slow slow

一茶　1820年
闇がりの牛を引出す日永哉
kuragari no ushi wo hikidasu hinaga kana

David’s English
leading a cow
from the dark barn...
the day is long

by Issa, 1820
Shinji Ogawa translates kuragari no ushi as "leading out a cow from a dark place." I have substituted "barn" in an attempt to make Issa's image concrete in English. Is this adding too much?
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
slow slow.

shoot me?

一茶　1824年
追鳥の不足の所へ狐哉
oi-dori no fusoku no toko e kitsune kana

David’s English
heading for where bird hunters are few... the fox
by Issa, 1824
The fox doesn't know that the hunters are only after birds.
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Shoot me?

down to two leaves

一茶　1806年
二葉から朝顔淋し春の霜
futaba kara asagao sabishi haru no shimo

David’s English
down to two leaves

the lonely morning-glory...

spring frost


by Issa, 1806　age 44, live in Edo. http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Issa is out of Basho’s mainstream and begin to make his own haiku.It’s his destiny.

bonfire

一茶　1794年

すくも火やかがしの果も夕煙り
sukumo-bi ya kagashi no hate mo yu^ keburi

David’s　English

bonfire--
a scarecrow also ends up
in evening's smoke

by Issa, 1794
I orginally translated sukumo-bi as "peat fire," but Shinji Ogawa thinks "bonfire" is better. Sukumo-bi, he writes, is a bonfire of weathered weeds.
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga

The glory’s end

snowy road

一茶　1819年
雪の道片方とけてやみにけり
yuki no michi kata kata tokete yami ni keri

David’s English
snowy road--
on one side
melting to nothing

by Issa, 1819
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Happy sunny side and,

accompanying the rain

一茶　1809年
むら雨を尾であしらひし雉哉
murasame wo o de ashiraishi kigisu kana

David’s　English
accompanying the rain
with its tail...
a pheasant

by Issa, 1809
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Come on !

temple guard

一茶　1818年
堂守が人に酔たる桜哉
do^mori ga hito ni yoitaru sakura kana

David’s　English
the temple guard
sick from the crowds...
cherry blossoms

by Issa, 1818
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga

cat's love calls

一茶　1812年
猫なくや中を流るる角田川
neko naku ya naka nagaruru sumida-gawa

David’s English
cats' love calls--
between them flows
Sumida River

by Issa, 1812

Shinji Ogawa helped me to visualize what is happening in this haiku: two cats ready for lovemaking separated by the wide river. Following almost immediately in Issa's journal is this verse: edo neko no awatadashisa yo sumida-gawa the Edo cat in a frenzy... Sumida River
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Sumida River is wide, like as Thames, Moscow and Hudson,
Love call can’t reach at other bank.

flowering rape

一茶　1790年代
なの花にだらだら下りの日暮哉
na no hana ni dara-dara ori no higure kana

David’s English
in flowering rape
step by step sinking...
sun

by Issa
This is an early haiku written in the 1790s. Rape (or canola) is a bright yellow flowering plant of Asia.
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Rape is cultivated on river bank and in rice field as a second corp.

back window

一茶　1820年
うら窓や鹿のきどりに犬の声
ura mado ya shika no kidori ni inu no koe

David’s English
back window--
the deer strikes a pose
the dog barks

by Issa, 1820
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Wife is busy at caring baby.

lovely

一茶　1814年
愛想やのべの草さへ若盛り
aiso^ ya nobe no kusa sae waka-zakari

David’s　English
lovely--
even the meadow grasses
hit their peak young

by Issa, 1814
Aiso^ or aiso denotes; amiability, affability. These English equivalents sound too cold for this context; I hope that "lovely" expresses Issa's warm and tender feeling toward the young grasses.
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
1814, Age 52
Fourth Month, Issa marries with Kiku.

first sky

一茶　1811年
初空のもやうに立るけぶり哉
hatsu-zora no moyo^ ni tateru keburi kana

David’s　English
rising into
the year's first sky...
smoke

by Issa, 1811
visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo　haiga
From the year end to New Year’s days, for three weeks Issa stayed in Sairin-Ji
Temple, and enjoyed haiku meeting with good friends.

bamboo shoot

一茶　1819年
筍と品よくあそべ雀の子
takenoko to shinayoku asobe suzume no ko

David’s　English
bamboo shoots, baby sparrows
play together
gently!

by Issa, 1819
Issa's word, shinayoku, seems to be a variant of shinayaka: graceful, elegant, delicate. In his haiku, he tells the baby bamboo and baby sparrows to play together delicately, gracefully.
#visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Why did Issa order baby sparrows to play gently?
Because　a bamboo baby was his beloved daughter.

