A motionless horse,
at peace in the field,
in the quietly falling snow.
Published by
Issa (1762 - 1826)
Kobayashi Issa (1762-1826) became a major haikai poet despite an impoverished childhood and early years in which he was practically homeless. He is well loved for the empathy with small creatures expressed in many of his poems.
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6 thoughts on “”
Who is this guy? He won’t make it! This is one of the absolute classics I love. Suspect it may have
been stretched a little in translation to achieve
english version syllable count.You just know this is first hand observation.
Interestingly, this translation has 18 syllables (5-5-8). I haven’t read other translations but it would be pretty instructive to compare them, I expect. The illustration accompanying this haiku in the book is beautiful, too.
grey hen
on the alert –
inquisitive chicks
—
nature’s wonderment:
still chicks
in the underbrush
—
watching
hen in search of tidbits —
cross the road
—
scratching sound
cream hen, brood …
closer
Who is this guy? He won’t make it! This is one of the absolute classics I love. Suspect it may have
been stretched a little in translation to achieve
english version syllable count.You just know this is first hand observation.
Interestingly, this translation has 18 syllables (5-5-8). I haven’t read other translations but it would be pretty instructive to compare them, I expect. The illustration accompanying this haiku in the book is beautiful, too.
grey hen
on the alert –
inquisitive chicks
—
nature’s wonderment:
still chicks
in the underbrush
—
watching
hen in search of tidbits —
cross the road
—
scratching sound
cream hen, brood …
closer
the horse munching grass
so still as if it is posing
for an artist
motionless leaves —
at peace in bed
in the night’s silence
–
falling snow
the stillness in the horse