when there are mountains I look at the mountains
when it rains I listen to the rain
spring summer autumn winter
and tomorrow will be fine
and last night was fine, too
山あれば山を観る
雨の日は雨を聴
春夏秋冬
あしたもよろし
ゆふべもよろし
NOTE: Original found here– http://terebess.hu/english/haiku/taneda.html
ふるさとの土の底から鉦たたき
From deep beneath
my hometown soil
a gong is struck
へそが汗ためてゐる
Sweat collects
in my belly button
咳がやまない背中をたたく手がない
Can’t stop coughing
No hand to tap me on the back
夕立が洗つていつた茄子をもぐ
Chewing on eggplant
washed clean by rain
春の雪ふる女はまことうつくしい
Spring snowfall
She is truly
a beautiful woman
けふもいちにち誰も来なかつたほうたる
No one came by today, either,
little firefly
月かげのまんなかをもどる
returning
to the center
of the moonlight
よい道がよい建物へ、焼場です
A pleasant road
leads to a pleasant building,
a crematorium
しぐるるや死なないでゐる
drizzling rain —
I’m not dead yet
NOTES:
Taneda Santōka (1882-1940) was an early free-form haiku poet, a contemporary of Ogiwara Seisensui and Ozaki Hōsai. His given name was Taneda Shōichi (種田正一), but like most (if not all) Japanese haiku poets (俳人, haijin) he gave himself a haiku pseudonym (俳号, haigou). Santōka (山頭火) means “fire on the mountain.”
I hope that you have enjoyed taking this little walk with me and Santōka. But now I think it’s time to let him walk the mountains alone, once again, with the insects.
All poems taken from the Gendai Haiku Association Database (現代俳句協会, Modern Haiku Association)
月夜、あるだけの米をとぐ
A moonlit night,
washing all the rice
病めば梅ぼしのあかさ
sick,
red like
pickled plum
笠も漏りだしたか
Is my straw hat
leaking, too?
酔ふてこほろぎと寝てゐたよ
drunk,
I slept
with the crickets
飲みたい水が音をたててゐた
So thirsty,
the sound of water
rises up around me
鴉とんでゆく水をわたらう
A crow flies
over the water
うどん供へて母よ、わたしもいただきまする
Offering up udon
Mother,
I’ll have some, too
おちついて死ねそうな草萌ゆる
Don’t worry
The dead-seeming grass
will spring to life
NOTES:
Taneda Santōka (1882-1940) was an early free-form haiku poet, a contemporary of Ogiwara Seisensui and Ozaki Hōsai. He became a monk after a failed suicide attempt and spent much of his time walking across Japan, making the pilgrimage to the eighty-eight temples or following in the footsteps of Basho. He published several books of poetry before passing away in his sleep at the age of fifty-seven.
All poems taken from the Gendai Haiku Association Database (現代俳句協会, Modern Haiku Association)
木の葉散る歩きつめる
Tree leaves fall
Walking just to walk
まつすぐな道でさみしい
The road ahead
is lonesome
あるけばかつこういそげばかつこう
walking,
downhill
running,
downhill
この道しかない春の雪ふる
This is the only road
Snowfall in spring
笠にとんぼをとまらせてあるく
A dragonfly
on my straw hat,
I walk on
ほうたるこいこいふるさとにきた
Firefly, come, come
We’ve made it to my hometown
雨ふるふるふるさとははだしであるく
rain falls and falls
walking barefoot
through my hometown
ビルとビルとのすきまから見えて山の青さよ
In the cracks between the buildings
I can see the blue of the mountains
ほととぎすあすはあの山こえて行かう
Cuckoo,
tomorrow let’s climb
over that mountain
ふくろふはふくろふでわたしはわたしでねむれない
The owl, being an owl,
and I, being me,
can’t sleep
どうしようもないわたしが歩いてゐる
Nothing else I can do
I’ll just keep on walking
NOTES:
Taneda Santōka (1882-1940) was an early free-form haiku poet. Unlike traditional haiku, free-form haiku (新傾向, shinkeikou) does not require seventeen sounds or seasonal words (季語, kigo).
I have translated a few of Santōka’s poems in previous posts, so please look for them. There will be more to come.
All poems taken from the Gendai Haiku Association Database (現代俳句協会, Modern Haiku Association)
春の日暮れへ行方不明になった機関車
–飯島翆壺洞
A locomotive
mysteriously vanished
into the spring sunset
–Iijima 翆壺洞
鶺鴒の胸の白さと春の白雲と
–青木此君楼
And the white of the wagtail’s breast
And the white clouds of spring
–Aoki Shikunrou
月が昇れりわがまへの花ひらくべし
–種田山頭火
The moon rises
A flower blooming
Before my eyes
–Taneda Santoka
雀のあたたかさ握るはなしてやる
–尾崎放哉
Grab hold
of the sparrow’s warmth
then let it go
–Ozaki Hosai
木を挽けば鳩の声木を挽けば
–和田光利
If you cut down the trees
The singing of the doves
If you cut down the trees
–Wada Akitoshi
赤い郵便車とまつたポストと冬の雲
–秋山秋紅蓼
A red mail truck
stopped at the postbox
Winter clouds
–Akiyama Shuukouryou (Shūkōryō)
雪が好き想像妊娠かも知れぬ
–三樹雄
I love the snow
Maybe this is a false pregnancy
–Mikio
こだま
「おーい」と淋しい人
「おーい」と淋しい山
— 荻原井泉水
Echo
“He~ey” said the lonely human
“He~ey” said the lonely mountain
— Ogiwara Seisensui
せきをしてもひとり
— 尾崎放哉
I even cough
alone
— Ozaki Hosai
もりもりもりあがる雲へ歩む
— 種田山頭火
rising high high higher
walking toward the clouds
— Taneda Santoka
つかれた脚へとんぼとまった
A dragonfly landed
at my weary feet
雨だれの音も年とった
Even the sound
of the rain
has grown old
何を求める風の中ゆく
Whatever you wish for
blows away in the wind
窓あけて窓いっぱいの春
Open the window
and the window
is filled with Spring
— 種田山頭火 (Taneda Santoka)
生死の中の雪ふりしきる
Snow falls endlessly
between life and death
歩きつづける彼岸花咲きつづける
I keep on walking
and the red spider lily
keeps on blooming
— 種田山頭火 (Taneda Santoka)
NOTES:
彼岸花 (higanbana) is sometimes translated as equinox flower.
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