Railway Haiku Train Station

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Railway and Train Haiku

***** Location: Worldwide
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation




The eternal traveller ... here we collect haiku about railways, trains, train stations, platforms and related things.


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National Train Day
Railway Day

They come on different times of the year.

- Reference -


Japan's first railway opened on October 14th, 1872, between Tokyo's Shimbashi and Yokohama and the day was designated as Railway Day.

Railway Day in Japan

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Worldwide use

Philippines

Your haiku writer here is very much familiar with mass transport system; having been connected with the railway system here in the Philippines since 1985. I breathe rails and trains every day of my life. With this in mind, I would probably be sharing some aspects of my "mass rail experiences".

During the afternoon peak hours, the volume of passengers goes over the comfort limit/zone. The ride becomes relatively more inconvenient and altercations sometimes happen.

temperatures rise -
the train is northbound
to Monumento


- Willie Bongcaron, Manila


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU




良寛忌　東京駅で　友を待つ

Ryokan Memorial Day -
waiting for friends
at Tokyo station

You have to know the millions of people thronging through this central station every day to imagine the hustle and noise there. And know Ryokan, the lonely monk.

Gabi Greve, 1994 ... Ryookan Day

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empty platform
ivy clings to the face
of the station clock

Moonset Competition 2007
– Honourable Mention

© Lynne Rees

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Spielende Kinder
auf den Eisenbahnschienen...
Grashalme zittern

©　psychronicon


children playing
on the railway tracks ...
grass is trembling
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

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夏草に汽缶車の車輪来て止まる
natsukusa ni kikansha no sharin kite tomaru

Up to summer grass,
wheels of a locomotive
coming to a stop.
trans. Kodaira and Marks


in summer grass
a steam engine's wheels
come and stop
Seishi, trans. Higginson


. Yamaguchi Seishi 山口誓子 .



kikansha no kanbo moe tsutsu umi wataru

A winter evening--
a flaming locomotive
rides across the lake.

Seishi,
trans. Kodaira and Marks



hasu no hana saku ya sabishiki teishajoo

Lotuses
blooming there--
the lonely train station

Shiki,
trans. Watson



kisha sugite kemuri uzumaku wakaba kana

a train goes by,
its smoke curling
around the new tree leaves

Shiki,
trans. Watson



kishadoo no ichidan takaki fuyuta kana

Winter rice fields--
railroad tracks running
a level above them

Shiki,
trans. Watson



kisha-michi ni hikuku kari tobu tsuki-yo kana

Railroad tracks; a flight
of wild geese close above them
in the moonlit night.

Shiki,
trans. Henderson



setsurei to gekiroo no aida kasha nagashi

snow-capped mountains,
rough waves, and between them
a long freight train

Yoshino Yoshiko,
trans. Ueda

Compiled by Larry Bole, Kigo Hotline


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Waterloo sunset
the Thames disappears
from the Tube map


inter-city train journey -
a rattling window top
shuts itself

Alan Summers


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Related words

***** Ships, boats (fune)


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Numbers used in Haiku

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Numbers used in Haiku - Plural and Haiku

The use of numbers in Japanese Haiku.

The use of numbers as counters in a haiku makes the situation look very real. It is therefore skilfully used to get this special effect.

But there are many compound expressions (jukugo 熟語) in the Japanese language using
numbers　in combination with ONE, which are also dear to haiku poets.

Here is an interesting LINK in Japanese, where most of them are all listed.
©　hokui 40


I will try and translate them and other haiku with numbers as they come up in the WKD.


All translations by Gabi Greve, unless stated otherwise.

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. Numbers used by Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 .

. Numbers used by Yosa Buson　与謝蕪村　 .


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I RO HA (A B C) 　いろは
One two three 一二三



.. ONE .. TWO .. THREE ..
a winter day spent
studying basics

Gabi Greve, December 2007


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Some English language haiku poets promote the "rule" not to use ONLY, JUST or some such word to emphasize the fact of ONLY one/two/three things in the scene.
I see no reason for this coming from the traditional Japanese haiku.
The meaning is different, so the poet has to choose what kind of emotion he wants to convey with his poem.

one hair in my soup / only one hair in my soup

only one hair on my head


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

.............................. ONE 一


isshoo 一升 1.8 liters
isshoo 一生 a lifetime
isshoo 一笑 a laughter


. kiri hitoha 桐一葉 one paulownia leaf .


tsuyu no tama hitotsu hitotsu ni furusato ari

in beads of dew
one by one my home
village

Issa / Tr. Lanoue/ Dew and Haiku
The last line in Japanese has 6 beats in this transscription.


