Dewdrop World ~ Tragic Haiku of Japan
tsuyu no yo wa tsuyu no yo nagara sari nagara
is as the morning dew
yes... but...
—Issa
(trans. David LaSpina[1])
Most of the haiku Issa wrote were playful, usually poking fun at himself. But not all were. He wrote this to mourn the death of his daughter Sato.
Buddhism tells us that life is fleeting, as the cherry blossoms or as drops of dew on the morning grass. Things come and go as quickly as a stream of water passes by, and we should avoid attachment since nothing is here more than a moment. As a strict student of Buddhism, Issa knows this. But... his child...
He wrote his his diary:
I knew that it was no use to cry, that water once flown past the bridge does not return and scattered blossoms are gone beyond recall. Yet try as I would, I could not, simply cut the binding cord of human love.
It is a reworking of one he wrote on one year anniversary of the death of his first son, Kentaro.
tsuyu no yo wa tokushin nagara sari nagara
truly it is...
but...
It's amazing he was able to keep such an innocent and gleeful attitude in most of his haiku when he was surrounded by such tragedy.
The kigo here is tsuyu, dew or dewdrop. As the morning dew vanishes with the sun, it has been a symbol for our fleeting lives in Japanese poetry since ancient times. It is a kigo for all of autumn.
❦
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
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That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩
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Magnificent synthesis of the nature of haiku in its dramatic mode. The dew will always be a very dear image, which in traditional oriental poetry nourishes us. Thank you, @dbooster.
You're welcome. Thanks for reading!
Such a simple yet tragic way to express that truth that no matter how 'enlightened' grief is grief, pure and simple. I don't think there is any way to get away from it other than the age old cliche of 'time heals all' - sometimes even time falls short.
Great translation and example of how the best Haiku really do say more with less.
All the best mate.
P.s. I'm going to incorporate the Kigo you mention in this post in to my poetry post today 🙂
Apologies for my late reply. I am behind on everything this week. After I compile the weekly list I will go take a look at your haiku. That's great to see you are inspired by the kigo. I am trying to include that info more and more as I do translations.
Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, exactly, that is the power of this form. It is even more potent in the original Japanese.
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Manual selection by @cliffagreen.