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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."

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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

sharing the same pillow

一茶　1821年
母親と同じ枕の手負哉
haha oya to onaji makura no teoi kana

David’s English
sharing the same pillow
with his mother...
wounded deer

by Issa, 1821
This image of a fawn lying next to his dying mother (wounded by a hunter's arrow), is one of Issa's most tragic.
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sakuo haiga
On 1765, at his age 3, his mother dies.
It was the beginning of his tragedy and became the foundation of his haiku.

for my life too

小林一茶　1810年
身一つも同じ世話也花の春
mi hitotsu mo onaji sewa nari hana no haru

David’s English
for my life too
help arrives...
spring blossoms
.
by Issa, 1810
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sakuo comment and haiga..
1810, age 48, being single in Edo, wishing to return home villag.

heat shimmers

小林一茶　1822年 60歳

陽炎の立や垣根の茶ん袋
kagero^ no tatsu ya kakine no chan-bukuro

David’s　English
heat shimmers rise--
on the fence
a pouch of tea

by Issa, 1822
Kaki can be translated as "fence" or "hedge."
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sakuo comment.
What for is used the pouch of tea? I think bag is better than pouch in this case.
The tea bag is used for cooking gruel rice, putting tea in bag and boiled with rice
After cooking the bags are washed, dried and reused.
Who did eat tea gruel rice? In western district, in Kyoto or Nara it has been for break first. In eastern district, in Kanto it was generally for sick　people.
At this time his wife was pregnant with third son.
Issa was looking the tea bags, thinking his wife and new baby.
1822, Third Month, 10th day, his third son　is born

sakuo haiga.

mountain chrysanthemum

小林一茶　1820年 58歳
山の菊曲るなんどはしらぬ也
yama no kiku magaru nando wa shiranu nari

David's　English
mountain chrysanthemum--
growing crooked's a thing
it knows nothing about

by Issa, 1820 age 58.
R. H. Blyth comments, "Chrysanthemum plants are artificially forced into all kinds of shapes. They are straight and upright by nature, like nature"
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sakuo comment.
His wife was called chrysanthemum, Kiku in Japanese.
She was powerful woman,　working hard with obstinate temper. They had
quarrels often.
1820 5th of Octer second son was born, Issa always said to Kiku that don't bundle the baby
on your back. She always resisted it, and on the first month of the next year
the baby was died on mother's back.

sakuo haiga.

first snowfall

小林一茶　1821年
初雪や一二三四五六人
hatsu yuki ya ichi ni san yon go roku hito

David’s English
first snowfall
one, two, three, four
five, six people
by Issa, 1821
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sakuo comment
How to divide second line and third line according to 575 rhythm?
一二三四五六人 (ichi ni san yon go roku hito)

Second line
ichi ni san yon
♪♪　♪_　♪♪　♪♪= 7 syllables + 1 pause

Third line
go roku hito
♪_ ♪♪　♪♪= 5 syllables +1 pause

The above is my trial. I think this punctuation makes 575 rhythm and lead
us to the atmosphere in which we feel first snow falling.

sakuo haiga.

stars of Tanabata

小林一茶　1818年
しゃんしゃんと虫もはたおりて星迎
shan-shan to mushi mo hata orite hoshi mukae

David’s English
chirr-chirr! insects also
work their looms...
stars of Tanabata

by Issa, 1818
The Tanabata Festival takes place on the seventh day of Seventh Month. According to a romantic legend, two celestial lovers--the stars Altair and Vega--are separated by Heaven's River (the Milky Way). One night a year (Tanabata night), they cross the starry river to be together. Vega is the "Weaver Star," working diligently at her loom. Lewis Mackenzie translates the opening phrase onomatopoetically: "clap! clap!" See The Autumn Wind: A Selection from the Poems of Issa (London: John Murray, 1957; rpt. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1984) 67. Since shan to can denote a ringing sound as well as a clapping sound, the first seems more fitting in this case; Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 827. Shinji Ogawa translates the phrase, hoshi mukae, "welcome to Tanabata stars."
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sakuo haiga.

