Kobayashi Issa: The Dragonfly in the Weeds

Issa

            For this post I looked at one of my favorite haiku composers: Kobayashi Issa. Issa was alive in the late 18^th century and he passed away in 1828. He came from a small farming town called Shinano in what is today Nagano prefecture. He traveled a lot in his life in order to ascertain poetic inspiration. For those who believe that only those who suffer greatly can produce great art, Issa fits the description.

            According to all the biographical accounts that I perused, he had three wives, of which two passed away. Also, according to different accounts, he had between four and eight children that died in infancy. His mother also died when he was a small child, and he absolutely hated his stepmother.

            He may have had one daughter with his third wife who survived to live a full life, but I am not sure. Edo (Tokyo of today) was where he spent most of his life. He did gather a significant reputation, but his iconoclastic style ruffled the feathers of a lot of his contemporaries.

            He wrote over 20,000 haiku, and he refrained from consistency. He wrote about numerous topics, but he is usually associated with writing about children or things mundane. His distaste for pomp and circumstance is obvious. Aesthetics is something that I believe he took seriously, but he expressed his appreciation of it in an unconventional way. The following haiku are a variety from his extensive collection. There is no consistent theme, and some of these may seem very simple. I would suggest the reader really dig deep in trying to relate to what he was trying to say. Ironically, the deeper you dig, the farther you may be from his intention.

To-ji in Kyoto

塔ばかり見えて東寺は夏木立ち

小林一茶

Only the tower

Of To-ji is visible,

In the summer grove.

Kobayashi Issa

To-ji is a temple in Kyoto, and I believe it is the tallest in the city. Apparently, in Issa’s days, To-ji was usually the first thing travelers coming from the east would see as they approached Kyoto.

雪とけて村一ぱいの子供かな

小林一茶

The ice and snow melts,

And the village overflows

With happy children.

Kobayashi Issa

春雨や食われ残り鴨が鳴く

小林一茶

The spring rains fall down,

And there are those left unfed,

The ducks are quacking.

Kobayashi Issa

I am not sure if it is the ducks who are “left unfed”, himself, or perhaps those unfortunate. One way or the other, it is a compelling scene.

薮の蜂来ん世も我にあやかるな

小林一茶

Bees in the thicket,

I cannot help but feel envy,

For your bright future!

Kobayashi Issa

蝶とんで我が身も塵のたぐいかな

小林一茶

Butterflies flying,

And I am just a piece of

Useless, old garbage.

Kobayashi Issa

大空の美事に暮るる暑さかな

小林一茶

The heavens above,

Dim to a beautiful tone,

In sweltering heat.

Kobayashi Issa

蚤のあとそれも若きは美しき

小林一茶

Can be found here

Flea-bitten and yet,

The youth, still are a form of

Absolute beauty.

Kobayashi Issa

遠山が目玉に映る蜻蛉かな

小林一茶

The distant mountains

Are reflected in the eye

Of a dragonfly.

Kobayashi Issa

This one is my favorite.

Three Poets at Minase, Minase Sangin Hyakuin

Sōgi and Friends

For this post, I have translated the first twelve poems from the renga sequence, “Three Poets at Minase” or Minase sangin hyakuin. The three poets are Monk Sōgi and two of his disciples, Shōhaku (1443-1527) and Sōchō (1448-1532). The sequence contains one hundred poems, and it is one of the most famous. These kinds of renga compositions were usually composed at one gathering, and the poets had to create poems under strict thematic rules. They could not compose a poem that was too similar to the one before nor include allusive language and figurative expressions that were already used. There also had to be a link connecting the poem to the one preceding it.

            It was within these guidelines that renga poets had to work. As you read through these poems, keep in mind that each poem was written to stand alone, as well as be read as a contiguous collection. This double nature of renga compositions is what makes them so paradoxical. Are renga compositions greater than the sum of its parts? I would argue they aren't, because from my understanding, renga compositions are not used to create narratives or poetic/philosophical discussions. Instead, I believe that renga sequences are chiefly an act of poetic prowess by the group and the individual. That being said, there is clear progression in the collection, and you could perhaps argue that there are some elements of a narrative present. I think that as you read renga sequences you should enjoy the aesthetic language, appreciate the subtle linkages, and give credit to the coordination of the group.

