Takaha Shugyo Haiku And Tanka Translations, Part 2 Poem by Michael Burch
Takaha Shugyo Haiku And Tanka Translations, Part 2
Takaha Shugyo haiku and tanka translations
Takaha Shugyo is a Japanese poet. He was born in Japan's mountainous Yamagata Prefecture and began writing haiku at age fifteen. He studied with the renowned Yamaguchi Seishi and Akimoto Fujio, won the Young Poet's Award in 1965, then went on to found the haiku magazine KARI in 1978.
Wild geese pass
leaving the emptiness of heaven
revealed
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Are the geese flying south?
The candle continues to flicker...
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Oh, fallen camellias,
if I were you,
I'd leap into the torrent!
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
A single tree
with a heart carved into its trunk
blossoms prematurely
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Still clad in its clown's costume—
the dead ladybird.
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Inside the cracked shell
of a walnut:
one empty room
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Such gloom!
Inside the walnut's cracked shell:
one empty room
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Bring me an icicle
sparkling with the stars
of the deep north
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Seen from the skyscraper
the trees' fresh greenery:
parsley sprigs
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Our life here on earth:
to what shall we compare it?
It is not like a rowboat
departing at daybreak,
leaving no trace of us in its wake?
― Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Tree crickets chirping—
after I've judged
a thousand verses today!
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Crickets chirping discordantly—
how to judge
ten thousand verses?
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Original Haiku
Sleepyheads!
I recite my haiku
to the inattentive lilies.
—Michael R. Burch
KEYWORDS/TAGS: Takaha Shugyo, haiku translations, tanka translations, modern English translations
Reminds me of a message left by a Seattle poet on his answering machine: 'Just because... I have been writing poems all morning.. the jam is soft jewels.'
I seem to remember that Shiki also wrote one about judging 1000 verses in a day. Then he immersed his senses in something, and the 'returning flavor' of the so many poems came washing over him.
I love your dual interpretation of the one about judging 1000 verses. This would be a fascinating subgenre--- duelling interpretations.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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7/18/2025 5:34:21 PM # 1.0.0
I forget what Masaoka Shiki immersed his senses in after his session of judging verses. It may have been an overripe persimmon.