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Yoshida Kenko - Tsurezuregusa
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searching for a path
finding my way through fragments,
flotsam of life, lives
connecting small to all
writing is a key to me
easy to unsee landscapes
easy to drift, as we all do
but you return,
you learn more patience
as a quality
not unlike an unremarked light
not extolled luminous moons
but the light
you are in danger of losing
that illuminated ordinary
untold you
vanishing into the blue
I had no idea it would be like this
______________________________
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Ton'a 頓阿, 1289–1372 (Admired Saigyō)
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ne ni tatete
nageku wa nani zo
utsusemi no
munashiki yo to wa
shiranu mono ka wa
|
Just what can it be
that makes them cry so loudly?
But, ah, of course: cicadas would know
how empty is this world
of the cicada shell.[2]
|
naku semi no
koe mo hitotsu ni
hibikite
matsu kage suzushi
yama no takitsuse
|
Crying cicadas
are in one voice with the sound
that reverberates
– cool, in the shade of the pines –
from a mountain cascade.[1]
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| Saigyō |
心無き
身にも哀れは
知られけり
鴫立つ沢の
秋の夕暮れ
- Saigyō's journeys were an inspiration for the court lady Lady Nijō, who records in her Towazugatari
that she dreamed of writing a similar travel book after reading
Saigyō's work at age 8. Nijō later followed in Saigyō's footsteps when
she became a Buddhist nun, visiting many of the places he recorded.[5]
- Bashō subsequently looked back to Saigyō for artistic inspiration.[6]
For example, quoting Saigyō's poem on the pine tree at Shiogoshi, he
wrote "Should anyone dare to write another poem on this pine tree, it
would be like trying to add a sixth finger to his hand".[7]
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Kokoro naki
Mi ni mo aware wa
Shirarekeri
Shigi tatsu sawa no
Aki no yūgure
|
Even a person
free of passion
would be moved to sadness:
autumn evening in a marsh
where snipes fly up.[3]
吉野山
こぞのしをりの
道かへて
まだ見ぬかたの
花をたづねむ
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Yoshino-yama
Kozo no shiori no
Michi kaete
Mada minu kata no
Hana wo tazunen
|
I'll forget the trail I marked out
on Mount Yoshino last year,
go searching for blossoms
in directions
I've never been before.[ |
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