Zen Death Haiku Xi
ZEN DEATH HAIKU XI
These are my modern English translations of Japanese Zen Death Haiku.
Above the garden
the camellia tree blossoms
whitely...
—Uejima Onitsura, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Moonlit hailstones:
the night hawks return.
—Uejima Onitsura, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Nowhere to dump the dishwater:
cricket cacophony.
—Uejima Onitsura, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
A good father
drives away crows
from his sparrow-like children.
—Uejima Onitsura, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
A cool breeze:
the empty sky fills
with the songs of the pines.
—Uejima Onitsura, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Return my dream, raven!
You woke me to a misted-over
unreadable moon
—Uejima Onitsura, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Tears are useless:
insects, lovers, the stars themselves
must part.
—Kobayashi Issa, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Sparrow-like children,
make way, make way!
The stallion's coming through!
—Kobayashi Issa, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
No one travels
this path but me,
this moonless autumn evening.
—Matsuo Basho, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Now, as the sun and moon shine as one,
the arrow, hurtling from the bow,
speeds my spirit toward the enemy,
bearing also a hundred million souls
—my people of the East—
as the sun and moon shine as one.
—Tomoyuki Yamaa, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Bonfires for the dead?
Soon they'll light pyres
for us, instead.
—Issa, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Children delight
in bonfires
for the dead;
soon they'll light
pyres
for us, instead.
—Issa, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Cries of the wild geese—
spreading rumors about me?
Kobayashi Issa, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Wake up, old tomcat,
then with elaborate yawns and stretchings
prepare to pursue love
Kobayashi Issa, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
This windy nest?
Open your hungry mouth in vain,
Issa, orphaned sparrow!
Kobayashi Issa, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
The ghostly cow comes
mooing mooing mooing
out of the morning mist
Kobayashi Issa, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Full moon—
my ramshackle hut
is an open book.
Kobayashi Issa, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Keywords/Tags: Haiku, Zen, Japan, Japanese, translation, life, death, aging, time, pain, sorrow, lament, age, analogy, angst, animal, anxiety, august, autumn
Copyright ©
Michael Burch
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