露の玉 ひとつひとつに 故郷あり
tsuyu no tama hitotsu hitotsu ni kokyoo ari

dewdrops ...
in this one, in this one too
my dear homeland
Tr. Gabi Greve


. Home town, home village - furusato, kokyoo .


夕顔やひとつひとつに風さわぐ
yuugao ya hitotsu hitotsu ni kaze sawagu

moonflowers--
one by one the wind
rustles them


秋の山一つ一つに夕哉
aki no yama hitotsu hitotsu ni yuube kana

autumn mountains
one by one
the evening falls


栗おちて一つ一つに夜の更る
kuri ochite hitotsu hitotsu ni yo no fukeru

chestnuts dropping
one by one...
the night deepens

source : Tr. David Lanoue

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人一人蝿も一つや大座敷
hito hitori hae mo hitotsu ya oozashiki

one man
and one fly --
large sitting room



ばせを忌と申すも只一人哉
Bashoo-ki to moosu mo tatta hitori kana

"Basho Death Memorial Day"
I am all alone
saying this

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. Gabi Greve


or

though they say
it's Bashō's Anniversary
all alone
Tr. Nyumon Saijiki




親一人子一人蛍光りけり
oya hitori ko hitori hotaru hikari-keri

one parent
one child
shining fireflies

Kubota Mantaro 久保田万太郎


hitori ... one person, only me


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柿の葉や一つ一つに月の影
kaki no ha ya hitotsu hitotsu ni tsuki no kage

persimmon leaves !
on each single one
the shadow of the moon

Natsume Soseki 夏目漱石
Tr. Gabi Greve


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女一人僧一人雪の渡し哉
onna hitori soo hitori yuki no watashi kana

one woman
one monk - river crossing
in the snow

Naitoo Meisetsu 内藤鳴雪
Tr. Gabi Greve / Read more about this ZEN story here !


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雲の峰　一人の家を　一人発ち
kumo no mine hitori no ie o hitori tachi

billowing clouds -
alone in my own house
I am leaving alone
Tr. Gabi Greve

Okamoto Hitomi 岡本眸
mukago3

She wrote this shortly after the death of her husband. She locked the door and went on to travel.


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春風の鉢の子一つ
harukaze no hachi no ko hitotsu

in the spring breeze
with just one bowl
for begging

©　Santoka (Santooka 山頭火)


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Memorial stone at shrine Ueki Jinja 植木神社, Mie
Spring 1688


枯芝やややかげろふの一二寸
kareshiba ya yaya kageroo no ichi ni sun

dead grasses -
above them faint heat shimmers
maybe one or two sun

Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉

one sun is about 3,03 cm


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冬篭るも一日二日哉
fuyugomoru mo ichinichi futsuka kana

winter seclusion
still one more day
two more days . . .




わか竹や是も若は二三日
wakatake ya kore mo wakaki wa ni san nichi

this young bamboo -
it will also be young only
for two or three days

. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


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初雪や一二三四五六人
hatsu yuki ya ichi ni san yon go roku hito
hatsuyuki ya ichi ni san yon go roku nin

first snowfall -
one, two, three, four
five, six people

Kobayashi Issa


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一対か一対一か枯野人
ittsui ka ichi tai ichi ka karenobito

a pair ?
or one-to-one ?
people in the withered fields

Takaha Shugyo 鷹羽狩行


http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/ohta.kahori/suzaku/sz2106.htm


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"one rain, one shine" 一雨一晴 (いちういっせい )


. ichimon, ichi mon 一文 one Mon. a penny; a farthing



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.............................. TWO　二　

"number one, first : plum blossom,
number two, second : cherry blossoms" 一梅二桜 (いちうめにさくら)


咲花をまつ一に梅二は櫻
saku hana o matsu ichi ni umi ni wa sakura

waiting for the cherry blossoms
one is the sea
two is the cherry tree

Ishihara 石原重方

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"one day, two pills" 一日二錠 (いちにちにじょう)

