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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
(1715-1783)
Tozai Nanboku 東西南北 The Four Directions
East, higashi, too 東
West, nishi, kan, zai 西
South, minami, nan 南
North, kita, hoku (boku) 北
and the Four Gods, Shijin (四神)
. WKD : The Four Directions .
梅遠近南すべく北すべく
. ume ochikochi minami subeku kita subeku .
- - - - - The following hokku are introduced below:
asakawa no nishi shi higashi su wakaba kana
gekkoo nishi ni watareba kaei higashi ni ayumu kana
nanohana ya tsuki wa higashi ni hi wa nishi ni
nishi fukeba higashi ni tamaru ochiba kana
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淺川の西し東す若葉かな
asakawa no nishi shi higashi su wakaba kana
By the shallow river,
to the west and to the east--
fresh new leaves
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert
The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.
This refers to a Tang poem by Ri Ka 李華 （715 - 766):
宣陽城下草萋萋 澗水東流復向西
Around the castle Giyoo, spring grasses come into buds.
The shallow river flows toward east and then toward the west.
Tr. Uematsu
Senjoo 宣城 Senjo in China
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月光西にわたれば花影東に歩むかな
gekkoo nishi ni watareba kaei higashi ni ayumu kana
(kaei (Japanese reading: hana kage) is a reading used for the moonlight shadows on the cherry blossoms.)
light of the moon
moves west - flowers' shadows
creep eastward
Tr. unknown
As the moon's light moves across to the west
the flower's shadow to the east
is treading!
trans. Sawa & Shiffert
As the moon-brilliance westward makes its crossing, so
cherry-blossom shadows eastward
slowly go
Tr. Henderson
Why the long first line in these translations?
Here is Henderson's explanation:
The original, instead of having the conventional syllable count of 5,7, 5, has one of 11, 8, 5; it also has the kind of parallelism that one expects in a Chinese couplet. The long first line does give the effect of a slow passage of time, and there is a quite interesting contrast of the very "Chinese" 'gekkoo' with the very Japanese 'hana-kage', but Buson does not seem to have been wholly satisfied with the result, as he apparently never tried a similar experiment again.
Nevertheless this poem has often been cited, especially by later poets, as proof that a poem may vary very greatly from the standard 5, 7, 5 form and still be haiku.
And Ueda comments:
The moon poem is another outstanding example of Buson's verbal craftsmanship, its extra-long first phrase suggesting the slow movement of the moon across the sky. It also hints at the length of time the poet has been roaming under the cherry blossoms.
And here is Robin Gill's take on it:
gekkoo nishi ni watareba kaei higashi ni ayumu kana
'at moon-cross bridge'
westward moon
as the blossom shadows
move eastward
the moon wests
and the blossoms creep
toward the east
as the moon wests
eastward crawl the shadows
of the full moon
Gill's comment:
Besides shade cast in a recognizable form, shadows once included reflections and what we might call the sight of a thing today. The Chinese character used by Buson favors my second reading where the shadow "moving Eastward" is not shade but the sight of illuminated blossoms as the light of the Westing moon leaves the valleys and climbs the West slopes of the hills viewed to the East of the poet. The moon-light... seems to mean the moon-as-a-light: it is just the moon.
Compiled by Larry Bole - - - Translating Haiku Forum
As the moonlight crosses toward the west
The silhouette of cherry blossoms
To the east proceeds.
Tr. Nelson/Saito
As the moon's light moves across to the west
the flower's shadow
to the east is treading!
Tr. Sawa/ Shiffert
the moonlight moves westward
the shadows of the cherry blossoms
move eastward
Tr. Gabi Greve
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The white sun sinks into the western slopes,
the pale moon rises over the eastern peaks.
For ten thousand leagues the light shines,
Over a great distance the sky is bright.
- tr. Cheryl A. Crowley -
Tao Yuanming
Gabi Greve - Na no Hana 菜の花 - kigo
菜の花や月は東に日は西に
nanohana ya tsuki wa higashi ni hi wa nishi ni
rapeseed blossoms -
the moon in the east
the sun in the west
Tr. Gabi Greve
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rape-flowers -
the moon in the east
the sun in the west
Tr. Crowley
Read : a Chinese poem by Tao Yuanming and
a verse by Kakinomoto Hitomaro :
source : http://books.google.co.jp
東（ひんがし）の野に炎（かぎろい）の立つ見えて
かへり見すれば月かたぶきぬ
hingashino no ni kagiroi no tatsu-miete kaeri misureba tsuki katabukinu
in the east on the hills, dawn light rises,
and the moon is going to set on the other side
On the eastern plain is seen a flickering of glowing dawn:
Looking back, I see the moon setting in the west.
Tr. McFarland
- Kakinomoto Hitomaro 柿本人麻呂 -
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quote
Rape blossoms ━
Look! The moon rising,
The sun setting.
