Basho - Taros and harvest moon - Complete Haiku (6): Roundup of Early Poems

1661-1672 (Kanbun period), 18-29 years old

A final collection of hokku written by Basho in his hometown of Ueno before he moved to Edo in 1672. These hokku are generally simpler than the dated hokku in the previous chapters. Compared to Basho's later, philosophical works, these are no great hokku, but the technical handling is impressive.

(44)

more loathed by flowers than human mouths: the mouth of the wind

hana ni iya yo seken-guchi yori kaze no kuchi

花にいやよ世間口より風のくち

Iya yo, hateful (worse) is an expression from a popular song. For the rest, this poem is very straightforward.

The season is spring (kigo: hana).

(45)

starry-eyed from gazing at the weeping cherry

me no hoshi ya hana wo negai no itozakura

目の星や花をねがひの糸桜

You get "stars in your eyes" from reading too long or looking at something too intently.

The season is spring (kigo: itozakura).

 

(46)

taros my life's debt, today harvest moon once more

inochi koso imodane yo mata kyo no tsuki

命こそ芋種よ又今日の月

[Simmered taros]

Tsukimi, "moon viewing," is a Japanese festival honoring the autumn moon, typically held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the traditional Japanese calendar, known as Jugoya (fifteenth night). Tsukimi traditions include displaying decorations made of Japanese pampas grass (susuki) and serving white rice dumplings (known as tsukimi dango), taro, and chestnuts, as well as sake, as offerings to the moon to pray for a bountiful harvest.

Sato-imo or taro (Colocasia esculenta) is a small, round, light gray tuber. It is not a potato, but a member of the arum family. Taro is grown in swampy fields and is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world - taro has been grown in Asia for thousands of years. The tubers are boiled, roasted, baked or fried. After peeling and boiling for a long time, taro looks quite creamy. They are often cut into beautiful hexagons and have a good taste due to their high sugar content. Taro is mainly used in kenchin-jiru, miso soup and stewed dishes, but also in osechi-ryori. Taro is indeed a delicacy, and as Basho says in this hokku (somewhat ironically, in a haikai manner), "He owes his life to taro".

The season is autumn (kigo: kyo no tsuki).

(47)

swept into the fire not letters but colored leaves!

fumi naranu iroha mo kakite kachu kana

文ならぬいろはもかきて火中哉

Love letters were often burned after being read, but here the red autumn leaves are raked into the fire. The hokku is full of related words: fumi (letter), iroha (both red leaves and a term for the traditional Japanese syllabary), kachu (in the fire, but also a technical term for letter writing), and kaku (to write, but also to rake).

The season is autumn (kigo: iroha).

(48)

in every mouth red tongues and red leaves

hitogoto no kuchi ni arunari shita-momiji

人毎の口に有也した栬

In the fall everyone talks about the red leaves, so they are "in everyone's mouth". But our tongue is also red (and also in our mouth), and here it is jokingly compared to the red leaves. "Shita-momiji" are literally "the lower red leaves," but here "shita" is also a pun on "tongue".

The season is autumn (kigo: shita-momiji).

(49)

when planting, nurture like a child, the baby cherry!

uuru koto ko no gotoku seyo chigozakura

植うる事子のごとくせよ児桜

A simple hokku based on the association between "baby cherry tree" and a human child: treat the tree as importantly as a human child. A baby cherry is a wild cherry tree with small blossoms.

The season is spring (kigo: chigozakura).

(50)

grown with dew drooled by bamboo grass: a bamboo shoot!

takeuna ya shizuku mo yoyo no sasa no tsuyu

たけうなや雫もよよの篠の露

This hokku is not as simple as it looks. "Yoyo" means "falling", but also "bamboo shoots", "generation after generation" and "night after night". In other words, new generations of bamboo (bamboo shoots) are nourished by dew drops falling from the bamboo grass at night. Moreover, this is a parody of an expression from The Tale of Genji: "Grabbing a piece of bamboo shoot, Kaoru eats it with slaver falling down" (takauna wo tsuto nigirimochite shizuku mo yoyo to kuinurashi) [from Toshiharu Oseko, Basho's Haiku Vol. 2, p. 30] The dew dripping from the bamboo grass is compared to Kaoru (the antihero of the last ten books of The Tale of Genji) eating a bamboo shoot while drooling. So this is a very Teimon school type of hokku.

The season is summer (kigo: takeuna)

(51)

their sight almost makes me snap: golden lace flowers

miru ni ga mo oreru bakari zo ominaeshi

見るに我もおれる計ぞ女郎花

[Ominaeshi]

Ominaeshi is a small and delicate yellow flower (Patrinia scabiosifolia), also known as eastern valerian or golden lace. In Japan, the name is interestingly written with the kanji for "flower of the courtesan (joro)". This is based on a 9th century waka by the priest Henjo: "I've cut you off just because of your name: 'Flower of the Courtesan,' don't tell anyone that I've been corrupted!"

Basho also uses the word "snap," "oreru," but he is not talking about the flowers, but about himself in the sense of "being impressed".

For more about the priest Henjo, see my translation of his waka in One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each.

The season is autumn (kigo: ominaeshi)

(52)

tonight no time to sleep: moon viewing party!

kyo no koyoi neru toki mo naki tsukimi kana

けふの今宵寝る時もなき月見哉

A poem about the Tsukimi or Moon-viewing festival of the 15th day of the 8th month.

The season is autumn (kigo: tsukimi)

(53)

its shape still youthful: new moon at evening

miru kage ya mada katanari mo yoi-zukiyo

見る影やまだ片なりも宵月夜

This is a play on a passage from The Tale of Genji (Tamakazura) where the term "mada katanari" ("immature") is used about a young and beautiful princess. Basho humorously applies it to the new moon, which can only be seen in the evening and then disappears.

The season is autumn (kigo: yoi-zukiyo)


Basho Complete Haiku