south-facing back door—
three directions
for my New Year's walk

うらの戸や北より三が明の方
ura no to ya kita yori san ga aki no hô

There is a New Year's custom of visiting a shrine or temple located in a lucky direction. Issa starts out “from the north” (unlucky direction).

the migrating servant
sees it far ahead...
Mount Mikasa

出代のふりさけ見たる三笠山
degawari no furisake mitaru mikasa yama

His home? In springtime, old servants were replaced by young ones. The old ones would leave their employers to return to their home villages.

praiseworthy!
how he beats his gourd
so well

殊勝さや同じ瓢のたたき様
shushôsa ya onaji fukube no tataki-sama

In winter Pure Land Buddhist priests went on nightly pilgrimages, begging for food along the way by banging on their bowls (in this case, a gourd).

tongue-tied
the crow flies along...
autumn rain

口重の烏飛也秋の雨
kuchiomo no karasu tobu nari aki no ame

Normally crows are talkative, but the cold autumn rain has made this one “slow of speech” (secondary meaning: “prudent”).

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

even in Yoshiwara
through a one-ply wall…
evening plovers

吉原も壁一重也さよちどり
yoshiwara mo kabe hitoe nari sayo chidori

I assume that Issa is hearing the noisy winter birds through the thin wall. Yoshiwara was the licensed brothel district near Edo (today's Tokyo).

even the katydid
next door…
an earful

きりぎりす隣に居ても聞へけり
kirigirisu tonari ni itte mo kikoe keri

A katydid (kirigirisu) is a shrill-calling cousin of crickets and grasshoppers.

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

crescent moon--
are you as sick as I am
of this world's snow?

五日月此世の雪も見倦てか
itsuka tsuki kono yo no yuki mo mi aite ka

The fifth-day moon is a slender crescent, five days after the new moon phase.

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

'Marvelous Law' written in fire—
the period
a crow

妙法の火に点をうつ烏哉
myôhô no hi ni ten wo utsu karasu kana

On the 16th day of Seventh Month (old calendar), the words 'Marvelous Law' (myôhô) were spelled in fire on a mountainside near Kyoto. A crow provides punctuation.

I liked it better
the way it was before…
bare winter plum

今見れば皆欲目也枯た梅
ima mireba mina yokume nari kareta ume

Headnote: 'After a long illness not yet a perfect Buddha.' Issa suggests that he hasn’t died or fully accepted transience; he misses the blossoms.

even the kite
of the war lord...
bad-mouthed

大名の凧も悪口言れけり
daimyô no tako mo warukuchi iware keri

Issa reflects the popular antagonism toward an often cruel and authoritarian elite. Even the New Year's kite of a provincial lord (daimyo) evokes grumbles.

cool breeze--
he yawns in the healing
hot spring

涼風に欠序の湯治哉
suzukaze ni akubi tsuide no tôji kana

A luxurious moment. This haiku has the headnote, “In the middle of a rice field”—an unusual place for a hot spring!

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

potted pine--
you too must follow
your karma

鉢の松是も因果の一つ哉
hachi no matsu kore mo inga no hitotsu kana

This haiku appears in Issa's journal a bit after a verse about an old pine waiting to realize its karma in the next life.

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

eyes glaring
just like Dharma…
winter futon

まじまじと達磨もどきのふとん哉
maji-maji to daruma modoki no futon kana

Bodhidharma (with famously glaring eyes) brought Buddhism from India to China. Wrapped in his futon, is the subject of the haiku angry about the cold weather?

summer cloudburst—
just a pitter
patter

夕立は是切とぱらりぱらり哉
yûdachi wa koregiri to parari parari kana

The rainstorm isn’t very impressive.

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

the cloudburst
now just a pitter
patter

夕立は是切とぱらりぱらり哉
yûdachi wa koregiri to parari parari kana

The burst of summer rain has dwindled to a 'pitter-patter' (parari parari).

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

the firefly vendor’s
fireflies’ night flight…
to freedom

蛍屋が蛍夜逃げをしたりけり
hotaru ya ga hotaru yonige wo shitari keri

A jailbreak that, we can assume, compassionate Issa approves of.

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

you too owl
offer up your haiku...
winter rain

梟も一句侍れ此時雨
fukurô mo ikku hanbere kono shigure

Bashô’s Death Day is 10th Month, 12th day—winter rain being a season word associated with him. On this day, poets make haiku in Bashô’s honor—including, Issa jokes, an owl.

messing up
smooth-raked salt...
the plovers

汐浜を反故にして飛ぶ千鳥かな
shiohama wo hogo ni shite tobu chidori kana

Makoto Ueda believes that shiohama refers to a “neatly raked salt farm.” The rambunctious birds are ruining (or are they improving on?) human perfection.

night storm--
blowing in my window
the cry of a deer

夜あらしや窓に吹込鹿の声
yoarashi ya mado ni fukikomu shika no koe

Issa’s compassion for the deer outside in the dark storm is unstated but somehow palpable.

haikuguy.com/issa/new.html

the solar eclipse
in a washtub...
summer heat

日蝕の盥にりんと暑哉
nisshoku no tarai ni rin to atsusa kana

Not having eye-protecting glasses in his time, Issa watches the eclipse reflected in water—which unfortunately can still damage the eyes.

 haikuguy.com/issa/new.html