Buson is not talking about loneliness here; that is, he is alone, but not lonely: being alone is not a negative thing to him. Rather, it is because he is alone that he's able to become so intimate and familiar with the moon. This is an idea that has been revisited so many times in haiku and elsewhere that I'm sure most of you are familiar with it. A hundred fifty years hence, half way around the world, Henry David Thoreau would be expressing the same ideas in Walden, writing:

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.

Words I'm sure Buson would have agreed with.

The moon is a kigo for autumn, by the way. Yes, as hard as it may be to believe, according to the traditional Japanese almanac, we are into autumn. And indeed, hot as it still may be, you can feel the hints of the coming coolness in the morning hours.

	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.

1. That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