Nippoem

17

Lying in my bed I listen as it sings of the far-off past: a mosquito

寝て聞けば遠き昔を鳴く蚊かな

nete kikeba tōki mukashi o naku ka kana

(Ozaki Hōsai 尾崎放哉)

*

A mosquito, ka, is a season word associated with summer. The scene is probably one where the poet is within a mosquito net (a summer season word in its own right) while the mosquito flies around it trying to find a way in. This type of scene has a long history in Japanese poetry and literature, hence the association with the distant past.
16

Burning my diary; how come it leaves so little ash

焼き捨てゝ日記の灰のこれだけか

yakisutete nikki no hai no kore dake ka

(Santōka 山頭火)
15

The year on its way out; as a memento we stay behind—my wife and I

行年やかたみに留守の妻と我

yuku toshi ya katami ni rusu no tsuma to ware

(Takahama Kyoshi 高浜虚子)
14

Other than the woodcutter there’s nobody here; late-blooming cherries

木樵より他に人なし遅桜

kikori yori hoka ni hito nashi osozakura

(Ichihara Tayo 市原多代)

*

1.

Osozakura are cherry trees that, for whatever reason, blossom later than the usual time. This also means that by then the flower-watching crowds are no longer around.

2.

Ichihara Tayo (1776–1865), also known as Tayojo (多代女), was a female poet who lived in the late Edo period. Widowed in 1806 at the age of 30, she became a haiku poet while raising three children.
13

A sick man, venturing away from the heater to see the snow

病む人の巨燵離れて雪見かな

yamu hito no kotatsu hanarete yukimi kana

(Natsume Sōseki 夏目漱石)

*

1.

A kotatsu is a blanket-covered table with a heater under it. To move away from the heater means, in this case, to pull one’s body from under the blanket and brave the coldness of the room—something that even a healthy person would be reluctant to do in a typical traditional house in Japan, with its minimal insulation.

2.

Yukimi, literally “snow viewing”, refers to looking at a snowy scene in the context of admiring its beauty. In haiku it functions as a season word associated with winter.

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