In Memoriam
This is not Basho's "official" Death Song, but it was "[d]ictated to approximately 60 disciples surrounding his deathbed." (a)
(a)
Fallen sick on a trip
Dreams run wildly
Through my head.
-- Basho --
trans. Dallas Finn
(a)
Ill on a journey
All about the deep fields
Fly my broken dreams
-- Basho --
trans. Edward G. Seidensticker
(b)
Ill on a journey
dreams in a withered field
wander around
-- Basho --
trans. Jane Reichhold
(c)
ill on a journey:
my dreams roam around
over withered fields
-- Basho --
trans. David Landis Barnhill
(d)
Wandering, dreaming
in fever dreaming that dreams
wander forever.
-- Basho --
trans. Harry Behn
(f)
Sick on my journey,
only my dreams will wander
these desolate moors
-- Basho --
trans. Sam Hamill
(g)
Fever-felled half-way,
My dreams arose to march again . . .
Into a hollow land
-- Basho --
trans. Peter Beilenson
Homages to Basho
(a)
Basho departed
And since then
The year has never ended.
-- Buson --
trans. Alex Kerr
(a)
In a old pond a frog ages while leaves fall
-- Buson --
trans. Thomas Rimer
(e)
At dear Basho's grave
Pale thin transients
We pause . . .
Spring mist, sad pupil
-- Joso --
trans. Harold G. Henderson (?)
(e)
Since dear Basho died
What poem-maker
Dares to write
"Year-end revelling"?
-- Buson --
trans. Henry G. Henderson?
(f)
Bamboo hat, straw coat--
the very essence of Basho--
falling winter rain
-- Buson --
trans. Sam Hamill
(f)
On the Anniversary of the Death of Basho
Winter rain on moss
soundlessly recalls those
happy bygone days
-- Buson --
trans. Sam Hamill
--
===================================
(a)
The Classic Tradition of Haiku: An Anthology
edited by Faubion Bowers
(b)
Basho: The Complete Haiku
Editor and trans. Jane Reichhold
(c)
Basho's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Basho
Editor and trans. David Landis Barnhill
(d)
More Cricket Songs
trans. Harry Behn
(e)
Cherry-Blossoms
trans. Harold G. Henderson (?)
(f)
The Sound of Water
trans. Sam Hamill
(g)
A Little Treasury of Haiku
trans. Peter Beilenson
Thanks, Fred. Great, great post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the opportunity to pull all the translations together and see the differing interpretations of only 17 syllables.
I love Basho's haiku. I just posted one of his poems under the pictures I took of the snowfall this morning. I only wish I could read them in the original Japanese. Thanks for visiting my blog earlier in the week, it's nice to meet you. I'm not a retired teacher, yet, this is my 26th year. Looking forward to the days ahead when I can do nothing but read, although I will miss the children very much.
ReplyDeleteabout to "retire"?
ReplyDeletefull moon
measuring my success
by how much time I have to kill
Belleza,
ReplyDeleteThanks also for your visit.
Retirement is great. I should have started sooner. But, I find that my time for reading is a bit more restricted than I had expected. I am able to do more now, but not as much as I had hoped. The real world keeps popping up and interfering.
Ed Baker,
ReplyDeleteA full moon--could be a long time or a short period.