:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
(1715-1783)
Buson visited quite a few Shinto shrines of Japan in his poetic travelling.
. - - - Shrines and Temples of Japan - - - .
. miko 巫女 shrine maiden, female shrine attendant
kannagi 巫女 (かんなぎ)
okorago 御子良子 shrine maidens at Ise Shrine
under construction
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
巫女に狐恋する夜寒かな
kannagi ni kitsune koi suru yosamu kana
Shrine-maidens are
Much loved by foxes
In the cold of night.
Tr. McAuley
....................................................................................................................................................
河内路や東風 吹き送る巫が袖
kawachiji ya kochi fuki okuru miko ga sode
Kawachi Road -
the east wind in spring blows
the sleeves of shrine maidens
Tr. Gabi Greve
The road from Yodo to Kawachi. Now part of Osaka.
....................................................................................................................................................
巫女町によききぬすます卯月かな
miko machi ni yoki kinu sumasu uzuki kana
Where the shrine maidens dwell
They're washing out their summer clothes:
The Fourth Month is here!
Tr. McAuley
At the shrine maidens' street
ceremonial robes being washed--
early summer.
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert
....................................................................................................................................................
samidare ya kibune no shato kiyuru toki
Early summer rain--
just when the lanterns of Kibune Shrine
have been extinguished.
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert
. Kifune Jinja, Kibune Jinjs 貴船神社 Kifune Shrine - Kurama, Kyoto .
....................................................................................................................................................
しら梅や北野の茶店にすまひ取
shiraume ya kitano no chaya ni sumaitori
white plum blossoms -
at the tea-house in Kitano
there is a Sumo wrestler
Tr. Gabi Greve
. chaya, -jaya 茶屋 tea shop, tea stall in Edo .
天満祭大魯に逢ひし人もあり
Tenmansai Tairo ni aishi hito mo ari
Tenman Festival -
some people come to meet
poet Tairo
. Haiku Poet Yoshiwake Tairo 吉分大魯 .
(1730 - 1778) Student of Buson
. Kitano Tenmangu 北野天満宮 - Kyoto .
Dedicated to Sugawara Michizane 菅原道真, who loved plum blossoms very much.
....................................................................................................................................................
. tsujidoo 辻堂 tsujido, roadside sanctuary .
tsujidoo 辻堂 a small building or hall (doo) at a crossroads (tsuji), where the Deities have to watch over the travellers. Most of them are dedicated to Buddhist deities. The translation as "shrine" might therefore be misleading.
tsujidoo no hotoke ni tomosu hotaru kana
At a wayside shrine,
burning before the Buddha,
a firefly!
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert
The hotoke is most probably a dead person.
..........................................................................
辻堂に死せる人あり麦の秋
tsujidoo ni shiseru hito ari mugi no aki
(1776)
At a wayside shrine
A dead man lies--
Barley harvest time
Tr. Nelson/Saito
at the roadside shrine
there have been people dying ...
autumn of the barley
Tr. ?
- quote
There is a
dead person in
the crossroad's temple;
wheat the
color of autumn.
The word autumn (秋）is used in the seasonal word (季語) but the "kigo" of this haiku is summer (夏）.
The Kadokawa "Haiku Saijiki, summer" (俳句歳時記夏の部 角川書店編) says that 麦の秋 (wheat's autumn) is:
麦が熟する初夏のころをいい、吾ー六月にあたる。
(The time in early summer when the wheat crops are ripe in May or June.)
It also explains:
麦刈りの時期を控えて短く、農家の人たちは忙しく立ち動かなければならい
(The cutting of the wheat season is kept short because of the rainy season so farmers are very busy and must work very hard.)
Knowing that the wheat harvest is a hard and short time for the farmers, we can understand the meaning of this haiku. Farmers are too busy during this season, so if someone in a farming family dies, they don't have the time to give them a proper funeral. So, the dead body stays in the temple alone because everyone is out in the fields cutting the wheat.
Everyone knows that going to a funeral in Japan is a day long event. You start in the dead person's house in the morning, you go the crematorium, you go back to funeral hall, you go to the temple and then there usually is family party after. It's a long hard day.
Plus, given that funerals in Japan are still community events where neighboring houses send people to help out the bereaving family, a death during harvest would effect every household.
Buson lived in the 18th century, so imagine what a funeral was like in those days. It's easy to see why a wheat farming family during the harvest season wouldn't have the time to do a funeral.
I won't say that this is a great haiku by Buson, but I do think that it does give the sense of the quietness around a farming community when all people are busy working in the fields and it does evoke the bathos of a family who is too busy to honor its just dead. I do know that the next time I have to go to a funeral I will think about this haiku.
source : jamesenglishhouse.eshizuoka.jp
This poem is either by Buson or by Kikaku ? 其角 - 蕪村
Poor people wandering along in Japan often took shelter in these small halls and some died for want of food and energy to carry on.
. WKD : mugi no aki 麦の秋 "barley autumn" .
. WKD : hotoke 仏 dead body, deceased person .
....................................................................................................................................................
大和路の宮もわら屋もつばめ哉
yamatoji no miya mo waraya mo tsubame kana
Along Yamato's roads
on shrines and on straw-thatched roofs
the swallows!
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert
. Yamato 大和 and the Yamato Road 大和路 .
was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan. Later the term was used as the name of the province and also as an ancient name of Japan. The term was semantically extended to mean “Japan” or “Japanese” in general,
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
To join BUSON on Facebook, click the image!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. WKD : Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 - Introduction .
. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
. ABC - List of Buson's works in the WKD .
buson
[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
No comments:
Post a Comment