Eric Hoffman


Translations of Haiku by Ozaki Hōsai


大空
from Taikū
(The Big Sky)
________________________________________

Further haiku from 1924-25 (Suma Temple, Hyōgo)

火ばしがそろはぬ儘の一冬なりけり
hiba shi ga soro wanu mama no ichi fuyunarikeri
 
Mismatched tongs—this will be a long winter
 
 
 
草履が片つ方つくられたばこにする
zōri ga katatsukata tsukura re tabako ni suru
 
One straw sandal made—cigarette rolled and smoked to celebrate its completion
 
 
 
島の女のはだしにはだしでよりそう
shima no on'na no hadashi ni hadashi de yorisō
 
Island woman—I move my bare foot closer to her bare foot
 
 
 
わが顔ぶらさげてあやまりにゆく
waga kao burasagete ayamari ni yuku
 
Head hung low—I walk despondently and regret everything
 
 

秋風のお堂で顔が一つ
akikaze no o-dō de kao ga hitotsu
 
Walking the halls filled with autumn wind, a solitary figure
 
 
 
菊の乱れは月が出てゐる夜中
kiku no midare wa tsuki ga dete wiru yonaka
 
Chrysanthemums strewn—midnight moon
 
 
 
黒眼鏡かけた女が石に休んで居るばかり
kuro megane kaketa on'na ga ishi ni yasunde iru bakari
 
A woman wearing dark glasses rests upon a stone, nothing more
 
 
 
釘に濡手拭かけて凍てる日である
kugi ni nure tenugui kakete iteru hidearu
 
Hot rag hung from a cold nail
 
 
 
お堂しめて居る雀がたんともどつてくる
o dō shimete iru suzume ga tan tomo dotsute kuru
 
I close the temple hall—hundreds of sparrows return
 
 
 
蟻が出ぬやうになつた蟻の穴
ari ga denu yōni natta ari no ana
 
Ant hole—nothing comes, nothing goes
 
 
 
降る雨庭に流をつくり侘び居る
furu ame niwa ni ryū o tsukuri wabi iru
 
Rainfall, garden stream—desolation
 
 
 
雑草花つける強い夕風
zassō hana tsukeru tsuyoi yufu
 
Flowers overtaken by weeds—strong evening wind
 
 

しぐれますと尼僧にあいさつされて居る
shigure masu to nisō ni aisatsu sarete iru
 
Late autumn rain—the nun will see me as I am

 

人殺しありし夜の水の流るるさま
hitogoroshi arishi yoru no mizu no nagareruru-sama
 
A murder tonight—and yet the water continues to flow
 
 
 
水たまりが光るひよろりと夕風
mizutamari ga hikaru hi yorori to yufu
 
Water puddle ripples—slight evening wind
 
 
 
針に糸を通しあへず青空を見る
hari ni ito o tōshiaezu aozora o miru
 
Stubborn needle cannot thread—I turn my gaze to the blue sky
 
 
 
軍馬たくさんつながれ裸の木ばかり
gunba takusan tsunaga re hadaka no ki bakari
 
The trees are bare, the army horses tethered
 
 
 
片目の人に見つめられて居た
katame no hito ni mitsume rarete ita
 
Stared at by a one-eyed man
 
 
 
冬帽かぶつてだまりこくつて居る
fuyubōshi kabutte damari kokutsute iru
 
I wear a winter hat—there’s nothing left to say
 
 

公園冬の小径いづこへともなくある
kōen fuyu no shōkei idzu ko e to mo naku aru
 
In winter this path goes nowhere
 


写真とつて歩く少し風ある風景
shashin to tsute aruku sukoshi kaze aru fūkei
 
Winter landscape—I take photographs and wander around
 
 
 
児をおぶつてお嫁さんの顔見に出る
ko o o butsute o yomesan no kaomi ni deru
 
Child on my back, I walk outside to greet the bride
 
 
 
葱がよく出来てとつぷり暮れた家ある
negi ga yoku dekite totsu puri kureta ie aru
 
Onions grow large and the house deepens its evening roots
 
 
 
病人がよく寝て居る柱時計を巻く
byōnin ga yoku nete iru hashiradokei o maku
 
The sick man sleeps—I wind the clock that hangs from the pillar
 
 
 
かへす傘又かりてかへる夕べの同じ道である
ja hesu kasa mata karite ka heru yūbe no onaji michidearu
 
Evening—I walk the same road with the same borrowed umbrella
 
 
 
赤ン坊のなきごゑがする小さい庭を掃いてる
akanbō no naki go wegasuru chīsai niwa o hai teru
 
Sweeping the small garden, I hear a baby’s cries
 
 

大松暮れてくるはだしを洗ふ頃となる
daimatsu kurete kuru hadashi o arai fu koro to naru
 
Evening, the tall pine darkens—my bare feet need washing
 
 
 
雀のあたたかさを握るはなしてやる
suzume no atatakasa o nigiru hanashite yaru
 
Sparrow held—feel its warmth, let it go
 
 
 
灰の中から針一つ拾ひ出し話す人もなく
hai no naka kara hari hitotsu Jitsu hi dashi hanasu hito mo naku
 
With no one to talk to—I retrieve a needle from the ashes
 
 
 
曇り日の落葉掃ききれぬ一人である
kumori-bi no rakuyō haki kirenu hitoridearu
 
I need help sweeping the dead leaves—cloudy, windy day
 
 
 
門をしめる大きな音さしてお寺が寝る
mon o shimeru ōkina oto sashite otera ga neru
 
Gate closes, creaks noisily—the temple goes to sleep
 
 
 