ビタミン剤一日二錠瀧凍る
bitamiinzai ichi nichi ni joo taki kooru

vitamin pills
each day two of them -
the waterfall freezes

Ono Shuka (Oono Shuka) 大野朱香


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"first waterfall, second waterfall"
一滝二滝 (いちのたきにのたき)

一の滝二の滝椿流れ落つ

first waterfall
second waterfall -
camellias drop and float away

Sakanoue 坂上史琅

In the steep mountains of Japan, many waterfalls fall in more than one step.


futari 二人 two people
futatsu ふたつ　二つ two things


二ッあれば又三ッほしやお正月
futatsu areba mata mitsu hoshi ya o-shoogatsu

the second one comes
already longing for the third...
"New Year's"

Kobayashi Issa

Shinji Ogawa explains that Issa is joking on the three "New Year's" celebrations: the first day of First Month, the 15th day (called "Little New Year's") and the 20th day (called "20th Day New Year's"). He implies that celebrating the new year so many times is a bit much.
Tr. and Text David Lanoue


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two or three 二三 nisan

牡丹散て打かさなりぬ二三片
牡丹散って打ち重りぬ二三片
botan chirite uchikasanarinu nisanpen
botan chitte uchi kasanarinu nisan pen

peonies scatter . . .
two or three petals fall
on top of each other

or

peonies scatter ...
petals on top of each other
two or three

. Yosa Buson　与謝蕪村 .



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.............................. THREE 三　mitsu / san

"one letter, three prayers" 一字三礼 (いちじさんらい)

夏の日を一字三礼写経堂
natsu no hi o ichi ji san rai shakyoo doo

on this summer day
one letter, three prayers -
Hall for Copying Sutras

Usaki Fuyuo 宇咲冬男

As you copy one Chinese character, you make three bows in prayer.
More is here:
Copying the Heart Sutra / Gabi Greve


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一葉三葉銀杏拾ふや博士の子
hito ha mi ha ginnan hirou ya hakase no ko

picking up gingko nuts
under one leaf, three leaves ...
child of the professor

Ito Shou (Itoo Shoo-u) 伊藤松宇

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門松やおもへは一夜三十年
kadomatsu ya omoeba hitoyo sanjuunen

pine decorations -
thinking about it, one night
feels like thirty years

Matsuo Basho 芭蕉

New Year pine decorations and haiku


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川中に床机三ッ四ッ夕すずみ
kawa naka ni shoogi mitsu yotsu yuusuzumi

in the middle of the river
there are three or four benches -
evening cool

Kobayashi Issa


床机 little benches, mostly made of bamboo, for two people to sit on. They are light and people could carry them to enjoy a cool evening in summer.


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.............................. FOUR 四　

The number FOUR (yon) is not very popular in Japan, because one of it's readings is SHI, which can also mean DEATH.
You never give a present with FOUR pieces of something. Hotels and hospitals do not have a room with number 4.
(A bit like our number 13 ...)


wide space, open land, ichi ri shihoo
(one ri distance and the four directions) 一里四方 (いちりしほう)

よく晴れて一里四方を麦の秋

such nice weather
everywhere in the land -
barley autumn

Nakayama Junko 中山純子




寒雁の一羽おくれて四羽の空
kangan no ichiwa okurete yonwa no sora

geese in the cold -
one of them is late
four in the sky

Nozawa Setsuko 野沢節子




名月や一天四海雲もなし
meigetsu ya itten shikai kumo mo nashi

harvest moon -
in the four directions under one sky
there are no clouds

Maki Katsura 眞木桂


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.............................. FIVE　五　


. Goshiki 五色 the five colors of Buddhism


Five Penny Haiku used by Issa

上々のみかん一山五文かな
joojoo no mikan hitoyama go mon kana

the very best mikan
one whole lot for
five pennies ...


hitoyama... one mountain ...
refers to the way they are stapled on a tray.




ooedo ya tada shi go mon mo kusuri-gui

Great Edo--
four or five pennies
for winter medicine



kiri-goza ya zeni ga shi go mon ume no hana.

on his scrap of mat
four or five pennies...
plum blossoms

The beggar hasn't made much money, but they blooming plum trees are a consolation. Issa paints a more desolate scene seven years later(1819):

juubako no zeni shi go mon ya yuu shigure

in the box
four or five pennies...
night of winter rain

(Tr. David Lanoue)


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. gosun kugi 五寸釘 nail of 5 sun, for cursing people .
one sun 寸 is about 3 cm or 1 inch.


