Hardly Haiku 　俳句かい

The 4th meeting of our Hardly Haiku group. All members are welcome, particularly those with no talent for poetry.

In this event we will try to translate these 3 poems advertised on the Modern Poetry In Translation website.

HAIKU 1 – by Enomoto Seifu.
散花の下にめでたき髑髏かな
Chiru hana no | moto ni medetaki | dokuro kana

‘Literal’ translation by Alan Cummings
Falling blossoms
Beneath, lying happily
A skull

HAIKU 2 – by Yosa Buson
春雨や小磯の小貝ぬるるほど
harusame ya | koiso no kogai | nururu hodo

‘Literal’ translation by Alan Cummings
spring rain –
beach’s small shells
to moisten enough

HAIKU 3 – by Sugita Hisajo
蝶追うて春山深く迷ひけり
chō oute | haruyama fukaku | mayohi keri

‘Literal’ translation by Alan Cummings
butterfly chasing –
spring hills deeply
get lost

The event will stretch our English levels rather than our Japanese. No Japanese ability is required

https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/workshop/haiku-workshop/

We can submit our translations to a competition.

I have added a brief explanation of what haiku is below.

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Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry, the shortest in the world, made up of just 17 syllables. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line of 7 and the third of 5.

Traditionally haiku uses a seasonal word or concept. A winter haiku for example might include the word ice, snow or robin redbreast.

Our 'Hardly Haiku' events have no such requirement. Anything is ok. The idea is to think of something original. The haiku can be written in English or Japanese.

Here are a couple of haiku examples from http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-haiku-poems.html :

An old silent pond...　　　　　　　 池や

A frog jumps into the pond,　　　　蛙飛び込む

splash! Silence again.　　　　　　　水の音

Over the wintry forest, 木枯の

winds howl in rage with 今や吹くとも

no leaves to blow 散る葉なし

The office will be open from 7pm. Participation fee £3.

俳句かいの第四会合になります。

誰でも参加できるイベントです。俳句を作った事のない方も歓迎されます。

この会で、上の三つの句を一緒に英訳してみます。