David English
at my gate
slipping so skillfully...
a Twelfth Month singer
-Issa, 1818
56 years old, stay in Sinano, first daughter was born on May.
sakuo Japanese
わが門を 上手く滑るや 節季候
waga kado wo umaku suberuya setuki-zoro
Issa Original
門口や上手に滑る節季候
kado-guchi ya jyôzu ni suberu sekkizoro
Or: "at the gate." Issa doesn't specify that the gate is his, but this might be inferred. One of the troupe of singers has slipped on a patch of ice, becoming a sudden gymnast. Sekizoro refers to a Twelfth Month custom in which strolling singers wandered from town to town, singing festive celebration songs; Kiyose (Tokyo: Kakugawa Shoten, 1984) 348. Shinji Ogawa adds, "They covered their mouths like ladies in the Arab countries. They usually consisted of three or four persons with some types of musical instruments."
sakuo remark
Issa watched singing beggers who were pleasantly
sliding on the snow.
He would wish to slip as they do,
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