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よしきりや四五寸程なつくば山
yoshikiri ya shi go sun hodo na tsukuba yama

hey reed thrush--
it's four, five inches tall
Mount Tsukuba

In this haiku, Issa is playing with perspective. From where he and the reed thrush are located, the distant mountain appears to be only 4 or 5 sun tall. A sun is equal to 1.2 inches.


Issa, Tr. David Lanoue

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五つ六つ茶の子にならぶ囲炉裏哉
itsutsu mutsu cha no ko ni narabu irori kana
(Basho, winter 1688-89)

five or six of us
lined up before the tea cakes:
the sunken hearth
Tr. Barnhill

Snacks with Tea (cha no ko)


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門川や机洗う子五六人
kadokawa ya tsukue arau ko go-roku nin

River Kadokawa -
five or six children
are washing their desks

Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規
仰臥漫録


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.............................. SIX 　六　



Roku Mon, rokumonsen, six MON coins of old money,
an expression for the money you have to pay at the ferry over the river Sansu to the other world. Many Japanese kept roku mon under their pillow, just in case they die and needed it over night.

Here they are arranged as Japanese family crests. Roku Mon was the family crest of the famous samurai clan of the SANADA. Sanada Masayuki is expecially famous, because he fought bravely against Tokugawa Ieyasu.



鉄砲ゆり六文銭の城の址　
teppoo yuri roku mon sen no shiro no ato

"gun lilies " -
the remains of the castle
of "six mon coins"

...www.gendaihaiku.64


"Gun Lilies" Lilium longiflorum / Photos

Sanada Yukimura 真田幸村 and Shogun Daruma 武将達磨


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人はまたさまざまな六文銭
hito wa mata samazama na roku mon sen

humans too
just a lot of different
six mon coins

©　おはな詩俳句館


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神迎ふ一山六社みな灯り
kami mukau hito yama roku sha mina akari

welcoming the god of the new year
one holy mountain with six shrines
all alight

Kida Soshi 木田素子

Shinto Shrines and Haiku

The English is an explanatory rendering to make the meaning more clear.

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my gate--
just six radishes
remain in supply

waga kado ya tada roppon no daikon-gura
我門や只六本の大根蔵

by Issa, 1820

Issa later revises this haiku so that only "four or five" radishes are left.
Shinji Ogawa explains, "The radishes are not stored in a storage house but are buried in the ground in the late autumn for the winter. In the snow-country, usually a stick is standing to locate the spot covered with snow."

Tr. David Lanoue

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. Roku Jizō 六地蔵 Roku Jizo, Six Jizo Statues .


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..................... FOURTEEN 十四　

Masaoka Shiki

"teizen　庭前"　Front Garden

鶏頭の十四五本もありぬべし
keitoo no juushigohon mo arinubeshi

"Before the Garden"

cockscombs
must be 14
or 15
trans. Beichman

Cockscombs--
I'm sure there are at least
Fourteen or fifteen stalks.
trans. Donald Keene

Cockscombs;
There should be
Fourteen or fifteen.
trans. Blyth





Read the amazing story behind this haiku HERE :
. cockscomb, keitoo 鶏頭 (けいとう)
Celosia cristata



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.............................. thirty 　三十　


お城から見るや種蒔く三十里
o-shiro kara miru ya tanemaku sanjuu ri

from the castle
I see them sowing seeds -
for 30 ri

Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規

one RI is about 4 km.
Here Shiki is taling about the castle of Matsuyama and the surrounding fertile plains.

. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規
and Matsuyama City 松山




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..... ONE HUNDRED 　百 hyaku and more

一本の樹下に百花の落椿
ippon no ki shita ni hyakka no ochi tsubaki

under one tree
one hundred fallen
camellia blossoms

Takaha Shugyo 鷹羽狩行

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牡丹百二百三百門一つ
botan hyaku nihyaku sambyaku mon hitotsu


one hundred peonies
two hundred, three hundred ...
and only one gate

Awano Seiho 阿波野青畝 （あわの せいほ） (1899-1992)

Maybe he is visiting one of the famous peony temples of Japan.


