| contents: current issue | contents: this issue | submissions | email | archive | about Roadrunner |
August 2007 Issue VII:3
Gendai Haiku Translations Translated by Richard Gilbert and Itô Yûki
Translator’s note. Please note that in each case, a form of lineation and punctuation was chosen to best emulate the feeling or power of the original; we were not looking for consistency but rather accuracy and feeling. Where possible we tried to follow the image-story of the original haiku. We also added short notes to a few of the haiku, where necessary or desirable.
大仏殿いでて桜にあたたまる だいぶつでんいでてさくらにあたたまる daibutsuden idete sakura ni atatamaru
exiting the hall of the buddha cherry blossoms; become warmer
しゅんぎくを播き水を飲みセロを弾く しゅんぎくをまきみずをのみせろをひく shungiku wo maki mizu wo nomi sero wo hiku
sow greens
Note: “shungiku” is a green leafy vegetable, similar to spinach. Note the repetition of the post-position particle wo (linking of verb-object), also there is an abrupt use of three verbs in the original.
蠅生まれ天使の翼ひろげたり はえうまれてんしのつばさひろげたり hae umare tenshi no tsubasa hirogetari
a fly born an angel’s wings expand
頭悪き日やげんげ田に牛暴れ あたまわるきひやげんげだにうしあばれ atama waruki hi ya genge da ni ushi abare
stupid head stupid day — through a field of thistle bull on a rampage
Note: genge (also known as renge) is Chinese milk vetch, a purple flower planted in fallow rice fields to return nutrients to the soil. As this flower and its purpose are not generally well-known we selected an alternative.
鉄板に息やはらかき青蛙 てっぱんにいきやわらかきあおがえる teppan ni iki yawarakaki aogaeru
on a cast-iron griddle the soft breath of a green frog
冬に生ればった遅すぎる早すぎる ふゆにうまればったおそすぎるはやすぎる fuyu ni umare batta ososugiru hayasugiru
winter born grasshopper — too late too early
鉄球の硬さ青空の青林檎 てっきゅうのかたさあおぞらのあおりんご tekkyuu no katasa aozora no aoringo
hardness of a steel ball green apple of blue sky
クリスマス馬小屋ありて馬が住む くりすますうまごやありてうまがすむ kurisumasu umagoya arite uma ga sumu
a horse stable being at Christmas a horse’s home
枯蓮のうごく時来てみなうごく かれはすのうごくとききてみなうごく karehasu no ugoku toki kite mina ugoku
a withered lotus moves around a moment — everything moves
湯の岩を愛撫す天の川の下 ゆのいわをあいぶすあまのがわのした yu no iwa wo aibu su amanogawa no shita
groping a rock at the hotspring, under the milky way
中年や遠くみのれる夜の桃 ちゅうねんやとおくみのれるよるのもも chuunen ya tooku minoreru yoru no momo
middle age — a night peach ripens in the distance
Note: this is one of Sanki’s celebrated haiku (he also published a book titled “Night’s Peach” (or “Peach of Night,” yoru no momo]). "Night peach"
is an erotically charged image.
柿むく手母のごとくに柿をむく かきむくてははのごとくにかきをむく kaki muku te haha no gotoku ni kaki wo muku
the hand when peeling persimmons, like mother when peeling persimmons
春を病み松の根っ子も見あきたり はるをやみまつのねっこもみあきたり haru wo yami matsu no nekko mo miakitari
sick of spring — fed up with the roots of a pine tree
逃げても軍鶏に西日がべたべたと にげてもしゃもににしびがべたべたと nigetemo shamo ni nishibi ga betabeta to
escaped, yet — sunlight of the west sticky with fighting cocks
水枕ガバリと寒い海がある みずまくらがばりとさむいうみがある mizumakura gawabi to samui umi ga aru
water cushion chomp ! it’s a chilly ocean
Note: Saito Sanki’s epitaph, and a signature haiku.
百舌の声豆腐にひびくそれを切る もずのこえとうふにひびくそれをきる mozu no koe toufu ni hibiku sore wo kiru
song of a shrike from the tofu when it’s cut
Note: mozu (shrike) is a bird of prey which imitates the songs of other birds. In Japanese, the kanji for mozu is “100+tongue” (many-tongued). Its own voice is a sharp “ki-ki” creak, a metallic screech sound. “mozu” is an Autumn kigo.
Saito Sanki was born Saito Keichoku on May 15, 1900, in Tsuyama, Okayama, Japan. He was a key figure in the movement to transform traditional haiku in response both to the West as well as to the realities of modern Japan. He was thus labeled a “thought offender” and subversive during World War II by Japan’s ultranationalist government and, in 1940, put in jail for 70 days. In 1947, Sanki helped establish the Modern Haiku Association. A poet, short story writer, dentist, dancer, bohemian and sexual adventurer, he died on April 1, 1962. Shodo Iwagaki is a Zen Buddhist monk and artist living in Kuse, Okayama, Japan. For over 30 years he has been living, praying and creating his artwork in Mairai-ji (Mairai Temple). Virtually every wall and ceiling inside the temple is covered with his woodblock prints and carvings. |
Copyright © 2004-2007 by Roadrunner Haiku Journal. All rights revert to the authors upon publication. |
