Mourning for Hokujurosen
By Yosa Buson (1716-1783)
Translation and commentary by Ken Blacklock
you left in the morning, in the evening my heart is in a thousand pieces
how far away!
thinking of you, I wander the hillside
the hillside—how sad it is!
dandelions blooming yellow, shepherd’s purse white
no one to see this
is that a pheasant crying over and over:
"I had a friend who lived across the river
mysterious smoke suddenly scatters, the wind blowing from the west
furiously, in a field of bamboo grass and reeds
no place to hide
I had a friend who lived across the river, but today
no melodies are sung"
you left in the morning, in the evening my heart is in a thousand pieces
how far away!
in my hut, I light no candles for the Amida image
I offer no flowers, lingering this evening with a heavy heart
you are venerable
Commentary
"Mourning for Hokujurosen" is a free style poem (haishi) that was found among painter and haikai poet Yosa Buson’s papers and published posthumously. "Hokujurosen" refers to Hayami Shinga (1671-1745), a haikai poet Buson frequently visited while living in Edo.
Buson expresses the unbridgeable gap between life and death with the exclamation, "how far away!" Disheartened by the loss of his friend and mentor, he cries out "why?" as he wanders the hillside. He observes the colors of life renewing itself, a subject for haiku or a painting, but now there is "no one to see this." Perhaps he feels that he cannot easily express the emptiness contained in this why.
As if in response to his query, he hears a pheasant crying pitifully and imagines that it is relating its own story. The pheasant also had a friend "who lived across the river." Even in life there is separation. "Mysterious smoke suddenly scatters." This line is the subject of much debate among Japanese scholars. What is this smoke and where did it come from? The meaning of the word hege, translated here as "mysterious," is unclear. This smoke, which may have come from a gunshot fired by a hunter, is linked with death. It suddenly rises then disperses in the wind. The field remains. There is "no place to hide" from the hunter.
The wind blowing "furiously" over "a field of bamboo grass and reeds" contrasts with the quiet of the dandelions and shepherd’s purse in bloom. Beautiful yet harsh. Thus Buson paints life. Another great haikai poet, Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), wrote in his diary as he lay dying from tuberculosis, "I feel the pain and see the beauty."
Why doesn’t the poet light a candle before the Amida image in his hut? Buson was a follower of the Jodo (Pure Land) sect of Buddhism. This sect teaches that those who faithfully call on Amida Buddha will be reborn in Amida’s western paradise and subsequently reach nirvana. Perhaps not making an offering to the Amida image represents a suspension of the poet’s ordinary routine. The image of flowers left on the hillside and not brought into the hut is particularly striking. It is as if the poet is trying to suspend time while the memory of his mentor is still fresh He also seems to have, at least for the moment, shifted his veneration from Amida Buddha to Hayami Shinga. Venerating a haikai poet may not lead to rebirth in paradise, but it could lead to a deeper understanding of life.
Ken Blacklock
Oita City, Japan
May 1999Japanese Sources
Muramatsu, Tomotsugu. Buson no Tegami. Tokyo: Taishukan Shoten, 1990.
Nakamura, Kusatao. Buson-shu. Tokyo: Taishukan Shoten, 1980.
Buson in English
Hass, Robert. The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, & Issa. Hopewell, New Jersey: The Ecco Press, 1994.
Sato, Hiroaki and Watson, Burton. From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986.
Sawa, Yuki and Shiffert, Edith. Haiku Master Buson. Union City, California: Heian International, Inc., 1978.
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