in dreams
and in awakening --
the color of the iris
Ume Shushiki
Commentary: This haiku, a jisei (death poem), was written right before Ume Shushiki, the student of Kikaku Takarai, Basho’s favorite disciple, died. It reflects a Buddhist view of life --"life is like a dream" -- that this state of the "awake reality" is not different from that of the "dream reality."
The vivid, blue color of the iris/L3 remains, just as it is, beyond awakening, beyond dreaming (as implied from Ls 1&2). There is but one color, one reality. When evaluated in the thematic context of Shushiki's imminent death, this haiku also reveals her Buddhist view of life and death: life and death are two phases of a continuum.
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