A winter scene.
斧入れて香おどろくや冬木立
Ono irete kō odoroku ya fuyu-kodachi
cutting with the axe
the surprising smell
winter trees
—Buson
(trans. David LaSpina[1])
A winter grove of trees is always a little sad when compared to how it looks in summer. The life seems gone and it looks like little more than dead wood, the remains of a once vibrant area. The animals are gone, all the color has faded, all that is left is the skeletal remains of the trees: remnants of the natural paradise of only a few months before.
In this haiku Buson was a surprised to find the trees were still alive after all, smelling that tree smell as he cuts into one, chopping it down probably for some firewood. They aren't dead after all, just asleep. No doubt he knew that, but some situations always bring us a little surprise even when we know the truth.
Fuyu-kodachi, "Winter grove", is a kigo (season word) for all winter. It is in stark contrast to the summer kigo, natsu-kodachi, "Summer grove". By the traditional reckoning we are well within winter now, approaching mid-winter in fact.
It's been said that haiku are Zen poems. Much of the reason that is said is the most famous haikuist of all, Bashō, studied and followed Zen Buddhism. There is certainly a lot of Buddhist ideals in haiku at any rate: none more than the idea that haiku are snapshots of time and that this quality emphases the ephemeral nature of reality. What is here now will be gone tomorrow, like a passing dream, as the opening poem to the Heike Monogatari puts it.
These feelings would have been in Buson's head approaching this winter grove. The feeling of mono no aware, which is something like "an awareness of the transience of life" is very strong with this kigo.
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| David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
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