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Thursday, August 31, 2006

yet couldn't bound


1819 age 56
一茶
犬の餅烏が餅もつかれけり
inu no mochi karasu ga mochi mo tsukare keri

David's English
one for the dog
one for the crow...
rice cakes

sakuo comment and renku
the year before his first daughter Sato is born.
1819 sixth month she dies. She lived only a year and a month.

されど娘の餅は搗けない
saredo musume no moti ha tukenai

yet couldn’t bound
rice cake for daughter

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

take it out on Buddha

1822 60 years old.

一茶
煤竹や仏の顔も一なぐり
susutake [ya] hotoke no kao mo hito naguri

David’s English&comment

bamboo soot broom--
Buddha's face too
gets a smack

Issa is referring to a statue of Buddha. Shinji Ogawa notes that susutake denotes "a bamboo broom for dusting." More specifically, it is a thin bamboo used for soot-sweeping; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983

sakuo’s Renku & comment
1816 first son dies.
1819 Sato dies.
1821 second son dies

宝取られて仏に当たる
takara torare te hotoke ni ataru

being robbed of his treasures
take it out on Buddha
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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

with my fly's child

1815
一茶

留主にするぞ恋して遊べ庵の蝿
rusu ni suru zo koi shite asobe io no hae

David’s English & comennt
while I'm away
enjoy the love making
hut's flies

This haiku was composed in 1815, a year during which Issa spent the majority of days traveling (despite the fact he married his first wife, Kiku, just the year before). In fact, Shinji Ogawa points out that Issa stayed home only 77 days the year he married Kiku.Lest someone think this was a sign that the marriage wasn't working, one should keep in mind that Issa needed to meet with his haiku students throughout Shinano Province and, from time to time, hobnob with poets in Edo (today's Tokyo).

sakuo Renku
我が蝿の子と貴方を待たん
waga hae no ko to anata wo matan

with my fly’s child
I’m waiting for you
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Saturday, August 26, 2006

floating among heaven and earth


David’s English
birds in the clouds
people in the sea...
a holiday

一茶
雲に鳥人間海にあそぶ日ぞ
kumo ni tori ningen umi ni asobu hi zo
by Issa, 1793

Jean Cholley sees this as a scene of people gathering shellfish at low tide. At the end of Third Month seabirds have migrated north ("in the clouds"), leaving good pickings for the humans; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 234, note 9. Issa later (1795) revises this to begin with "larks in the sky" (ten ni hibari). Larks are not migratory birds.

visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo Renku
1793 Age 31 years on journey of Kyushyu

魂抜けて天地に漂う
tamashii nike te tenchi ni tadayou

my soul leaving from me
floating among heaven and earth

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

located on the sky

David’s English
and how old are you
Mr. Turtle?
Mount Fuji

kame dono no ikutsu no toshi zo fuji no yama
亀どののいくつのとしぞ不二の山
by Issa, 1812

The highest and most sacred of Japan's peaks, Mount Fuji, was the home of the great kami-sama or gods. Buddhists believed it was a mystical gateway between earth and heaven.
visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo Renku
御空におわす阿弥陀佛かな
misora ni owasu amida-butu kana

Located on the sky
Amida Buddha
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Monday, August 21, 2006

one hand pets the dog

一茶
草餅や片手は犬を撫ながら
kusamochi ya katate wa inu wo nade nagara
by Issa, 1824

David’s translation & comment
eating herb cake
while one hand
pets the dog

The word "eating" doesn't appear in Issa's original, but this action can be inferred.
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo Renku
1824, Issa is 62 years old. On May he married. After three months he divorce.
Preface;
Cake is symbol of appetite. What stands for the dog that lives together in his home. The dog is female, straightly symbol of sexual desire.

食気も色気も春なればこそ
syoku mo iroke mo haru nareba koso

eating and loving bloom
now is the spring
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Sunday, August 20, 2006

Shinto deer celebrates

David’s English
Kasuga Field's deer
also attend, I see...
blossom-filled temple

一茶
春日のの鹿も立ちそう花御堂
kasuga no no shika mo tachi so^ hana mido^
by Issa, 1810

David’s Comment
Shinji Ogawa explains, "The Kasugano (Kasuga Plain or Field), famous for its deer, is located east of Kohuku Temple and south of Tôdai Temple."Gabi Greve explains that hanamidô ("blossom temple hall") is a miniature hall set up at Buddhist temples and decorated with colorful flowers on Gautauma Buddha's birthday, celebrated on the Eighth Day of Fourth Month. Small statues of the child Buddha are decorated with flowers, and hydrangea tea is poured over the statue by visitors. Here, the deer seem to be honoring Buddha along with the human visitors. Sakuo Nakamura points out that the deer is a "servant of the Kasuga Shinto shrine," and so its attendance at Buddha's Birthday festival is like "an Arab's camel visiting a synagogue."Sakuo's observation reminds us that Issa, like most Japanese, honors both Buddhism and Shinto. His religious sentiment is vast, deep, and non-exclusive.

sakuo Renku
Preface, the deer is a servant of Shinto-shrine, Kasuga Shrine.
hanami-dou(blossom-filled temple) is Buddha’s holly house.
Judging from religious point of view they are heathen each other.
According to western commonsense, it seems to be that Arab’s camel visit a synagogue.