the farting contest

一茶　1816年
屁くらべが又始るぞ冬篭
he kurabe ga mata hajimaru zo fuyugomori

David’s English
the farting contest
begins again...
winter seclusion

by Issa, 1816
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga

autumn evening

一茶　1790年代
山見ても海見ても秋の夕哉
yama mite mo umi mite [mo] aki no yu^be kana

David’s English
looking at the mountain
looking at the sea...
autumn evening

by Issa
This is an early haiku written in the 1790s.
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo　haiga

radishes blooming

一茶
野大根も花となりにけり鳴雲雀
no daiko mo hana to nari keri naku hibari

David’s English
even the field's
radishes blooming...
the lark singing!

by Issa
Originally, I had the radishes "becoming flowers," but Shinji Ogawa points out that radishes, being roots, do not themselves bloom.
http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
Sometimes the healthy leg of young woman is compared with radish.

at a six-way

一茶　1819年
六道の辻に立けりかれ尾花
roku do^ no tsuji ni tachi keri kare obana

David’s English
standing at a six-way
crossroads
in the withered grass

by Issa, 1819
This haiku alludes to the "Six Ways" of possible future life reincarnation:　 輪廻（りんね）（転生） (1) as a sufferer in hell, (2) as a hungry ghost, (3) as an animal, (4) as an angry demon, (5) as a human being, or (6) as a saint in the Western Paradise.
# visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga

the man's child

一茶1810年
人の子や鵜を遊する草の花
hito no ko ya u wo asobasuru kusa no hana

David's English
the man's child
tends to the cormorant...
wildflowers
Or: "cormorants." Japanese fishermen use cormorants. Tied to a tether, these sea birds dive for fish that they are forced to disgorge. The verb asobasuru, which I initially thought had to do with playing, means "attend to" in this context, according to Shinji Ogawa.

sakuo haiga
The father fisherman let the bird work very hard.
The son of fisherman innocently plays with the bird.
Both belong to human characteristic.

outdoing the cormorant

一茶　1819年
鵜の真似は鵜より上手な子供哉
u no mane wa u yori jyo^zu-na kodomo kana

David’s English
outdoing the cormorant
with a fine imitation...
a child
by Issa, 1819
Japanese fishermen use cormorants. Tied to a tether, these sea birds dive for fish that they are forced to disgorge.
To unsubscribe, visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
As the cormorant do, poor street boy ask money from walker
but his money is robbed by his parent.

just as you are

一茶　1821年
それ也になる仏いたせ穴の蛇
sore nari ni narubutsu itase ana no hebi

David’s English

just as you are
become Buddha!
snake in your hole

by Issa, 1821
Robin D. Gill assisted with this translation. Snakes entering their holes is an autumn season word. The editors of Issa zenshu^ speculate that by narubutsu Issa means jo^butsu (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79, 1.535). Shinji Ogawa comments, "It may seem very odd, but inferring from this haiku, Issa might not know about the snake's hibernation. He regards, at least so it seems, the snakes that go back to their holes as if they are going into the graveyard to die."

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

sakuo haiga
1821, Age 59, already lost two babies, and this year second son died.

hey sparrows

一茶　1814年
雀らよ小便無用古衾
suzume-ra yo sho^ben muyo^ furu fusuma

David’s English
hey sparrows
no pissing on my old
winter quilt!

by Issa, 1814
＃visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
1814, Age 52
Fourth Month, 11th day, he marries Kiku.

maiden flowers

一茶　1815年
寝むしろやたばこ吹かける女郎花
nemushiro ya tabako fukakeru ominaeshi

David’s English
sleeping mat--
pipe smoke wafts over
the maiden flowers

by Issa, 1815 , http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo Haiga

roses of Sharon

一茶　1804年
不平な垣もむくげは咲にけり
futairana kaki mo mukuge wa saki ni keri

David’s English
an unlevel hedge, too
in bloom...
roses of Sharon

by Issa, 1804
Kaki can be translated as "fence" or "hedge." Since Issa is referring to blooming shrubs, the latter translation fits here.
＃ visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga

cool breeze

一茶　1815年
涼風やあひに相生の蝉の声
suzukaze ya ai ni aioi no semi no koe

David’s English
cool breeze--
growing up together
the cicadas sing

by Issa, 1815
Sumiyoshi is a Shinto shrine in Osaka.
#visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo kaiga
1815, aged 53, last year he married with 28 young bride. It was his happiest time.
The second phrase comes from popular wedding song, Takasago that is very old and traditional song.
It means happy couple will get old together till the hairs become white.

Takasago

一茶　1813年
高砂や鬼追出も歯ぬけ声
takasago ya oni oi-dasu mo hanuke-goe

David’s English
Takasago--
shouting away demons
a toothless one too

by Issa, 1813
Takasago is famous for pine tree-covered islands. During the end-of-year bean-scattering ritual, it is a custom to shout, "Luck indoors, demons begone!" In this haiku, someone without teeth joins in the shouting. This could be a self-portrait, since Issa lost his last tooth two years earlier, in 1811.
#visit http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

sakuo haiga
1813, Age 51
Second Month, Issa is living in Kashiwabara in a rented house for father’s asset.
Bean-scattering ritual was held at this time.