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一本六百万円の大まぐろなり糶始
ippon roppyaku man en no oo maguro nari uri hajime

first sale of the year!
one big tuna fish for
six million yen

Omura Bajin 尾村馬人

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ゆらぎ見ゆ百の椿が三百に
yuragi miyu hayku no tsubaki ga sanbyaku ni

watching 100 camellias
shaking slightly
I see three hundred

Takahama Kyoshi 高濱 虚子
He liked camellias very much and had a lot of trees planted in his garden in Kamakura.


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issha senri 一瀉千里 (いっしゃせんり) "at top speed"

雨上る一瀉千里に夏に入る

end of the rain -
with great steps (with a thousand miles)
summer is now coming

Ooshima Sada 大島定


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死ぬまでの一千万歩桜かな
shinu made no issen manbo sakura kana

until I die
there are ten million steps ...
oh these cherry blossoms

Hashimoto Naoko 橋本七尾子


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一歩より千里に淋し羯鼓鳥
ippo yori senri ni sabishii kankodori

a thousand steps
more lonely than just one -
this cuckoo

Sosuke 杜亮　


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thousands of leaves . . . . one tree

Dina E. Cox

published in Prairie Sunset
ed. Denver Stull, 2005


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kuman 九万 90.000 - a great number

kuman kusen nichi 九万九千日 July 10
In the Toyama region, on this day people made a pilgrimage to a Buddhist temple.


kuman hassen gami 九万八千神 ninety-eight thousand deities
A great number of deities revered in Kyoto

年徳の京には九万八千神
Toshitoki no Kyoo ni wa kuman hassengami

at the New Year
in Kyoto there are ninety-eight
thousand deities

Yoobai 楊梅 1702



Kyoo wa kuman hassen ke 京は九万八千家
There are ninety-eight thousand families in Kyoto.

Basho changed this famous saying to :


京は九万九千くんじゅの花見哉
Kyoo wa kuman kusen kunju no hanami kana

in Kyoto
there are ninety-nine thousand (people)
watching cherry blossoms

Matsuo Basho (age 23)


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. banzai 万歳 / 萬歳 ten thousand years 　
a Japanese battle cry during the war



. Hyakumangoku Matsuri 金沢百万石まつり
Hyakumangoku Festival . 　　
in Kanazawa



hyakuman 百万 1.000.000 - a great number

図書館に百万冊の寒さかな　
toshokan ni hyakuman sastu no samusa kana

in the library
one million books
in the cold　. . .

鈴木俊六
source : isobekai

Sensei explained that the use of hyakuman, meaning a large number, was very skillful here.
It is not simple shasei, but tells the reader about the impression of the poet.

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DATES used in Haiku

When translating, we have to be careful about the names of a month, since they were used in the way of the Asian Lunar Calendar.
On January 1, 1873, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar.

. The Lunar Calendar in Japan

kyuureki 旧暦 Kyureki, the old calendar
. Names of the old Japanese months and their meanings


for the HAIKU SEASONS,
we have to consider the lunar calendar

spring begins, February 4, risshun 立春
summer begins, May 6, rikka　立夏
autumn begins, August 8, risshuu　立秋
winter begins, November 7, rittoo　立冬



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それぞれの　「あの日」　八月十五日　
sorezore no "ano hi" hachigatsu juugonichi

so different for each one
"that day"
August fifteenth

Tanabe Akira 田邉彬さん written in 2010

. Day the World War II ended in Japan 　　


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夕立やしかも八月十五日
yuudachi ya shikamo hachigatsu juugo nichi

a cloudburst--
but on the fifteenth
of Eighth Month!

In the old lunar calendar, the fifteenth day of Eighth Month is the time of the harvest moon. Ironically, a "cloudburst" (yuudachi), which is normally associated with summer, spoils this highlight of autumn.