evening smoke

小林一茶　1809年
夕けぶり鳩吹人にかかりけり
yu^ keburi hato fuku hito ni kakari keri

David’s　English
evening smoke--
on the man playing pigeon flute
it hangs
.
by Issa, 1809
Shinji Ogawa explains that there is a flute called hato-bue ("pigeon flute") used to call birds for hunting; it is similar to an ocarina.
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sakuo comment and haiga.
Issa 1819, age 57.
Sixth Month, his first daughter Sato dies of smallpox.
Evening smoke form chimney climb up. It shows dinner has been
prepared.
Pigeon flute is for children. The sound is simple but a little sorrowful.
A man, Issa was playing the flute for his daughter.
His wife called him for the evening meal.
Pigeon was crying for a while in the evening

seaside temple

小林一茶　1818年
磯寺や座敷の霧も絶え絶えに
iso-dera ya zashiki no kiri mo tae-dae ni

David’s English
seaside temple--
the room in the mist
grows faint

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

sakuo comment.
It was at seaside and evening.
The air is getting cooler and mist move up from sea.
Gabi san has suggested me the above.
The mist faintly comes up like a fairy creep up into the room.

sakuo renga.

soot-grimed straw mat

小林一茶　1806年
煤くさき畳も月の夜也けり
susu kusaki tatami mo tsuki no yo nari keri

David's English
on a soot-grimed
straw mat too...
moon gazing


by Issa, 1806
The original haiku ends with the phrase,
"it's become a moonlit night" (tsuki yo nari keri).
The moon-gazing is implied. Other moon watchers sit on fine tatami mats,
but one poor participant (Issa?) sits on a soot-stained one. For all, it's the same moon.
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sakuo comment.
1806 aged 44, staying in Edo, at this time his best haiku teacher was Natume Seibi who was
who was a big banker and helped Issa's daily life.
A soot-grimed straw mat is placed besidde Irori (fire storve) that is located in living room or
kitchen. Issa stayed there, but gust room were filled with moon watchers.
Their gay voices might sound to solitary Issa.

sakuo haiga.

purification font

小林一茶　1818年
みたらしやすみ捨てある後の月
mitarashi ya sumi sutete aru nochi no tsuki

David's English
purification font--
thrown in a corner
the Ninth Month moon

by Issa, 1818
The font holds water for hand-washing purification at a shrine--
and a reflection of the full moon of Ninth Month, 13th day.
In the old calendar, there were two harvest moons:
the 15th day of Eighth Month (this is the more important meigetsu)
and the 13th day of Ninth Month.

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sakuo haiga.

morning Fuji

小林一茶　1818
朝不二やとそのてうしの口の先
asa fuji ya toso no cho^shi no kuchi no saki

David’s English
Mount Fuji dawn--
a New Year's sake toast
at my lips
Or: "at his lips" or "at her lips." Spiced sake (toso) is a New Year's drink.
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sakuo comment
1818, Issa　age 56.
Fifth Month, 4th day, a daughter, Sato, is born.
It was his happiest New Year in his whole life.
second line
とその　てうしの＝　bottle of happy sake
口の先＝ at the tap of
Fuji mount is not real existence but lovely wife’s forehead
that was alike to Mt,Fuji. We call it Fuji forehead, fujibitai in Japanese.

sakuo’s translation
morning Fuji Mount ---
at the tap of bottle
New Year’s sake

sakuo renku
杯受ける　その富士額
sakazuki ukeru sono fuji-bitai

receiving with cup
her Fuji forehead

back to my garden

To all.
After 20 days I have returned home from the hospital.
My heart surgery has succeeded.
I have got new refreshed engine. I can walk around freely.
A few months need for rehabilitation.
Thank you for your great encouragement.
Haiku and Photo
生還す緑豊かな我が庭へ
seikan su midori yutaka na waga niwa he

being alive
back to my garden
rich greens

I will be back on August.

Yesterday the gardener took care of my garden trees.
He cut and treats leaves for coming summer.

