a man for all seasons: 1906

1818

.それ馬が馬がとやいふ親雀
sore uma ga uma ga to ya iu oya suzume

"Watch out for that horse!
Watch out!"
mother sparrow calls

issa

1809

.我庵やあくたれ烏痩ぼたん
waga io ya akutare karasu yase botan

at my hut--
rascally crows
emaciated peonies

issa

1810

.かすむぞよ松が三本夫婦鶴
kasumu zoyo matsu ga sambon meoto-zuru

in spring mist
three pines, two cranes
husband and wife

issa

1805

.鳥もなき蝶も飛けり古畳
tori mo naki chô mo tobi keri furu tatami

birds singing
butterflies flitting...
old tatami mat

issa

Or: "a butterfly flitting." Shinji Ogawa points out that naki means "sang" in this haiku, not, as I originally thought, "devoid of."
With his correction, the haiku now makes perfect sense.
Issa sits on his old tatami mat, enjoying the spring day along with the birds and butterflies.

1820

.鳥の巣に明渡したる庵哉
tori no su ni akewatashitaru iori kana

surrendering it
to the nesting birds...
my hut

issa

Issa ends this haiku, simply, with "hut" (iori kana). In a revision four years later (in 1824), he clarifies his meaning by ending the haiku with "the hut that is empty because its owner is away" (rusu no io). Issa is leaving his hut for a while, generously offering it to nesting birds. Shinji Ogawa notes that the verb akewatashitaru denotes Issa's abandoning or surrending his hut.

1813

.けふもけふもだまって暮す小鴨哉
kyô mo kyô mo damatte kurasu ko kamo kana

today too
keeping perfectly quiet...
little duck

issa

1796

.旅笠を小さく見せる霞かな
tabi-gasa wo chiisaku miseru kasumi kana

their traveling hats
looking small...
mist

issa

year unknown

.青の葉は汐干なぐれの烏哉
ao no ha wa shiohi nagure no karasu kana

some stay behind
in the green leaves...
low tide crows

issa

Nagure is the same as nagori ("vestiges," "remains"); see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1213. The crows at low tide are doing the same thing as their human counterparts: looking for shellfish. A few linger behind in trees and field.

1807

.近づけば急に淋しき紅葉哉
chikazukeba [kyû] ni sabishiki momiji kana

drawing near them
a sudden loneliness
autumn leaves

issa

1811

.うしろから大寒小寒夜寒哉
ushiro kara ôsamu kosamu yozamu kana

behind me--
big cold, little cold
night cold

issa

1825

.雪の日や堂にぎっしり鳩雀
yuki no hi ya dô ni gisshiri hato suzume

on a snowy day
the temple is packed...
pigeons, sparrows

issa

many continued thank yous to the amazing david g lanoue and his glorious issa pages, revealing the poet's humanity, humor, and the nature and customs of his world.

as is obvious, i have not yet been able to find a july for 1906 yet.
will remedy and announce when i do.