Tr. David Lanoue



十月の中の十日の霰哉
juugatsu no naka no tooka no arare kana

a hailstorm
on the tenth day in the middle
of the tenth month
Tr. Gabi Grevee

Kobayashi Issa

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一九九九年の破魔矢かな
senkyuuhyaku kyuujuunen no hamaya kana

a lucky arrow
for the year nineteenhundred
ninety nine

Goto Takatoshi (Gotoo) 五島高資



Hamaya, the New Year Arrow, a kigo


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十月の御十二日ぞはつ時雨
juugatsu no o-juu ni nichi zo hatsu shigure


Tenth Month's
venerable twelfth day...
first winter rain

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. David Lanoue

This is the date of the Death-Day anniversary of the great poet, Bashoo.
Basho Memorial Day (Basho-Ki) Japan

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十二月八日の霜の屋根幾万
juunigatsu yooka no shimo no yane ikuman

the frost of december eighth
on many thousand roofs

Kato Shuson 加藤楸邨 (1905-1993)
Tr. Gabi Greve


Written at the outbreak of World War II in 1941 （昭和１６年).

"During the war, Japanese sources used the name Greater East Asia War (大東亜戦争, Dai Tō-A Sensō). This name was chosen by a cabinet decision on December 10, 1941, to refer to both the war with the western Allies and the ongoing war in China. The name was released to the public two days later, on December 12, with an explanation that it involved Asian nations achieving independence from the Western powers through the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere."
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Japanese War Haiku / Reference


ikuman, there was a famous war song:
"Thousands of enemies may come"
"teki wa ikuman" 敵は幾万


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夕立やしかも八月十五日
yuudachi ya shikamo hachigetsu juugo nichi

an evening shower -
and today is the fifteenth
of eighth lunar month

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. Gabi Greve

This is the night of the full moon, and every poet has been waiting for this most famous night !

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ikusobaku いくそばく/ 幾そ許 / 幾─ how many? how much?

秋風や藻に鳴虫のいくそばく
akikaze ya mo ni naku mushi no ikusobaku

autumn wind--
singing in the duckweed
how many insects?

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. David Lanoue



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Related words

***** . August 1 (hassaku 八朔) .
first day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar


***** Numbers used in Kigo !!!!!



. Kigo Calendar - the 12 Months .

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Buddhism by Numbers

If you've ever wanted to know what the Three Learnings of the Mahyana, the Fivefold Cause & Effect, or the Thirty-two Marks of Perfection of the Buddha are, this is the page for you.
Buddhism by Numbers


A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms
by William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous
(including kanji - very LONG file)
一乘之珠 The pearl of the One yāna, i.e. The Lotus Scripture.
一九 A Shingon term for Amitābha.
一代 A human lifetime; especially the lifetime of Śākyamuni on earth.
source : mahajana.net/texts/kopia_lokaln

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Verbs used in Haiku

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Verbs used in Haiku


verbs used in haiku -
I sense a question mark
on her face


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A friend asked

I would like to hear more about verbs.
I know that haiku is often called the poetry of nouns.
I tend to think that verbs have equal ability to show and not tell.
Happy Haiku Forum


and friends stated

as far as I know the use of verbs is restricted, isn't it?

I was told "we use any form of the verb 'to be' " ...



............................................. and here is another quote

"Haiku: A Poet's Guide"
by Lee Gurga, (c)2003, page 48:

Nouns and literal images

With nouns we are most clearly able to convey our experiences without interpretation. "Show, don't tell," is the haiku way.
Here is an image: a boy on a swing.
Here is a statement: I saw a boy on a swing.

The image presents what was experienced without putting the author in the picture. Further, the image here, like many images in haiku, does not contain a verb. Though verbs are certainly used in haiku, they are not absolutely necessary and many haiku poets do without them.
Nouns are the meat of haiku.
Quoted in Happy Haiku Forum


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Without the frog jumping in the old pond,
we might not even be here discussing this subject !

And the frog took two verbs to jump, tobu and komu. Combined verbs are rather common in the Japanese language.


This argument of verbless haiku made me think about kigo ... and kigo used with verbs.

Sometimes the Japanese verb is implied in the noun, like "flower viewing" hanami, hana o miru koto, where the verb is MIRU, looking at, seeing.

Japanese poets often say: "Haiku is the poetry of the first person", and since the Japanese language does not always need to state the ACTOR, it is implied to be the poet.

When a Japanese verb is used explicitly, we can translate this as

I did xyz
We did xyz

If it is another person acting, it is usually mentioned too.

Translating this as
................................. xyx-ING

is trying to avoid mentioning the person who is doing the act. But in the Japanese original, it is usually quite clear.

I checked the last 12 winning entries for NHK HAIKU in November 2007 and found 11 of them using a verb.