Tomorrow I am going to the hospital and am received surgery operation
held on 23 June.
It is 99% safety operation, but need the time for recovering.
My blog close today and will be open on the mid of August.

My haiku and haiga.

術受けし 木緑にならん 八月に
jyutu ukesi ki midori ni naran hatigatuni

operated tree
will be green again
on August.

Toh-ji Temple

小林一茶　1792年
to^ bakari miete to^ji wa natsu kodachi
塔ばかり見へて東寺は夏木立

David's English
Toh Temple--
just its pagoda shows
over the summer trees

by Issa, 1792
The haiku refers to To^ji, a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Shinji Ogawa comments, "[Issa] skillfully depicts the vigorous green foliage in summer without mentioning anything about the foliage itself."
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sakuo　haiga

bloody clams

小林一茶　　1804年　42歳

赤貝を我もはかるよ梅の花
akagai wo ware mo hakaru yo ume no hana

David's English

surveying also
bloody clams...
plum blossoms

by Issa, 1804
Or: "a bloody clam." Akagai, literally "red shell"
or "red shellfish," refers to a "bloody clam" or "ark shell."

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sakuo renku

何を如何してはかるかしら
nani wo dousite hakaru kasira

what do you survey?
how do you mesure?

the muddy road

小林一茶　1822年
泥道を出れば卯の花なかりけり
doro michi wo dereba u [no] hana nakari keri

David's English
leaving the muddy road
and the blooming deutzia
behind

by Issa, 1822
In Shinji Ogawa's interpretation, Issa has left the muddy road (a good thing) but has left behind the blooming deutzia (a bad thing).
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sakuo renku
あるのは空と雲ばかり
aruno ha sora to kumo bakari

only existing
sky and cloud

kindly the wind

小林一茶　１８２０年
庵の煤風が払ってくれにけり
io no susu kaze ga haratte kure ni keri

David’s English
kindly the wind
sweeps my sooty
hut
by Issa, 1820
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sakuo
Last year he lost his daughter.
This year Oct 5th he got second son. Oct 16th he felled down with paralysis.
Say Japanese proverb.
捨てる神あり拾う神あり
suteru kami ari hirou kami ari

one God give up me
another God save me

spring wind

小林一茶　
春風やひらたく成って家根をふく
haru kaze ya hirataku natte yane wo fuku

David's English
spring wind--
my thatched roof
blown flat

by Issa, 1812
Normally, I translate haru kaze as "spring breeze," but this haiku suggests a forceful "wind."
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sakuo haiga.

departing clouds

小林　一茶　45歳
行雲やかへらぬ秋を蝉の鳴く
yuku kumo ya kaeranu aki wo semi no naku

David’s English
departing clouds--
"Autumn won't return"
the cicadas sing

by Issa, 1807　
Or: "the cicada sings."
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sakuo renga

geese and gulls

小林　一茶　1813年
雁鴎おのが雪とてさわぐ哉
kari kamome ono ga yuki tote sawagu kana

David’s English
geese and gulls
raise a ruckus...
"It's my snow!"
by Issa, 1813
Shinji Ogawa notes that ono ga yuki ("my snow") refers to the first-person quacking and squawking of the geese and gulls. The birds are clamoring, "It's my snow! It's my snow!"
1813, Age 51
Second Month, he is living in Kashiwabara in a rented house. In autumn, his inheritance dispute finally settled, he moves into his family home.
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sakuo renku & renga
兄弟で一つ屋根分け雪来る
kyoudai de hitotsu yane wake yuki kitaru

by the brothers
one roof devided
and snow coming

a glimpas of moon

小林　一茶　1807年47歳
たまに来た古郷の月は曇りけり
tama ni kita furusato no tsuki wa kumori keri

David’s English
a glimpse of moon
over my home village...
then clouds

by Issa, 1807

Issa's gloomy feeling about his native village derives from the fact that his fellow villagers did not support him in his inheritance dispute with his stepmother and half-brother--a long, drawn-out battle that was in full swing when he wrote this haiku. This haiku was written during a visit to the poet's home village in 1807: his first visit there since his father's death in 1801.
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sakuo haiga