Renga poets have to walk the line of being spontaneously creative, while also being able to create meaningful allusions to the long Japanese poetic tradition. Perhaps, this could be considered an exercise influenced by Japanese Buddhist philosophy in the sense that renga conveys to the idea that everything is connected, and although these connections are meaningful, they are also arbitrary at some level. We can also judge renga sequences as an essentially ephemeral act of artistic composition similar to Tibetan mandalas.

雪ながら山もとかすむ夕かな

宗祇

As the snow abides,

Haze rests at the mountain,

Here in evening-tide.

Sōgi

Plum Blossoms

行く水とほく梅にほふ里

肖柏

Far away, water flows down,

From that plum-scented town.

Shōhaku

川風にひとむら柳春みえて

宗長

A breeze from the stream

A copse of willows,

And I see Spring’s gleam.

Sōchō

舟さすおとはしるき明がた

宗祇

Boatmen are punting away,

We hear them, on this new day.

Sōgi

Japanese Painting

月は猶霧わたる夜にのこるらん

肖柏

Still, the moon’s roaming,

Passing through the misty night,

The darkness combing.

Shōhaku

霜おく野はら秋はくれけり　

宗長

So soon... a frost-coated field,

Fading, autumn will soon yield.

Sōchō

鳴く蟲の心ともなく草枯れて

宗祇

Bugs cry like zithers

Without a care in the world,

As the grass withers...

Sōgi

Japanese Garden

垣根をとえばあらわなる道

肖柏

If, at the fence, you stop by

You’ll see the path is clear ‘n dry.

Shōhaku

山深き里や嵐に送るらん

宗長

Lost deep in the hills,

Perhaps the hamlet suffers

From storms, windy chills.    

Sōchō

なれぬ住いぞ寂しさもうき

宗祇

For those who’re not used to life,

Loneliness cuts like a knife.

Sōgi

今さらに一人ある身を思うなよ

肖柏

At this late hour,

You mustn’t dwell on being alone,

On thoughts so sour.

Shōhaku

移ろわんとは予て知らずや

宗長

You don’t know this already?

Everything changes, nothing’s steady.

Sōchō

Monk Kusai: The (Almost) Forgotten Renga Master

Emperor Go-Daigo

After a long hiatus, I decided to rekindle this blog with a post about a little known renga (linked-verse) poet: Monk Kusai. He probably lived from about 1282-1376 A.D. during the tumultuous Southern and Northern Courts period (Nanbokuchōjidai). The Kamakura Shogunate collapsed in 1333 A.D. and during this power vacuum the Emperor Go-Daigo tried to restore the power of the Imperial court at the expense of the samurai. This ill-fated venture is known as the Kenmu Restoration and it was an utter failure. It seems like it would have been a tough time to live, but perhaps it helped inspire some of his poetry...

I could not find a lot of biographical details about Monk Kusai, but as you can tell by his name, he was a Buddhist monk. Buddhist spirituality is reflected in some of his poems. He was also apparently a teacher of Nijō Yoshimoto, and helped compile the Tsukubashū and a rule book for renga. He was an early renga master and very important for the development of renga.

The poems below are all from the Tsukubashū, and I was able to find them thanks to Steven Carter’s Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology. However, the translations are my own. In order to really appreciate renga poetry, you should look at the two verses as separate, and try to form the mental bridge that connects them. Kusai was big on subtlety. He was not fond of linked verses where the link was too obvious. So keep that in mind when you read these.

思わぬ方に宿をこそ訪え

花に行く心や我を忘るらん

救済

Can be found here

On an unfamiliar path,

I seek a nearby lodging.

Blossoms beckon me,

Maybe I have forgotten

Myself for my heart?

Monk Kusai

Can be found here

月寒し訪いきます友もがな

野寺の鐘の遠き秋の夜

救済

The coldness of the Moon...

If only a dear friend of mine

Would come and visit.

A distant temple’s bell rings

Deep in this autumn evening.

Monk Kusai

Can be found here

池に石ある滝つ白波

泣く涙硯の上に落ちそいて

救済

Beneath the waterfall’s splash

There is a stone in that pond.

Tears roll down my face,

Falling so inelegantly

Atop my ink stone.

Monk Kusai

誘いても花を思わぬ嵐かな

救済

Invite all it may,

This cruel, unforgiving gale

Doesn’t care for blossoms.

Monk Kusai