1819
.苦の娑婆や桜が咲ば咲いたとて
ku no shaba ya sakura ga sakeba saita tote
world of pain--
and the cherry blossoms
add to it!
Shinji Ogawa has helped to untangle the syntax of Issa's original. Ku no shaba ya: "painful (or afflicting) world..."; sakura ga sakeba: "if cherry blossoms bloom"; saita tote: "because of the blooming." He paraphrases: "painful world.../ if cherry blossoms bloom/ because of the blooming (the blooming adds another pain)."
He comments, "We Japanese smile at Issa's twist to associate the blooming of cherry blossoms with pain." Michael Hebert writes, "One wonders how the cherry blossoms add to theain ... is it because he is alone while viewing them? Is it because their own fragility and impermanence reflect his own such state?"
Compare this to another of Issa's haiku of 1819:
ku no saba ya hana ga hirakeba hiraku tote
world of pain--
and blossoms blooming
add to it!