One site I found says that "monuke," in addition to meaning the shed
skin of an insect, can also mean a "place left behind."

http://www.j-prep.com/reference/word?sub=tru&ss=%E8%97%
BB&type=vocab&dex=0&type=vocab&bid=1402260

Another site suggests that at one time it was erroneously believed
that a cicada shell was what was left of the cicada's corpse after it
died.

To me, there seems to be a sense of regret in this poem.

It's a haiku which uses an overt metaphor.

In English, the idea can be expressed that a person or thing has
become "a mere shell of his/its former self."

Some other cicada shell haiku:

koe ni mina nakishimaute ya semi no kara

The shell of a cicada:
It sang itself
Utterly away.

Basho, trans. Blyth


ware to waga kara ya tomurau semi no koe

Mourning over its dead body,
And over itself--
The voice of the cicada.

Yayu, trans. Blyth


utsu semi wa moto no hadaka ni modorikeri

Empty cicada shell:
as we come
we go back naked.

Fukaku (death poem), trans. Hoffmann


furuike ya sakasa ni ukabu semi no kara

an old pond-
floating upside down
a cicada's shell

Shiki, trans. Kim Komurasaki


utsu-semi ya kono mi hitotsu ni ku wo atsume

a cicada's shell –
in this single body
pains accumulate

Masajo (1955), trans. Susumu Takiguchi


Larry


> Thank you so much. I see now. The "to" works like indirect
> discourse. Got it.
>
> What do you think of the poem?
>
>
>
>
> > > This is my all time favorite short poem in Japanese. I have many
> > > questions about it.
> >
> > First would you consider it a haiku?
> > Second how to translate it more accurately?
> > Third who is Shuho (d. 1767)?
> > >
> > > mi no ue to
> > > shirazu ni semi no
> > > monuke kana
> > >
> > > cicada shell:
> > > little did I know
> > > it was my life
> > > (trans. Yoel Hoffmann, Japanese Death Poems)
> > http://www.millikin.edu/haiku/writerprofiles/
> > SilvermanOnDeathHaiku.html
> > >
> > >
> > > Beth
> > >
> > > mi no ue => life
> > > shirazu => unaware
> > > semi => cicada
> > > monuke => shell (the shed "skin" of an insect)
> > >
> > > How does the syntax work with the particles? Why "to" there? I
> > don't understand the usage that is not a linking additive form.
> > >
> >
> > Dear Beth,
> >
> > first, this is a haiku, no doubt about it ...
> >
> > second . more difficult
> >
> > naninani TO shirazu ni ... not knowing naninani ... is a
grammatical
> > expression
> >
> > naninani TO iimashita ... he said: "naninani"
> >
> > grammar-wise, I would read it like this for easier understanding
> >
> > mi no ue ... its fate
> > to shirazu ni ... not knowing so
> > semi no monuke ... cicada shell
> > kana ... oh well ..
> >
> > Third, I have to check a bit more later
> >
> > Daito Kokushi [Shuho Myocho].
> > http://thezenfrog.wordpress.com/2007/07/10/zen-master-daito-
kokushi-or-shuho-myocho-on-zen-and-his-admonition/
> >
> > googling with hiragana shuuhoo and kanji for haiku
> > http://www.google.co.jp/search?hl=en&q=%E3%81%97%E3%82%85%E3%81%
86%E3%81%BB%E3%81%86%E3%80%80%E4%BF%B3%E5%8F%A5
> >
> > Names of famous Haiku Poets
> > http://homepage1.nifty.com/~uchi/CHAK/NAME_h/natu.html
> >
> > Hirabayashi Shuuhoo
> >
> > Larry, our great detective, any ideas ?
> >
> > GABI
> >
> >
>