Sunday, November 28, 2010

Basho: 1644-Nov. 28, 1694

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

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for your kind words.

    I enjoyed the opportunity to pull all the translations together and see the differing interpretations of only 17 syllables.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  3. about to "retire"?

    full moon
    measuring my success
    by how much time I have to kill

    ReplyDelete
  4. Belleza,

    Thanks 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.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ed Baker,

    A full moon--could be a long time or a short period.

    ReplyDelete