神鹿祝う仏の誕生
shin-roku iwau hotoke no tanjyou

Shinto’s deer celebrates
the birth of Buddha.


visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/ Posted by Picasa

Friday, August 18, 2006

the sea of a haiku poem















David’s English
a new year begins--
before sunrise
a pine-decorated boat

toshi tatsu ya hi no de wo mae no fune no matsu
年立や日の出を前の舟の松
by Issa, 1805

43 years old, keeping activity in Edo, with excellent ku-friends making haiku vividly .

sakuo Renku
俳句の海へいざ船出かな
haiku no umi he iza funade kana

let’s embark for
the sea of a haiku poem.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

love romance



David English
on loincloth
and little red flowers...
evening dew

一茶
ふんどしと小赤い花と夜露哉
fundoshi to ko akai hana to yo tsuyu kana
by Issa, 1812 Age 50.

sakuo Renku
祭の夜の恋物語
matsuri no yoru no koi monogatari

love romance
at the night of festival

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

a traveler's sky

David’s English
a traveler's sky--
Twelfth Month
29th day

tabi no sora shiwasu mo ni ju^ ku nichi kana
旅の空師走も二十九日哉
by Issa, 1803
Age 41, living in Edo. visiting to Bousyo district, seeking new
haiku friends.

sakuo Renku
杖を頼りに今年も暮れる
tue wo tayori ni kotoshi mo kureru

depending on a stick
the year is ending
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Saturday, August 12, 2006

ill lucks with soot

David’s English
my home village--
four or five years of soot
needs sweeping

furusato ya shi go nenburi no susu harai
古郷や四五年ぶりの煤払
by Issa, 1824

sakuo Renku.
In four or five years, Issa have lost 4 children and his wife.

溜まった不運煤と払い出せ
tamatsu ta fuun susu to harai dase

the collected ill lucks
paid out together with soot.

Friday, August 11, 2006

old frog

David’s English
old frog
dewdrops are tumbling
look! there!

oi kawazu sore-sore tsuyu ga korogeru zo
老蛙それそれ露がころげるぞ

by Issa, 1812
Age 50Eleventh Month, leaving Edo,
he returns to live in his native village of Kashiwabara. His dispute on inheritance has prolonged for11 years from his father’s death.

sakuo Renku
koroge otiru ya fuyu no sekai he
転げ落ちるや冬の世界へ
rolling and falling
to the winter world.

Monday, August 07, 2006

waiting in Edo

David’s English
my snow too
entrusted to join
Chikuma River

waga yuki mo tsure ni tanomu zo chikuma kawa
我雪も連に頼むぞ千曲川
一茶
by Issa, 1815
53 years old, last year married, leaving business in Edo.
In Autumn starting to Edo.

sakuo Renku
我を待つらん江戸の人々
ware wo matu ran edo no hito bito

waiting for me
acquaintance in Edo

visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/ Posted by Picasa

Sunday, August 06, 2006

come arround me!


David’s English
even the cloudburst
shows the facing mountain
favoritism

yu^dachi mo mukai no yama no hiiki kana
夕立もむかひの山の贔負哉
by Issa, 1815
married the last year ,staying in home village, but he has business in Edo. In autum he went to Edo.

sakuo Renku
こちらにも来い今日の暑さ哉
kotira ni mo koi kono atusa kana

come around me
today’s the heat

Saturday, August 05, 2006

uneasy crossing the peak

David’s English
glimpsing suspicious me
the deer sounds
the alarm

waga nari wo usan to mite ya shika no naku
我形をうさんと見てや鹿の鳴
             一茶

Issa, 1820
Age 58
At the year before Sato dies.Tenth Month, 5th day, his second son, Ishitarô, is born.
After 3 months, he dies.

sakuo Renku
不安を誘うこの峠越え
fuan wo sasou kono touge goe

it makes me uneasy
crossing the peak

Thursday, August 03, 2006

metalic surface trial

This is the picture that is celebration of Issa's first daughter.
Same image has featured before with colors.

sakuo.

the birth of Angele

David’s English
the whole village
pays them court...
silkworms

mura naka ni kigen toraruru kaiko kana

一茶
村中にきげんとらるる蚕哉

by Issa, 1818

1818, Age 56
Fifth Month, 4th day, a daughter, Sato, was born.
His first and second sons have died soon after their birth.
People surround Issa celebrated a baby Sato who was an Angele
for Issa as well as surround.

sakuo Renku
minna iwau ya tenshi no tanjyou
皆祝うや天使の誕生

all villagers celebrate
the birth of Angele

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

only my trouble

David’s English
the sky colors
of dawn have changed
to summer clothes

曙の空色衣かへにけり    一茶
akebono no sora iro koromo kae ni keri
by Issa, 1807

sakuo Comment
1807 7th month Issa returned to home village for attending to father’s funnel patry held at 7 years later from father’s death.
The father said his assets should be divided even between Issa and brother.
But it has been not executed till now. How long has suffered Issa?

Renku
かわらぬものは我が難儀のみ
kawaranu mono ha waga nangi nomi

the unchangeable is
only my trouble