Sir Whiskers

小林一茶　1812年50歳
髭どのに先こされけりはつ松魚
hige dono ni saki kosare keri hatsu-gatsuo

David’s English
Sir Whiskers
has first crack
at summer's first bonito

by Issa, 1812　aged 50.
In an earlier translation, I rendered hige dono as "Mr. Long Beard." Robin D. Gill prefers "Sir Whiskers," since it might connote a nobleman or samurai; in Robin's word, "a bigshot." In the present haiku, this connotation makes sense. A nobleman is the first one to enjoy the season's first bonito. Robin speculates that another possible meaning of "Sir Whiskers" might be "cat," in which case a cat (or cats) beats Issa to the first bonito. Shinji Ogawa agrees. Shinji explains, "Bonitos swim, along the Black Current (or Japan Current), from the Philippine Sea to the northern sea around Hokkaido. They pass near Tokyo (Edo) in spring [old calendar = summer] on their way to the north. They return to pass Tokyo in the fall on their way back to the south." In haiku, bonito is a summer season word.
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Sakuo　haiga

the do-gooder

小林　一茶　1825年
世話好や不性不性に冬籠
sewazuki ya fusho^-busho^ ni fuyugomori

David' English
the do-gooder reluctantly
begins...
his winter seclusion

by Issa, 1825
Or: "her winter seclusion." Makoto Ueda translates sewazuki as "the busybody"; Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004) 160.
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Sakuo
Issa and half brother’s family had fought on father’s asset.
But after his marriage, especially getting baby, they had become
familiar each others.
Then I changed translation；his winter seclusion―her

Renku.
隣の義母や　赤子離さず
tonari no gibo ya akago hanasazu

mother-in-law …
doesn’t our baby go off

in a cloudbrust

小林　一茶　1819
夕立や樹下石上の小役人
yu^dachi ya juka sekijo^ no ko yakunin

David‘ｓ　English
in a cloudburst
under a tree, looking miserable
a minor official
Shinji Ogawa explains that the phrase, juka sekijo^, which literally means to sleep or dwell under a tree and on a rock, figuratively denotes "being a monk practicing austerities." Here, he says, Issa uses the phrase to mean "poor," or "petty." It seems to me, however, that the minor official is literally standing under a tree to avoid the rain, a visual image that provides Issa with this opportunity for word-play. My dilemma as a translator, then, is to decide whether I should: (1) mention the literal level of being under a tree and on a rock but lose the figurative meaning of practicing austerities; or (2) translate the figurative meaning (Shinji suggests the middle phrase, "how miserable") but lose the literal image of the official crouching under a tree. My compromise: I keep the tree but lose the rock, adding Shinji's "miserable."
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Sakuo renku　
濡れずに済みて　仏の顔に
nirezu ni sumi te hotoke no kao ni

without getting wet
becomes Buddha face

plum blossoms

plum blossoms
of the field dropped...
naughty dog

hata no ume shitata[ka] inu ni otosaruru
畠の梅したたか犬におとさるる

by Issa, 1813
Originally, I misread the passive voice and imagined that the blossoms had dropped onto the dog: garden plum blossoms coat the dog Shinji Ogawa corrected my syntax and informed me that shitataka inu means "naughty dog." Despite all this, my first translation is a nice haiku in English, I think--though Issa didn't write it!
trans and comment by David Lanoue http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

Sakuo
Issa has used plum as female or lover.
Auther Akira, Itou sharply pointed out this in his book “ Issa
get into Nagare-yama published by Saniti syobou”
There was Issa’s patron Mr. Akimoto in Nagareyama.
He made Issa stay in his mansion as a guest many times.
At the time a young maid took care Issa. The drama of the haiku had
happen.
Of course the dog is Issa himself.

