“Buson’s Poem: Mourning Sage Hokuju”

Gerald Dawe (1952-2024)
Your departure at dawn left my heart broken by sunset.
Why have you journeyed so far?
Your memory prompts me to roam the hillsides,
But why do the hills seem to suffer?
The yellow of the dandelion, the nazuna in its whiteness,
Now, there’s none to appreciate them.
Could it be the pheasant? Its mournful sound echoes:
‘My comrade resided beyond the river,
Ethereal plumes of smoke ascend and rupture, as the western wind fiercely sweeps
through the bamboo and the reeds,
No refuge remains.
My comrade resided beyond the river, today
there’s no call of the hororo.’
Your departure at dawn left my heart broken by sunset.
Why have you journeyed so far?
Within my small dwelling, no votive candle glows,
No floral tributes are laid, only silent grieving as I await the fall of evening,
in solemn respect.

Hailing from Dublin, Andrew Fitzsimons is a lecturer at Gakushuin University in Tokyo. He translated all of the haikus from Basho, a Japanese poet, which were published by the University of California Press in 2022. He used his skills in translation again for this tribute poem to Gerald Dawe, originally penned in Japanese by poet Yosa Buson (1716-1784).

Andrew Fitzsimons, a native of Dublin, serves as a lecturer at Tokyo’s Gakushuin University. The University of California Press released his translated work of all of Basho’s haiku in 2022. The poem commemorating Gerald Dawe in today’s schedule is his translated piece from the acclaimed Japanese poet, Yosa Buson, who lived from 1716 to 1784.

Written by Ireland.la Staff

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