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- ume ga ka 梅が香 plum fragrance -
. WKD : Fragrant plum blossoms (ume ga ka) .
ume, sometimes spelled mume むめ, as it was called in the Heian period.
Basho makes use of both spellings.
Prunus mume, a kind of apricot tree.
under construction
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Plum Blossom Scent (Ume Ga Ka, 1694) - A Haikai Sequence
tarns. by Haruo Shirane
In the plum blossom scent
the sun pops up --
a mountain path
Basho
Here there pheasants
crying as they fly away
Yaba
Beginning
house repairs in
spring's slow season
Yaba
From the city: news
of a rise in the price of rice
Basho
- - - Discussion of this sequence
In the early spring of 1694, Basho composed with Yaba in Edo a haikai sequence, "Plum Blossom Scent," ("Ume ga Ka"), and later died in the early winter of the same year. As one of his last sequences, "Plum Blossom Scent" demonstrates his "karumi" style ("lightness") developed in his last years, one that "stressed everyday common life, contemporary language and rhythm, and avoided heavy conceptualization or allusions to the past" (Shirane, p. 201).
source : neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.jp
. Shida Yaba 志太野坡 . (1662 - 1740)
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quote David Coomler
including a “formal” translation of the original;
and a rewritten “American” version.
梅が香に昔の一字あはれなり
ume ga ka ni mukashi no ichiji aware nari
In the scent of ume,
The single character “past”
is sad.
At the scent of plum blossoms,
The single word “past” –
How sad!
Tr. David Coomler
The point of the verse is the writer’s smelling the scent of plums while looking at (or writing) the single Chinese character read in Japanese as mukashi — “the past.” The combination fills him with a sad, nostalgic feeling (aware, pronounced ah-wah-ray) because he knows that all things are impermanent and nothing lasts, least of all the fragrance of the early spring blossoms.
The verse was written as an “occasion” verse for Bashō’s student Baigan, on the anniversary of the death of the student’s son, which had happened a year earlier. We can see how indirectly hokku deals with such matters.
梅が香に追ひもどさるる寒さかな
ume ga ka ni oimodosaruru samusa kana
At the scent of ume
The routed has returned –
The cold!
In the scent of plum,
What left has returned –
The cold!
Not a good hokku. The rather minimal point is that spring has warmed enough to bring out the fragrant ume blossoms, but at the time the writer is smelling the fragrance, a cold spell has occurred. So the cold he thought had been routed by the warmth of spring has returned. It shows how changeable early spring weather is.
梅が香やしらら落窪京太郎
Ume ga ka ya Shirara Ochikubo Kyōtarō
The scent of plum blossoms;
Shirara, Ochikubo,
Kyōtarō ...
It is little more than an allusion to a line from a Japanese book called the Jōruri-hime Monogatari, in which the question is asked which books a certain Lady Jōruri read, whether that titled Shirara, or Ochikubo, or Kyōtarō, etc. The reader is supposed to be reminded of a pretty, elegant young woman reading a book of stories as spring begins. Of course this kind of verse does not survive time and travel to a different culture, and it depends entirely on the reader knowing the literary allusion Bashō is making.
I have included it here only to show how unlike modern hokku some of Bashō’s verses were, and how “literary” in contrast to what we consider the best hokku. For the western student of modern hokku, which deliberately avoids dependance on such literary allusions, these old ”see how well-read I am” verses are quite useless other than as examples of what not to do.
source : David Coomler - Hokku
. Joruri-Hime 浄瑠璃姫 and Ushiwakamaru / Yoshitsune .
jooruji gozen 浄瑠璃御前 Lady Joruri - 浄瑠璃姫 Princess Joruri
- - - - -
ume ga ka ni mukashi no ichiji aware nari
in the plum's fragrance
the single term "the past"
holds such pathos
Tr. Barnhill
- - - - -
written on the 13th day of the second lunar month, 1694
元禄7年2月13日
His disciple Baigan 梅丸, 水谷久右衛門 of Ogaki, Mino, had lost his son and Basho sent this hokku of condolence.