first frost

first frost--
my teeth could crack radishes
up to last year

初霜や茎の歯ぎれも去年迄
hatsu shimo ya kuki no hagire mo kyonen made
by Issa, 1806
Jean Cholley notes that this haiku is one of many that laments Issa's loss of his teeth as he grew older; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 236-37. Literally, he misses cracking "stems" (kuki): vagetables like radishes. I substitute "radishes" in my translation to make his meaning clear.
Trans and comment, David Lanoue http://cat.xula.edu/issa/

summer robe

小林一茶　1803年
糊こはき帷子かぶる昼寝哉
nori kowaki katabira kaburu hirune kana

David’s　English
his starched summer
robe his blanket...
siesta
by Issa, 1803

Katabira refers to a light summer garment made of hemp. The napper is either wearing the garment or using it as a cover. For my translation, I picked the latter. An alternate version: wearing his starched summer robe... siesta
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sakuo
1803 aged 43, Issa was a poor poet .
He visited his sponsors around north area for living and
haiku meeting.

Renku
in night with sponsor
enjoying haiku together

blade of grass

小林一茶　1814年
一本の草も涼風やどりけり
ippon no kusa mo suzukaze yadori keri

David’s English
even on one blade of grass
the cool wind
lives

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

sakuo
1814, Age 52
Fourth Month, Issa marries Kiku ("Chrysanthemum": age 28).
It was the happiest time in his life.

vegetables

一茶　1803年　41歳
二軒前干菜かけたり草の雨
ni ken mae hoshi na kaketari kusa no ame

David’s English
vegetables hung to dry
at two houses...
thatch dripping rain
by Issa, 1803
In the same year Issa writes another version of this haiku, ending with "little houses" (ko ie kana). Literally, the vegetables are hung "in front of two houses" (ni ken mae). In this haiku I assume that kusa no ame ("grass's rain") refers to rain dripping from the thatched roofs, as it seems to in a later poem (1814): sasa no ya ya hiina no kao e kusa no ame thatched house-- on the doll's face dripping rain
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sakuo comment
at two houses= at two houses before his friend.
dry vegetable=used for winter food.
thatch dripping rain= spring rain that makes grass grow..
Issa has come at the near of his friend. Even winter remains but spring
surely has come.

sakuo renku
気分は春　友の家近し
kibun wa haru tomo no ie tikashi

in the mood of spring
soon at friend’s house.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkEvy-9yVyQ

persimmon blossoms

一茶
柿の花おちてぞ人の目に留る
kaki no hana ochite zo hito no me ni tomaru

David’s English
persimmon blossoms
falling...
only now noticed

Shinji Ogawa paraphrases: "persimmon blossoms ... only after falling down they are noticed." He adds, "Persimmon blooms in a very modest way; the view of the red-brown flowers is obscured by the summer leaves."
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sakuo renku
死後に世に出る　我が俳句かな
sigo ni yo ni deru waga haiku kana

after my death admitted
my haiku in the world

beautiful courtesan

David’s English
beautiful courtesan--
new clothes for her hometown's
Buddha

keisei ya zaisho no mida e kinu kubari
.傾城や在所のみだへ衣配
by Issa, 1825

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sakuo renku 連句
何時か我子が　産めるよう
ituka wagako ga umeru you

sometime wishing to bear my baby

in honor of the equinox

David’s English
in honor of the equinox
the hedge
turns green

一茶　
御彼岸のぎりに青みしかきね哉
o-higan no giri ni aomishi kakine kana

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sakuo renku
mountain covered with snow
no news of cherry blossom

山に雪あり　花の便りなし
yama ni yuki ari hana no tayori nashi

such intricate

David's English
such intricate
wildflowers bloomed!
in one short night

Issa, 1817
te no konda kusa no hana zoyo mijika yo ni
手の込んだ草の花ぞよ短夜に

The flowers bloomed overnight. This haiku refers to a short night of summer. Shinij Ogawa explains, "The phrase, te no konda, means 'complex' or 'intricate.'"
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sakuo comment
Issa 1817,
He had stayed in Edo since October 1816.
He didn’t come back to his home till July 1817.
How did his young wife feel his long absence?

sakuo renku
重ね帯解き　開く花かな
kasane obi toki hiraku hana kana

many sashes undone
the flower blooms