattered over the loneliness
of the bed...
紅梅の落花をつまむ疊哉
fallen petals of
the crimson plum I pluck
from the tatami
絲瓜咲て痰のつまりし佛かな
the gourd flowers bloom,
but look—here lies
a phlegm-stuffed Buddha !
痰一斗絲瓜の水も間に合はず
a quart of phlegm—
even gourd water
couldn't mop it up
をとゝひのへちまの水も取らざりき
they didn't gather
gourd water
day before yesterday either
ごて々と草花植し小庭かな
a jumble of
flowers planted—
see, the little garden !
絲瓜さへ佛になるぞ後るゝな
hey!—even snake gourds
become Buddhas—
don't get caught behind!
成佛ヤ夕顏ノ顔ヘチマノ屁
Buddha-death:
the moonflower's face,
the snake gourd's fart
病牀の財布も秋の錦かな
the wallet
by the bed is my
autumn brocade
栗飯ヤ病人ナガラ大食ヒ
chestnut rice—
though a sick man,
still a glutton
カブリツク熟柿ヤ髯ヲ汚シケリ
I sink my teeth
into a ripe persimmon—
it dribbles down my beard
驚くや夕顏落ちし夜半の音
surprise!
a moonflower fell—
midnight sound
Comments
Post a Comment