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Sunday, May 03, 2009

foolish bird

Issa 一茶 1820 age 58

ばか鳥よ羽ぬけてから何しあん
baka tori yo ha nukete kara nan shian

David’s English

foolish bird--
after molting
what are you thinking?

by Issa, 1820

According to Shinji Ogawa, Issa is punning here with two meanings of ha: "feather" and "tooth." The bird that has shed its feathers is really Issa who has lost his teeth.
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sakuo haiga

haiku Issa

2 comments:

Pris said...

sakuo-san....put you and Issa together and something fantastic emerges. Excellent!

Unknown said...

Pris san!
Glad to have your kindest comment!

sakuo.