inquiry about a Uejima Onitsura haiku

[Stephen Miller]

Dear colleagues,

A friend of mine who is not a scholar of Japan is looking for a translation of a haiku by Uejima Onitsura. The translation of it that he has is below. Does anyone know this English translation of Uejima’s haiku and where I might find it (both the translation and the original)?

Thank you,

Stephen Miller

 

Thus too my lovely
life must end, another flower
to fall and float away.

Stephen Miller

Director, Asian Languages 

and Literatures

Associate Professor

University of Massachusetts Amherst

440 Herter Hall

161 Presidents Drive

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA 01003-9312

Phone: 413-545-0208

Fax: 413-545-3178

smille...@mac.com

smi...@umass.edu

"...as the witnesses to your life diminish, there is less corroboration, and therefore less certainty, as to what you are or have been."  Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

It is difficult

to get the news from poems

      yet men die miserably every day

  for lack

of what is found there.

--William Carlos Williams

 

 

 

 

[Anthony Chambers]

Stephen,

Apparently the translation is by Peter Beilenson (Japanese Haiku, Peter Pauper Press, 1955-1956).  Can't help you with the original.

Cheers,

Tony

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[Carpenter, John]

Dear Stephen and All,

 

Of course it calls to mind Onitsura’s famous and poignant haiku set at Miidera  --   Hana chirite / mata shizuka nari / Onjōji   -- but perhaps the translation was inspired by the following?   

 

又ひとつ花につれ行く命かな

 

http://koboku.web.fc2.com/saijiki/onitura.pdf

 

John

 

John Carpenter

Mary Griggs Burke Curator of Japanese Art,

The Metropolitan Museum of Art,  T 212 570 3838

[chris drake]

Hello, Stephen,

I think this is probably the original, but the translation seems extremely free, more like an adaptation. It has a headnote that seems to refer to cherry blossoms falling: 

        散花
又ひとつ花につれゆく命かな


You can view the translation online at various sites, including:

http://www.globalgreyebooks.com/Pages/japanese-haiku.html

http://sacred-texts.com/shi/jh/index.htm

https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=k8X8CItNQ5MC&pg=PT42&lpg=PT42&dq=onitsura+thus+too+my+lovely+life+must+end&source=bl&ots=8OQcjpA-qy&sig=5CoVgZItaQ7LSvqXI5RuWWP88D8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiurqCo7vrKAhWJjJQKHdnNAIoQ6AEIHzAB#v=onepage&q=onitsura%20thus%20too%20my%20lovely%20life%20must%20end&f=false

http://documents.mx/documents/3682741-japanese-haiku-by-peter-beilenson.html

http://nirvana73.blogspot.jp/2011/10/from-japanese-haiku-translated-by-peter.html

Chris Drake

On 2016/02/16 6:42, Stephen Miller wrote:

Thus too my lovely

[chris drake]

Hi John, All,

I just saw your post. I'm glad you also think this might be the original. Some of the differences between the translation and the original I can understand as inspiration, but I wonder where the image of the stream is coming from. It's also in the translation headnote.

When I pressed the reply button, the original messages disappeared, except for two lines. I have no idea why.

Chris Drake
 

On 2016/02/16 8:14, Carpenter, John wrote:

Subject: Re: [PMJS] inquiry ab

[Stephen Miller]

Thank you all for your help!

Best wishes,

Stephen

Stephen Miller

Director, Asian Languages 

and Literatures

Associate Professor

University of Massachusetts Amherst

440 Herter Hall

161 Presidents Drive

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA 01003-9312

Phone: 413-545-0208

Fax: 413-545-3178

smille...@mac.com

smi...@umass.edu

"...as the witnesses to your life diminish, there is less corroboration, and therefore less certainty, as to what you are or have been."  Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

It is difficult

to get the news from poems

      yet men die miserably every day

  for lack

of what is found there.

--William Carlos Williams