Expanse of rape blossoms;
The moon in the east,
The sun in the west.
- - Note from Kito 几董:
"On the 23rd of March on the lunar calendar the Haiku was improvised. We had supposed it would be about four o'clock p.m. in a long day of spring and that the phenomenon would happen around the 10th day of the month. The moon was already seen in the daytime and there was seen a vast sea of rape blossoms and it looked as though there was nothing to be seen all around.”
Impression:
The Haiku, well known to most Japanese elderly people, is one of the leading poems by Buson.I think the value of the Haiku lies in that "the Poet is deeply moved by the grandeur of Nature at one time of a spring day, and rape blossoms, the moon, and the sun are all focused simultaneously in his field of vision. The scene in the Haiku is a comprehensive view. We see the three of them in their proper perspective, “according to our own preference.”
But, here a question arises; the scene in the Haiku is rarely seen in reality. The probability may be next to zero, of seeing the actual scene of the kind, the sun in the west and the moon in the east, just in symmetry. It was probably impossible for the Poet to actually see such a scene in his life. Prof. Tsutomu Ogata comments that it was evening around the 15th of the month on the lunar calendar. Probably the Poet saw either the moon or the sun, and even though both were seen at the same time, I suppose they were not hanging separately, well balanced on the canvas of his field of vision - one in the east and the other in the west just in symmetry, without either of which being higher or lower.
We readers can't help but admit the Poet developed his poetic image in creating the Haiku and accept his sophisticated imagination, which, as a successful result, has turned out to be timeless and universal as well.
source : Kumano Shoji
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mustard flowers
with the moon in the east
the sun in the west
Tr. and following comments by Makoto Ueda
' Mustard Flower' (Na no hana ya) is a kasen written in 1774, after the haikai reform movement was well under way. Buson and his followers were seeking closer ties with poets of other reform groups, such as Chora and Kyootai...
On May 5, Buson and Kitoo had a chance to spend a good part of the day with Chora...
The three poets joined forces to compose two kasen that day, 'Mustard Flowers' in the daytime and 'As I Pause' (Tatazumeba) at night. ..."
"Spring. Mustard seed was the main source of vegetable oil consumed in Japan and many farms growing mustard used to be seen in the Japanese countryside.
In spring, city residents often organized picnics to enjoy the vista of bright yellow mustard flowers covering a wide area of suburban land. The scene described here was probably observed around the tenth of the lunar second month, when the moon rises before sunset.
Buson must have read one of T'ao Ch'ien's 'Miscellaneous Poems':
The bright sun sinking on the western bank
and the pale moon rising above the eastern ridge,
the earth looms in the rays of light that spread far out
and reach all the corners of the spacious sky.
source : translating Haiku forum
But why did Buson choose this flower for his poem (it comes with a lovely haiga by Buson, I could not locate yet...)
In his homeland, rapeseed was grown everywhere to prepare supplies of rapeseed oil for the lamps of the growing town of Edo. So the farmers were producing the "light" that could turn the night of Edo into a day.
This is a kind of nioizuke 匂い付け, letting us smell something ...
At the same temple Buson wrote
菜の花や摩耶を下れば日の暮るる
na no hana ya maya o kudareba hi no kururu
rapeseed flowers -
walking down from Maya temple
it is getting dark
. Maya Temple Visit
- - - - - - - - - -
Here is one modern haiku with respect to this one of Buson:
春の富士 東に明けて西の月
haru no fuji higashi ni akete nishi ni tsuki
Mount Fuji in Spring !
early morning in the east and
the moon in the West
Tr. Gabi Greve
source : 太聖 Daisho -
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- - - - - Buson on the anniversary of Basho's death
西吹けば東にたまる落ば哉 - - - nishi fukeba higashi ni tamaru ochiba kana
quote
nishi fukeba higashi ni tamaru ochiba kana
Have you noticed that old hokku often put the main subject of a verse last?
Buson does the same thing in another hokku:
Blown from the west,
They pile up in the east –
Fallen leaves.
To remember this technique, we might call it the “What is it?” technique.
... we ask, “What is it that blows from the east and piles up in the west? Answer: Fallen leaves.
source : David Coomler - Hokku
The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.
- - - - - - - - - -
nishi fukeba higashi ni tamaru ochiba kana
blowing from the west
fallen leaves gather
in the east
Larry Bole remarks:
Since the above was written on the anniversary of Basho's death, I suspect that it may have been inspired by Basho's:
柴の戸に茶の木の葉掻く嵐かな
shiba no to ni cha o konoha kaku asashi kana
against the brushwood gate
it sweeps the tea leaves:
windstorm
Tr. Barnhill
MORE - discussing various translations of
. - Shiba no To 柴の戸 Brushwood Gate - .
Matsuo Basho
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. WKD : Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 - Introduction .
. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
. ABC - List of Buson's works in the WKD .
busonnishihigashi
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