This hokku makes reference to a waka of Heian period
月やあらぬ春やむかしの春ならぬ
我が身ひとつはもとの身にして
tsuki ya aranu haru ya mukashi no haru naranu
waga mi hitotsu wa moto no mi ni shite
Is this not the same moon?
Is this not
The spring of old?
Only this body of mine
Is the original body.
source : Tr. Marra
Ariwara no Narihira.
MORE - Hokku about AWARE by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .
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梅が香にのつと日の出る山路哉
. ume ga ka ni notto hi no deru yamaji kana .
(spring) fragrance of plum blossoms. mountain road
- see the sequence above -
Read more translations. - The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.
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梅が香や見ぬ世の人に御意を得る
ume ga ka ya / minu yo no hito ni / gyoi o uru
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梅が香やしらら落窪京太郎
ume ga ka ya Shirara Ochikubo Kyootaroo
(see above)
fragrant plum blossoms -
Shirara, Ochikubo
Kyotaro
Tr. Gabi Greve
written in the first lunar month of 1691 元禄4年1月
When smelling the fragrant plum blossoms, it is a time to remember "the good old times" of the Heian period poetry and monogatari stories.
The three names Basho mentions, Shirara, Ochikubo and Kyotaro, were well known to the educated haikai poets of his time.
Now only the Ochikubo story is still well known.
This is a hokku without a verb. It is a good example for the statement:
Basho's hokku have been called a "poetry of nouns".
Barnhill
. "Haiku is the poetry of nouns." .
Ochikubo Monogatari (落窪物語), also known as The Tale of Ochikubo, is a story from the Heian period which is similar to the famous fairy tale Cinderella.
Ochikubo Monogatari was written during the later part of the 10th century by an unknown author. It is known as the oldest remaining tale in Japanese literature to include harassment and bullying from a stepmother. Ochikubo Monogatari's well-formed plot and vivid description of characters influenced many writers such as Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji. The lively dialogues are also of particular quality.
After suffering from relentless harassment from her stepmother, Princess Ochikubo meets a man named Michiyori who is a general. The two marry and Princess Ochikubo lives very happily with him. Michiyori starts to take revenge on Princess Ochikubo's family, setting up a series of humiliating events.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !
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香を探る梅に蔵見る軒端哉
. ka o saguru ume ni kura miru nokiba kana .
searching for the plum fragrance
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Other hokku beginning with UME
梅恋ひて卯の花拝む涙哉
. ume koite u no hana ogamu namida kana .
(summer) deutzia blossoms. I long for. I bow to plum blossoms. I shed tears.
On the death of high priest Daiten 大顛和尚
梅の木になほ宿り木や梅の花
ume no ki ni / nao yadorigi ya / ume no hana
梅白し昨日や鶴を盗まれし
ume shiroshi / kinō ya tsuru o / nusumareshi
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梅椿早咲き褒めん保美の里
ume tsubaki haya-zaki homen Hobi no sato
plum and camellia:
praise to their early bloom
here in Hobi village
Tr. Barnhill
Written in 貞亨4年11月, Basho age 44
Hobi is a famous place in Aichi prefecture at the Atsumi peninsula 渥美半島, the tip of it is Iragozaki 伊良湖岬.
The famous In no Mikado emperor 院の帝 had once stayed here and enjoyed the plum blossoms.
Nozarashi Kiko.
. - Tsuboi Tokoku 坪井杜国 - .
In 1684 he became a disciple of Basho, but in the following year he was banned from Nagoya (because of some fraud) and moved to the village Hobi 保美村 at the Hobi peninsula in Aichi.
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梅若菜丸子の宿のとろろ汁
. ume wakana Mariko no yado no tororo jiru .
(autumn) yam soup. plum and young greens. postal station of Mariko
梅柳さぞ若衆かな女かな
ume yanagi / sazo wakashu kana / onna kana
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. WKD : Fragrant plum blossoms (ume ga ka) .
Fragrance hokku by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .
. KIGO used by Basho .
. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .
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