. Edo - Senju 千住 Senju district .
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- Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - おくのほそ道
The Narrow Road to the Deep North -
. Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - Introduction .
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source : www.yumekougei.com
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- - - Station 2 - Departure 旅立 at Senju 千住 - - -
It was early on the morning of March the twenty-seventh that I took to the road. There was darkness lingering in the sky, and the moon was still visible, though gradually thinning away. The faint shadow of Mount Fuji and the cherry blossoms of Ueno and Yanaka were bidding me a last farewell. My friends had got together the night before, and they all came with me on the boat to keep me company for the first few miles. When we got off the boat at Senju, however, the thought of three thousand miles before me suddenly filled my heart, and neither the houses of the town nor the faces of my friends could be seen by my tearful eyes except as a vision.
The passing spring
Birds mourn,
Fishes weep
With tearful eyes.
With this poem to commemorate my departure, I walked forth on my journey, but lingering thoughts made my steps heavy. My friends stood in a line and waved good-bye as long as they could see my back.
Tr. by Nobuyuki Yuasa
source : terebess.hu/english
弥生も末の七日、明ぼのゝ空朧々として、月は在明にて光おさまれる物から不二の峯幽にみえて、上野谷中の花の梢又いつかはと心ぼそし。 むつまじきかぎりは宵よりつどひて舟に乗て送る。千じゆと云所にて船をあがれば、前途三千里のおもひ胸にふさがりて幻のちまたに離別の泪をそゝく。
行春や鳥啼魚の目は泪 - yuku haru ya
是を矢立の初として、行道なをすゝまず。人々は途中に立ならびて、後かげのみゆる迄はと見送なるべし。
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tears in the eyes of fish, maybe the most misunderstood line . . .
Sugiyama Sanpu was an official fish merchant of the Bakufu government in Edo. He was also an ardent haikai poet and supported Matsuo Basho in many ways, helping him to establish his Basho school of haikai.
He was one of the Basho jittetsu 芭蕉十哲 10 most important followers.
When starting out to the long and dangerous trip of "Oku no Hosomichi", Basho wrote this famous haiku in his honor :
行く春や鳥啼き魚の目は泪
yuku haru ya tori naki uo no me wa namida
spring is leaving ..
birds sing
tears in the eyes of (my friend called) Fish
Tr. Gabi Greve
yuku haru - Basho himself is leaving in spring.
tori ga naku is a normal expression for the birds singing. It is written with the beautiful Chinese character 啼 , and not with the normal character for "to cry" , naku 泣く weeping when humans are sad.
This bird of spring is the hototogisu with his gentle warbling.
uo no me : the eye of fish - And what kind of fish is this?
Maybe the sawara 鰆, Spanish mackerel, which has the character for SPRING 春 in its name?
Or shirauo, 白魚 the white fish, which is a delicacy of this region and was a favorite dish of Basho himself.
uo no me 魚の目, the "eye of a fish" is also an expression for a corn on the sole of the foot. Basho is maybe thinking about the long journey ahead and the many corns he has to tend to on the way.
In fact, fish is haiku shorthand、a kind of kakekotoba, for his friend, the fish dealer.
The sponsor of Basho in Edo
. Sugiyama Sanpu, the crying Fishmonger .
This famous hokku even made it to a stamp.
departing spring—
birds cry, in the fishes’
eyes are tears
Tr. Barnhill
the spring is passing -
the birds all mourn and fishes'
eyes are wet with tears
Tr. Chalicott
departing spring
the birds at their cries fishes'
eyes Amida tears
Tr. Corman/Kamaike
departing spring -
birds weep, and fishes' eyes
are tearful
Tr. Ueda
A primavera acabou
os pássaros cantam e os olhos dos peixes
estão cheios de lágrimas
- Tr. Jose Queiroga, fb -
Painting by Buson : Basho and Sora
Basho is also alluding to Chinese poems:
Tu Fu "Spring View"
In grief for the times, I shed tears at the sight of flowers.
Resentful of parting, I brood over the cries of birds.
Tao Chien "Returning to Live in the Country"
A migrant bird longs for its native woods.
A fish in the pond recalls the mountain pond it came from.
Bashō and his interpreters, Makoto Ueda, Bashō Matsuo
Discussion with Chen-ou Liu about the "Chinese background"
and further translations :
. Translating Haiku Forum .
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YATATE
是を矢立の初として、行道なをすゝまず。
This was the first time I used my travel writing implements,
and I was still reluctant to venture farther.
Tr. Hiroaki Sato
Basho uses his YATATE writing utensils for the first time
in Senjuu 千住 Senju.
There is now a memorial stone of this event at the modern bridge of Senju.
. yatate 矢立 portable writing utensils .
Basho and his traveler's outfit.
With a statue of Basho using his YATATE.
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source : itoyo/basho
鮎の子の白魚送る別れ哉
ayu no ko no shirauo okuru wakare kana
young ayu sweetfish
are seeing off the whitefish
and say good bye . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve
Written in 1689 元禄2年3月.
The whitefish are the first to go upstream to spawn, the ayu follow them one month later.
Basho and Sora (whitefish) are ready to depart for "Oku no Hosomichi"
and he has to leave his young disciples (ayu no ko) behind at Senju.
This hokku has the cut marker KANA at the end of line 3.
. WKD - trout (ayu and masu 鮎 - 鱒) .
. WKD - whitebait, icefish (shirauo 白魚) .
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LINKS
Oku no hosomichi (opening) - - -with Notes by Royall Tyler
source : www.meijigakuin.ac.jp
More online translations
- - - birds are weeping
of fish there are tears
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. - wakare 別れ Basho parting with friends - .
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. Oku no Hosomichi - 奥の細道 - Introduction .
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