25 haiku out of 9486
1810
.はつ雪や仏の方より湧清水
hatsu yuki ya hotoke no hô yori waku shimizu
first snowfall--
from Buddha's direction
pure water gushes
1813
.有明や雪で作るも如来様
ariake ya yuki de tsukuru mo nyorai-sama
dawn--
with snow I make
Lord Buddha
Or: "he makes" or "she makes." This haiku refers to the making of a snow Buddha.
1813
.うす雪の仏を作る子ども哉
usu yuki no hotoke wo tsukuru kodomo kana
he rolls thin snow
into a Buddha...
the child
1813
.御ひざに雀鳴也雪仏
on-hiza ni suzume naku nari yuki-botoke
a sparrow chirping
in his lap...
snow Buddha
The image is realistic and yet resonant with symbolism. The sparrow, though unaware, is spiritually safe in the lap of Buddha. Thanks to Amida Buddha's compassion, according to the Jôdoshinshû sect to which Issa belonged, even a sparrow has the opportunity, in a future lifetime, to be reborn in the Pure Land and attain enlightenment. The sparrow is, of course, unconscious of the symbolism of being where it has landed, but Issa sees and, through the poem, makes us see too. Every chirp is a prayer.
This haiku is one of the "essential" 188 picked by the translator. back next
1813
.とるとしもあなた任せぞ雪仏
torutoshi mo anata makase zo yuki-botoke
growing old too
I trust in a Buddha
of snow
The phrase anata makase zo ("trust in the Beyond!") refers specifically to trusting in the saving power of Amida Buddha.
Shinji Ogawa paraphrases, "On my growing old too (like anything else) I trust in you... Snow Buddha." He comments, "Issa's object of prayer is the Snow Buddha which is nothing but a snowman made by some kids."
1813
.はづかしや子どもも作る雪仏
hazukashi ya kodomo mo tsukuru yuki-botoke
ashamed--
even a child has made
a snow Buddha
Evidently, "lazy" Issa hasn't made a snow Buddha--outdone by a child who has shown more energy and piety.
1813
.はつ雪や仏にするもむづかしき
hatsu yuki ya hotoke ni suru mo muzukashiki
first snow--
making a Buddha of you
is hard too
The "too" (mo) seems to be a humorous, self-mocking reference. The first snow isn't the right consistency to make a decent Buddha. Issa's own road to enlightenment, he suggests, is just as hard.
1813
.雪仏犬の子どもが御好げな
yuki-botoke inu no kodomo ga o-sukigena
the snow Buddha
likes the puppy
it seems
Or: "likes the puppies." The ending, gena, is the equivalent of rashii or yôda in modern Japanese; it denotes a presumption or estimation. Here, I try to express this idea with the phrase, "it seems." See Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 567.
Shinji Ogawa notes that o-sukigena is an honorific expression, which means the snow Buddha is the subject of the action, not (as I first thought) the puppy or puppies. He paraphrases, "snow Buddha seems to like puppies."
1813
.我門にとしとり給へ雪仏
waga kado ni toshitori tamae yuki-botoke
he deigns to grow old
at my gate...
snow Buddha
1813
.わんぱくが仕業ながらも雪仏
wanpaku ga shiwaza nagara mo yuki-botoke
naughty child--
instead of his chores
a snow Buddha
Issa calls the child "naughty," but this is really disguised praise. Though the child was supposed to be doing useful "work" (shiwaza), he playfully made a snow Buddha. In the eyes of the practical world (and perhaps, in the eyes of a stern father), building a Buddha of snow was a waste of time. In Issa's eyes, perhaps, the child has performed an act of spontaneous piety far more important than whatever mundane chores he was expected to do.
1814
.一握り雪持って居る仏かな
hito nigiri yuki motte iru hotoke kana
he's holding one
snowball...
the Buddha
This is most likely a stone Buddha, perhaps at a roadside.
1814
.我国や子どもも作る雪仏
waga kuni ya kodomo mo tsukuru yuki-botoke
my province--
the children also make
snow Buddhas
Issa's home province is Shinano, present-day Nagano prefecture. In this haiku he seems proud of his pious land; even the children make snow Buddhas.
1815
.はいかいを守らせ給へ雪仏
haikai wo mamorase tamae yuki-botoke
guard the haiku
I beseech you!
snow Buddha
1815
.はつ雪をおっつくねても仏哉
hatsu yuki wo o[t]tsukunete mo hotoke kana
first snow--
even a lump of it
is Buddha
The first snow has been lumped together to make a snow Buddha.
Shinji Ogawa notes that ottukuneru is o + tsukuneru ("to knead") where ("o is a prefix to intensify the meaning in colloquialisms."
1815
.雪仏我手の跡もなつかしや
yuki-botoke waga te no ato mo natsukashi ya
snow Buddha--
my handprint too
is something to cherish
Issa's last word, natsukashi, has no exact English equivalent. It connotes the feeling of something dear or fondly remembered--a sort of sweet nostalgia.
1815
.寄合って雀がはやす雪仏
yo[ri]atte suzume ga hayasu yuki-botoke
sparrows gather
and cheer...
my snow Buddha
Issa doesn't say outright that he made the snow Buddha, but this might be inferred.
1815
.はつ降りや雪も仏に成にけり
hatsu furi ya yuki mo hotoke ni nari ni keri
first snowfall--
it too
becomes Buddha
This haiku refers to the making of a snow Buddha.
1816
.初ものや雪も仏につくらるる
hatsumono ya yuki mo hotoke ni tsukuraruru
first of the season--
the snow, too
made into Buddha
This haiku refers to the making of a snow Buddha.
1816
.我門は雪で作るも小仏ぞ
waga kado wa yuki de tsukuru mo ko-botoke zo
at my gate too
made of snow...
little Buddha
Sakuo Nakamura perceives two possible images in this haiku: (1) "At Issa's gate, someone has made a little Buddha with snow"; or (2) "The snow of last night has covered his little gate, and the gate seems as if it is made from snow, resembling a little Buddha."
1816
.我とてもおがむ気になる雪仏
ware totemo ogamu ki ni naru yuki-botoke
putting me into
a praying mood...
snow Buddha
In his diary (Shichiban nikki) after ware Issa writes shite mo; the editors of Issa's collected works believe that he meant to write totemo. See Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 1.695.
1817
.三介が開眼したり雪仏
sansuke ga kaigen shitari yuki-botoke
the servant displays
a holy image...
snow Buddha
In Issa's time sansuke was a manservant or an attendant in a bathhouse. The humble worker achieves priestly status in the moment, displaying his snow Buddha for all passing "pilgrims" to see.
1820
.かりそめの雪も仏となりにけり
karisome no yuki mo hotoke to nari ni keri
even our fleeting snow
becomes
Buddha!
A haiku about a snow Buddha.
1822
.みだ堂にすがりて雪の残りけり
mida dô ni sugarite yuki no nokori keri
on Amida Buddha's
temple clinging...
leftover snow
1823
.花の所へ雪が降る涅槃哉
hana no tokoro e yuki ga furu nehan kana
snow falls
instead of blossoms...
Buddha's Death-Day
This haiku refers to the Second Month, 15th Day festival of Buddha's Death Day, commemorating Gautama Buddha's entrance into nirvana (i.e., his death).
Shinji Ogawa observes that, according to legend, Gautama Buddha died under a pair of sal trees which, thereafter, "bloomed white blossoms instead of the normal yellowish ones."
Note the unusual 7-5-5 syllable structure.
1824
.門先や雪の仏も苦い顔
kado saki ya yuki no hotoke mo nigai-gao
at my gate
the snow Buddha also
scowls