傘にばりばり雨音さして逢いに来た
kasa ni baribari amaoto sashite ai ni kita
 
I visit with my niece—let the umbrella resound with rain
 
 
 
あるものみな着てしまひ風邪ひいてゐる
aru mono mina kite shimahi kaze hīte wiru
 
I wear everything I own—yet still come down with a cold
 
 
 
事実という事話しあつてる柿がころがつてゐる
jijitsu to iu koto hanashi atteru kaki ga korogatte iru
 
Persimmons fall—we discuss what is
 
 
 
黒い帯しつかりしめて寒い夜居る
kuroi obi shi tsukari shimete samui yoru iru
 
Chilly evening—black sash tied tight
 
 
 
師走の夜のつめたい寝床が一つあるきり
shiwasu no yoru no tsumetai nedoko ga hitotsu aru kiri
 
December evening and only one cold bed
 
 
 
大雪となる兎の赤い眼玉である
taisetsu to naru usagi no akai manakodamadearu
 
In deep snowfall, a rabbit’s red eyes
 


榾火に見渡される調度である
hotabi ni miwatasa reru chōdodearu
 
Kindling assumes the shape of my furniture
 
 
 
焚えさしに雪少し降り明けて居る
e sashi ni yuki sukoshi ori akete iru
 
Snowfall on embers—morning
 
 
 
寒鮒をこごえた手で数へてくれた
samu funa o kogoeta te de sū ete kureta
 
Hands frozen, he counts my winter perch
 
 
 
柿の木を売つた銭を陽なたで勘定してる
kakinoki o-uritsuta zeni o yōna tade kanjō shi teru
 
The persimmon seller counts his profits
 
 
 
鞠がはずんで見えなくなつて暮れてしまつた
mari ga hazunde mienakunatte kurete shimatta
 
Nightfall—a ball bounces, then disappears
 


かたい梨子をかじつて議論してゐる
katai nashi o kaji tsute giron shite iru
 
Chewing on an unripened pear—argument
 
 
 
聞こえぬ耳をくつつけて年とつてる
kikoenu mimi o kutsu tsukete toshi to tsu teru
 
I grow old, imprisoned by silence
 
 
 
たくさんある児がめいめいの本をよんでる
takusan aru ko ga meimei no hon o yonderu
 
Large family—each of the children reads from a different book
 
 
 
草刈りに出る裏木戸あいたままある
kusakari ni deru ura kido aita mama aru

I mow the lawn—backyard gate left open    
 
 
 
吸取紙が字を吸ひとらぬやうになつた
suitorigami ga ji o suitoranu yōni natta
 
The ink blotter no longer absorbs my writings
 
 
 
漬物桶に塩ふれと母は産んだか
tsukemono oke ni shio fure to haha wa unda ka
 
‘Salt the pickle jars!’—for this I was born?
 
 
 
こんな処に玉子を産んでぬくとく拾ふ
konna tokoro ni tamago o unde nukutoku jū-fu
 
Egg laid, retrieved—feel its warmth in my palm
 
 
 
吹けばころがる玉子からの玉子
fuke ba korogaru tamago kara no tamago
 
Empty eggshell rolls away in one breath
 
 
 
渓深く入り来てあかるし
kei fukaku hairikite a karu shi
 
Climbed down into a deep ravine—birch tree brightens
 
 
 
笑へば泣くやうに見える顔よりほかなかつた
warai e ba naku yō ni mieru kao yori hoka naka tsuta
 
Is she laughing or crying? I cannot tell
 
 
 
池を干す水たまりとなれる寒月
ike o hosu mizutamari to nareru kangetsu
 
Pond drained, a puddle is all that remains—cold moon
 
 
 
がたぴし戸をあけておそい星空に出る
gatapishi to o akete osoi hoshizora ni deru
 
Open the noisy gate and go out among the silent, brilliant stars
 
 
 
馬が一疋走つて行つた日暮れる
uma ga ichi-hiki sō tsu te okonattahigureru

Dusk—a horse vanishes
 
 
 
池の氷の厚さを児等は知つてる
ike no kōri no atsu sa o kotō wa chitsu teru
 
Pond ice—only the children can guess its thickness
 
 
 
片つ方の耳にないしよ話しに来る
hentsu hō no mimi ni naishiyo hanashi ni kuru
 
She has come all this way just to whisper a secret in his ear
 
 
 
葬式のきものぬぐばたばたと日がくれる
sōshiki no kimononu bi ga kureru
 
The day darkens—I hurry to remove my funeral clothes
 
 
 
汀にたまる霰見て温泉に入る
nagisa ni tamaru arare mite onsen ni hairu
 
Entering the hot springs, hail accumulates at the water’s edge
 
 
 
夜中の襖遠くしめられたる
yonaka no fusuma tōku shimeraretaru
 
Midnight—in the distance the shōjis close
 
 
 
女に捨てられたうす雪の夜の街燈
onna ni suterareta usu yuki no yoru no machi
 
Light snow on street lamps—a woman has abandoned me
 
 
 
なんにもたべるものがない冬の茶店の客となる
nannimo taberu mono ga nai fuyu no chamise no kyaku to naru
 
Winter tea shop guest, nothing left to eat
 
 
 
波へ乳の辺まではいつて女よ
nami e chichi no atari made hai tsute onnayo
 
The waves lap against her heavy breasts
 

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.

Eric Hoffman is the author of several collections of poetry, most recently This Thin Mean: New Selected Poems (Spuyten Duyvil, 2020) and the editor of Conversations with John Berryman (University Press of Mississippi, 2021).

 
 

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