Thursday 18 September 2008

Haiku of Richard Wright(64)


(photo) a well-brought-up cat

The cat's shining eyes
Are remarkably blue
Beside the jonquils.


猫の光る眼は
びっくりするほど青い
黄水仙のかたはら



(放哉)
どろぼう猫の眼と睨みあつてる自分であつた
the eyes of
the thief-cat
I glared at each other.

■Wright's expressions " remarkably blue" and " beside the jonquils"
are impressive to me. There is contrast between blue and yellow. In Hohsai's haiku Hohsai himself comes. It's humorous.

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Haiku of Richard Wright(63)


(photo) confederate rose

Dewdrop joins dewdrop
Till a petal holds a pool
Reflecting its rose.


露に露がうち重なって
花びらに水玉
その薔薇が映るまで


(放哉)
便所の落書が秋となり居る
The graffiti on the wall
Of the toilet
Going into autumn.

■Wright's haiku is beautiful. Everybody has seen this scene somewhere, and could easily image this pond on a petal. However can it reflect its rose? What was reflected might be the colour of it, not its shape. On the other hand, Hohsai felt an autumn flavor in the graffiti on the wall of his toilet. This graffiti has something different from yesterday's owing to the changing sunlight and atmosphere. Once I read it, I was deeply impressed.

Haiku of Richard Wright(62)


(photo) her mobile phone

Naked to the sky,
A village without a name
In the setting sun.


空はお見とおし
名もない村が
落日の中


(放哉)
夕日の中へ力いつぱい馬を追ひかける
I chase a horse
As fast as I can
In the setting sun.

■What attracted me most to the Wright's haiku is the phrase" Naked to the sky." The sky knows everything happening in the village during the day. The village is soon in the setting sun. And in it you chase a horse as fast as you can. "as fast as I can" is beautiful.