The important cut marker KERI can only added to a verb.
nari ni keri ... is a line 3, simply saying IS/HAS ...


There is a theory that
Basho used more Chinese characters and nouns, writing about the Elite of Japan, whereas Issa used more hiragana and verbs, to talk about the human situation of his time.



I suggest
wheather to use a verb or not, or an adjective or not, for that matter, depends on the situation you experienced and want to transform into a haiku.




Your thoughts on this subject are most welcome.
Please add them as a comment.




End of Year Activities ... ... a KIGO LIST

I collected some SPRING kigo including verbs.
Quite a lot ! And not yet all of my notes checked ...



With verbs, we also have the problem of "written literary, classical language" (bungo　文語)　and spoken colloquial kogo language (koogo 口語).
To bring this over in a translation is quite difficult.

. WKD : Language : Bungo and Koogo 文語　と　口語 　

Gabi Greve




. Adjectives and Onomatopoetic Words in Haiku 　




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yoku mireba ... looking closely




よくみれば薺花さく垣ねかな
yoku mireba nazuna hana saku kakine kana

looking closely:
a shepherd's purse blossoming
beneath the hedge
Matsuo Basho, trans. Barnhill


Even in seemingly simple haiku, Basho often finds ways to give them some depth of meaning. Japanese commentators have suggested that the phrase "looking closely" alludes to a line from the Chinese poet- philospher Cheng Mingdao (aka Ch'eng Ming-tao) (1032-85) which goes,
according to Barnhill:
"when one looks with tranquility,
one sees that all things are self-content."

And Ueda, in his book "Basho and His Interpreters," quotes the commentator Tosai, who says: "The sentiment expressed here is reminiscent of the Chinese line
'Everywhere I am startled to find things renewing themselves.' "

Blyth translates the first phrase of Basho's haiku, 'yoku mireba', as "looking carefully." Blyth, in discussing this haiku of Basho's,
quotes one by Shiki which uses the same opening phrase:


よく見れば木瓜の莟や草の中
yoku mireba kyuri no tsubomi ya kusa no naka

Looking carefully,--
The buds of a cucumber flower
In the grass.
Shiki, trans. Blyth

Compiled by Larry Bole
Simply Haiku, March 2008



(When) closely inspected,
Nazuna in bloom
(Under) the hedge!
Tr. D. T. Suzuki


When I look carefully
I see the nazuna blooming
by the hedge!
Tr. tom.d.stiller



[When] carefully seen,
Nazuna in bloom,
The hedge!
... www.sacred-texts.com . Tr. anonymous


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quote
Basho's hokku have been called a "poetry of nouns"
because of its tendency to rely primarily on image rather than statement.
We can look back at the Sado Island, crow on a withered branch, and old pond poems as examples.
In each case we have the same pattern of noun, noun-verb, noun.
Much of the dynamism of these poems is in the stark imagism that turning them into a statement would only dilute.
Barnhill



MORE about the Poetry of Nouns and
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .




MORE hokku with an order " let us do this!" - seyo　せよ　！
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .



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A Japanese haiku sensei (teacher) stated :

"Japanese Haiku is poetry of the first person"

writing haiku ...
In Japanese, that is
ME !


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Words used in Japanese :
14 % are verbs 動詞 in school textbooks, a check of about 550 words.


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autumn morning -
the buttered side
of my toast

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Emotions expressed directly in Haiku


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My Haiku Theory Archives 　


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Life, my life (mi no ue)

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My Life, my fate (mi no ue)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

my life situation, circumstances of my life
mi no ue, mi-no-ue　みのうえ　身に上
one's fortune, one's future, one's lot; one's history

mi no ue banashi ... stories about my own life or my fate
mi no ue no soodan ... a discussion about personal matters


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU





Some haiku by Issa

身の上の露ともしらでさはぎけり
mi no ue no tsuyu tomo shirade sawagi keri

unaware of life
passing like dewdrops...
they frolic


身の上の鐘としりつつ夕がすみ
mi no ue no kane to shiritsutsu yûgasumi

knowing the bell
rings away life...
evening mist

Three years later (1823) Issa revises this haiku to end with "evening cool" (yûsuzumi).



