Of Takako's haiku that I'm aware of in English translation, these are my current
favorites:
shira momo ni ireshi hasaki no tane wo waru
Splitting open
The stone of a white peach
With the edge of the blade.
Tr. Blyth
Inserted in a white peach,
the edge of the knife divided the seed.
Slipped into
a white peach, the knife's edge
splits the pip.
Tr. Debi Bender, both versions
suzuri arau sumi ao ao to nagare keri
Washing the ink-stone,
The Indian ink flows away
Blue, blue.
Tr. Blyth
washing an inkstone
sumi flows out
black, blue, blue
Tr. Yachimoto
utsumuku toki ono ga iki no ka yukino nite
looking downwards
the smell of my own breath
in the snowy field
Tr. Ueda
tokage kui neko nengoro ni mi wo nameru
having eaten a lizard
how carefully the cat
licks its own body!
Tr. Ueda
tanpopo no hana ooisa yo ezo no natsu
Such great big dandelion flowers
crowding Ezo in the summer!
dandelion
flowers -- so many huge!
Summer at Ezo.
Tr. Bender, both versions
Yachimoto's comment:
'hana ooisa yo' is rather a strange phrasing. If Takako wanted simply to
indicate 'many' she could have written 'hana ichimen no' or 'hana no oosa yo'.
'Ooisa' may be the equivalent of the modern usage: 'ookisa', a noun contrived
from adjective, 'ookii'. 'Ooshi' means both plentiful and large.
...Some scholars believe 'Ezo' to be an old name for the 'Ainu'.
hotaru kago kurakereba yuri moetatasu
Firefly cage: when they flicker,
I shake 'em up to set 'em ablaze.
Shaking the firefly cage
I set them ablaze
because they've gone dark.
Tr. Bender, both versions
keshi hiraku kami no saki made sabishiki toki
Poppies spread wide-open,
loneliness reaches each tip of my hair.
Poppies open,
loneliness stretches to the tips
of my hair
Tr. Bender, both versions
ryuto ni kotoba takushite tsuki hanatsu
Burning lanterns set afloat,
I push them away with my words,
released...
Floating lanterns
pushed adrift, my words
set free...
Tr. Bender, both versions
shiso shibori shiborite haha no koishikari
crushing shiso leaves
the more red juice
the more deeply I miss my mom
Tr. Yachimoto
Yachimoto's comment:
The repetition of shi makes this the most musical of Takako's haiku. Shiso juice
is used to pickle plums, the essential food called umeboshi which all Japanese
mothers make. [Personal note: I once bought a plastic container with about six
umeboshi, thinking this is going to be a treat! Putting the first one into my
mouth, it was so salty I had to spit it out! So much for my umeboshi
experiment!]
happoue yukitashi aota no naka ni tatsu
this desire to go...all directions
..........standing...in green paddies
Tr. Yachimoto
I find a lot of Takako's haiku interesting, but these currently speak the most
to me. What does this say about me? LOL
Of Takako's haiku that I'm aware of in English translation, these are my current favorites: shira momo ni ireshi hasaki no tane wo waru Splitting open The...
Thanks for a great colletion of Takako,s Haiku, dear Larry ! I could not find the kanji for one of the ryuutoo floating lanterns, but on the search I found...
Dear Gabi, Here's another translation for the "floating lanterns" haiku by Takako that you couldn't find the kanji for. As an English translation, it makes the...
Dear Larry, thanks for finding the Higginson. I am not sure about written messages, I think here words are the prayers, which are said when letting the...
Dear Larry, Thank you so much for introducing your favourite haiku poems by Takako! One might as well call her the kaleidoscopic haijin, for her haiku ranges ...
Dear Mariko, I feel like I've 'sandbagged' you, which is American slang for misleading you by withholding information, but I can be long-winded sometimes--just...
Dear Larry and Mariko and all, there is even a special Ezo Tanpopo ... Taraxacum hondoense tanpopo no hana ooisa yo Ezo no natsu Such great big dandelion...
Dear Mariko, When you write: "One might as well call her the kaleidoscopic haijin, for her haiku ranges pretty wide range of spectrum." Do you mean that Takako...
Dear Larry, I used the word to refer to Hashimoto Takako's seemingly various haiku poems; I only knew the most quoted one and was introduced by you such wide...
Dear Mariko, I apologize for getting carried away. I find the concept of 'style' in Japanese haiku an interesting one. I sometimes read that this Japanese...
Dear Larry, I'm sure that every haiku poet has his or her own style, which makes his or her poetry something unique of his or her own. That's why they can test...
Dear Mariko, I had not heard of the Empress Koomyoo, and the story of her bathing the leper, so thank you for telling me about it. She is a very interesting...
Dear Larry, I don't understand what Eiko Yachimoto says. She sounds so confusing. First of all, as the commentary says, Ezo is the word to refer to Hokkaido...
And here goes my rendition-- Sending the floats away I see all transitoriness-- my own life, too Mariko ... Thanks for a great colletion of Takako,s Haiku,...
Thanks so much, Mariko san, for your rendition. I like it a lot. O-Bon is coming soon and there will be many lanterns floating in Tohoku this year ... Gabi ......
Dear Gabi, This year and from now on, I feel people who observe or practise the ceremony are likely to remember those who were killed by the quake and tsunami....
Dear Gabi, Thanks for the photo of an Ezo dandelions. When I read the haiku, I remembered my university friend, whose uncle used to make organic coffee out of...
I must have added that without Larry's reference to Ezo as Ainu, I never associated an Ainu with the trompe d'oeil. I must say that the commentary by Yachimoto...
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