Country folks about rice
Sing their poems –
Like Kyoto people do
1688, tr. Saito and Nelson (satobito wa ine ni utayomu miyako kana)
Mt Arashi
Bamboo groves luxuriant –
Furrows of the wind.
1691, tr. Saito and Nelson (arashiyama yabu no shigeriya kaze no suji)
**********
Jeff Robbins contributes this haibun (his translation)
Cooling off by the river at Shijo
is a custom from the time of the evening moon
till it passes through the dawn sky.
People line up on a platform over the river to pass
the night drinking, eating, and having a good time.
The women’s kimono sashes are extravagant,
the men’s haori jackets long in the formal style,
Buddhist priests mingle with old folks, and even
the blacksmith’s and bucket maker’s apprentices,
their faces smiling with leisure, sing loud rowdy songs.
It is a scene to be expected in Kyoto.
River breeze —
wearing pale persimmon
in evening cool
*********************
Of Kyoto, weary –
this icy wind
A winter dwelling (1691) tr. Saito and Nelson
kyou ni akite kono kogarashiya fuyuzumai
(Jeff Robbins notes the haiku was written on B’s return to Edo after hanging out in Kansai two years. This is a greeting verse to his host who gave him a place to stay out of the cold wind. Basho is not saying he is tired of Kyoto, but rather that his host is glad to be away from the noisy populous city. So Basho’s focus is on the other person’s experience. (I did not get this for many years, but only from reading Haruo Shirane’s book on Basho, Traces of Dreams, did I realize that Basho was not a “social recluse” but instead constantly reaching out to other people. )
*********************
*********************
The following listing, reproduced with permission, was compiled by Gabi Greve at http://matsuobasho-wkd.blogspot.jp/2012/06/kyoto-miyako.html
京まではまだ半空や雪の雲
. Kyoo made wa mada nakazora ya yuki no kumo .
(winter) snow, clouds, half-way
. Kyoo mo tooku Narumi ga taharukeki
umi o naka ni hedatete .
alone at the beach of Narumi
京に飽きてこの木枯や冬住ひ
. Kyoo ni akite kono kogarashi ya fuyuzumai .
(winter) winter storm. I am bored by Kyoto. lodging in winter
for – Suganuma Gon-emon 菅沼権右衛門 耕月 Kogetsu –
京にても京なつかしやほととぎす
. Kyoo ni te mo Kyoo natsukashi ya hototogisu . Kyoo nite mo
(summer) little cuckoo, longing for Kyoto
京は九万九千くんじゆの花見哉
. Kyoo wa kuman kusen kunju no hanami kana .
(spring) ninety-nine thousand (people). watching cherry blossoms
天秤や京江戸かけて千代の春
. tenbin ya Kyoo Edo kakete chiyo no haru .
comparing Edo and Kyoto
梅が香やしらら落窪京太郎
. Ume ga ka ya Shirara Ochikubo Kyōtarō .
Kyootaroo. Allusion to the story Jōruri-hime Monogatari.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
– – – – – Miyako – – – – –
雁聞きに京の秋に赴かん
kari kiki ni miyako no aki ni omomukan
to listen to the geese
in the autumn of the capital
I will set out
Written in autumn of 1690 元禄3年秋.
It is not clear weather this is a hokku by Basho himself.
In a letter to
. Takahashi Dosui 高橋怒誰 .
………………………………………………………………..
都出でて神も旅寝の日数哉
. miyako idete kami mo tabine no hikazu kana .
I left the capital
子の日しに都へ行かん友もがな
. ne no hi shi ni miyako e ikan tomo mo gana / nenohi.
(New Year) day of the rat. capital Kyoto. no friend
里人は稻に歌詠む都かな
. (satobito) sato-bito wa ine ni uta yomu miyako kana .
(summer) rice plant. the local people. to sing. the capital Kyoto
塩にしてもいざ言伝てん都鳥
. shio ni shite mo iza kotozuten Miyako-dori .
“bird of the capital”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
瓜の皮剥いたところや蓮台野
. uri no kawa muita tokoro ya Rendaino .
Rendaino was a famous graveyard in Kyoto.
The word is also used for graveyards elsewhere.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
たんだすめ住めば都ぞ今日の月
tanda sume sumeba miyako zo kyoo no tsuki
Tanda sume sumeba miyako zo kyô no tsuki
Only live and let it be clear!
If you live in the capital Kyô,
today’s full moon so clear
Basho played with homonyms: “sume” means “clear” and “live”; “kyô” means “Kyoto” and “today”. His haiku at this time was far from his later work that developed a mental depth that was non-existent in haiku before. The above poem followed the examples by haiku school called Danrin which was quite popular at that time. This school was most characterized by playing with words and humor and lacked mental or emotional substance. Basho’s rhetorical skill at this point in his career is not so excellent, though it was far from mediocre.
His haiku writing was not based on the particulars of reality experienced by himself. Basho was a mere young countryman of poetry imitating the days’ fashion of haiku writing.
The following comes from Gabi Greve’s kigo database at http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.jp/2010/07/kyoto-hana-no-miyako.html
京までは まだ半空や 雪の雲
Kyoo made wa mada nakazora ya yuki no kumo
until Kyoto
it is just half-way –
clouds with snow
Matsuo Basho, 44 years old, written at Narumi
. . . . .
Matsuo Basho stayed at Genjuu-An (幻住庵) in Shiga in the year Genroku 3 (1690), but had been on a visit to Kyoto. The following haiku has the cut marker YA at the end of line two and the name of the bird, hototogisu, as the last line.
京にても 京なつかしや 時鳥
Kyoo ni te mo Kyoo natsukashi ya hototogisu
even when in Kyoto
I long for Kyoto –
hototogisu
– Tr. Gabi Greve
Even in Kyoto —
hearing the cuckoo’s cry —
I long for Kyoto.
– Tr. Robert Hass
Bird of time –
in Kyoto, pining
for Kyoto.
– Tr. Lucien Stryk
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