English Original
how much life
is left to me --
brief, these summer nights
Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, 2018
Masaoka Shiki
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
還有多少剩下的生命
留給我 --
短暫的夏夜
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
还有多少剩下的生命
留给我 --
短暂的夏夜
Bio Sketch
Masaoka Shiki (October 14, 1867 -- September 19, 1902) was a Japanese poet and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku, and he also published articles on the reform of tanka. Some scholars and poets consider Shiki to be one of the four great haiku masters, the others being Matsuo Bashō, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa.
Shiki's existential angst is heartfelt in the opening, seemingly unanswerable question while multi-sensorily evocative and symbolically rich L3 gives readers a hint about his reflection on/view of the brevity of life.
ReplyDeleteAnd it might be interesting to do a thematic comparison reading of my haiku below:
a sliver of moon
in the predawn sky …
this short life
Chrysanthemum, 29, April 2021