Sunday, December 19, 2010


new snow
on the old one ...
the sky's breath



One of my favorite lines in Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:
Poem Nr 15 L5: yuki wa furitsutsutsu. The whole waka (=tanka):

As I gather herbs
From this field in early spring,
Intending them for you,
The falling snow starts to gather
On the sleeve of my outstretched arm.

-- Emperor Kōkō

Also Ogura Poem Nr 4:
Yamabe no Akahito's waka in 'Turku-area-language'

In English:

As I venture out
Onto the shore at Tago Bay,
I see snow, pure white,
Falling now ever deeper
On Mount Fuji's lofty peak.

-- Yamabe no Akahito

English translations' copyright by

http://www.jlit.net/authors_works/premodern/hyakunin_isshu/poems_01-05.html#top

2 comments:

Henrique Pimenta said...

a neve é um grito silencioso

Anonymous said...

I love your ku, dear Tikkis.
And I want show you as a winter present a famous ku of our great German haiku poet Hubertus Thum:

first snowflakes
the weight of the sky
on my hands

Let's enjoy whiteness and lightness - winter must not be dark.

Best wishes
Rudi