Eric Hoffman

Translations of some early haiku by Ozaki Hōsai


[Tottori, c. 1905]

船路来て繁華な町や凧

Arrival, port town—
clamor of the city streets
and kites high above



春雨や磯分れ行く船と傘

Spring rain: on the beach
an umbrella and a boat
depart, say farewell



水汲みに来ては柳の影を乱す

Her pail dipped in water—
willow shadow broken
every time



吹かれ鳴く蝉二つ三つ朝渡し

Cicadas sing—
one, two three—
morning ferry



山の墓燈籠ともして帰りけり

Lanterns lit,
he heads home—
mountain graves



潮風に赤らむ柿の漁村かな

Persimmons ripen
in the sea’s salt wind—
fishing village



[Tokyo, c. 1908]

炬燵ありと障子に書きし茶店哉

Tea shop paper door:
'foot-warmer inside'



Eric Hoffman is the author of several books of poetry, the most recent being Losses of Life (Spuyten Duyvil, 2018) and Presence of Life (Dos Madres, 2018). A revised and expanded edition of Oppen: A Narrative, his biography of George Oppen, was published by Spuyten Duyvil in 2018.

Ozaki Hōsai was the haigo (haikai pen name) of Ozaki Hideo (1885 - 1926), a Japanese poet of the late Meiji and Taishō periods of Japan and a practitioner of the modern free verse haiku movement.
 
 
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