身の上の鐘ともしらで夕涼み
mi no ue no kane tomo shirade yûsuzumi

not knowing the bell
rings away life...
evening cool

In a haiku written in 1823 Issa changes perspective:

mi no ue no kane to shiritsutsu yûsuzumi

knowing the bell
rings away life...
evening cool



身の上の露とは更にしらぬ哉
mi no ue no tsuyu to wa sara ni shiranu kana

not at all aware
that life's dewdrop
is fading...


...

此次は我身の上かなく烏
kono tsugi wa waga mi no ue ka naku karasu

will I be the next one
they caw over?
graveyard crows

Or, the third line might read, simply: "crows."

The word "graveyard" doesn't appear in the original text, but I have added it in light of Issa's prescript: "Elegy for Master Kôshun." According to Jean Cholley, the deceased, Kôshun (Tokizawa Yûzô), was Issa's friend; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 237.


Tr. David Lanoue

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"The Autumn Wind"

...a long tale of misfortune for Issa began with his young mother's death when he was only three years old. Memories of her sympathy and understanding deepened for him with the years as he found the world less kind, and they probably passed beyond anything actually remembered into an idealized vision.

Although his grandmother looked after the child fondly, it seems that to the years immediately following his mother's death Issa traced in himself that awareness of the essential solitude of men and women and of the limitations of human relationships which pervades many of his verses.

mi no ue no tsuyu to mo shirade hodashi keri

heedless of the dew
that marks our closing day
we bind ourselves to others

©　Tr. Lewis Mackenzie


hodashi keri ...
hodasu .. means "to be moved by somebody's kindness"
絆す... the Chinese character is also used for KIZUNA, a bond between poeple.

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mi no ue no kane to shiritsutsu yûsuzumi

О да, я знаю, это по мне
колокол вечерний звонит,
но в тишине прохладой дышу.

O yes, I know it is for me
That the evening bell tolls.
But I still breathe the air in silence.

©　Tr. Dmitri SMIRNOV

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Mi no ue no tsuyu tomo shirade yusuzumi

Tăcînd soneria
sună mai departe viata –
răcoarea serii

©　Traduceri de Vasile MOLDOVAN

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Masaoka Shiki

身の上や御鬮を引けば秋の風
mi-no-ue ya mikuji o hikeba aki no kaze

Mi-no-ue means "one's fortune," "one's fate," or 'one's lot in life'; mi-kuji is "oracle," and hikeba, "to draw." So mi-kuji o kikeba means "to draw one's fortune." Finally, aki is "autumn," and kaze, "wind."

One needs to know the circumstances that made Shiki write this haiku.

At most Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan, a small sum of money will get one a fortune-telling paper. An attendant shakes an oblong box containing a number of bamboo sticks until one stick emerges from a small hole in the top of the box. The stick bears a number that dictates which paper is handed to the patron. On the paper are printed a picture of the deity to whom the temple or shrine is dedicated and a prediction of one's fortune, which is accepted as an oracle from the deity. It forecasts love and marriage, travel, finances, change of residence, health, and length of life.

On September 20, 1895, Shiki and Yanagihara Kyokudou made an excursion to Ishite-ji. The two young men were sitting on the veranda of the Otsuya-do when a fortune-telling paper drawn by someone else was carried by the breeze to Shiki's side. He picked it up and read it. It was the worst forecast possible, with lines like "Misfortune overshadows your future ... illness, long-lasting but not incurable."
Since Shiki was already ill (at the time), he took the omen seriously and, as Kyokudo later confirmed, worried about it, half believing, half not believing it.

(Alas my) fortune;
drawing divine lots,
the autumn wind.

.. meister_z SHIKI

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... my life ...
a sparrow balances
on a thin branch

Gabi Greve, May 2008

わが命 小枝にとまる雀かな
Tr. by. Esho Shimazu, facebook friend


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not much
and yet
my autumn

November 3, 2011


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mi no ue no natsu ya hasu no ichimai-ba

summer
is upon me
a lotus leaf

Death poem of
Kurata Kassan 倉田 葛三

Japanese Death Poems:
Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets


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Related words

***** Dead body, deceased person, corpse (hotoke) Japan
Death Poems, Death Haiku

***** Ishide (Ishite) Temple and Haiku

***** Mikuji, O-Mikuji (sacred lots)




"Haiku is the poetry of the first person."

. I .. the first person 　　


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