Classic Poem

At a fragrance of plums, a blob, the sun appears on a mountain path
here and there a pheasant call rises
he begins repairing his house while there's nothing to do in spring
news from Kansai raises the price of rice
in the evening there was some pattering — now the moon among clouds
talking with a bush in between — the autumn, the loneliness
" My boss offered to be given my chrysanthemums, dammit! "
" I wouldn't let anybody see my daughter, absolutely not "
he frequents Nara — the same face, a man of scanty funds
" This June we have no rain at all "
someone sent to the other bank of the river to fetch bean paste kept for them
intensely he begins to talk about his mom
all night he tried to assuage the nun's chronic pain
only konnyaku is left after the superb moon
first geese — he tries the cushion on the packsaddle
with dew as the opponent a sword drawn in a flash
townspeople are soaked and sodden under cherry blossoms
jostled at the gate for Mibu prayer-shows
each waft of east wind spreads the stifling odor of manure
just sitting around he's bothered by arthritis of the elbow
" The master across the street is back and telling what's going on in Edo "
" We need our millstones but I let his wife use them "
from all directions the noise of bells for juya services
high above the paulownia tree the moon is clear
" I closed the gate and went to bed, wordless, for the fun of it "
he changed the straw mat covers with the money he found on the street
for Hatsuuma he treats his wife's relatives
this spring too, the masterless samurai hasn't found a job
people see off an exorcist from the hot spring, the blossoms at their prime
down from the path by the paddies green wheat is doing well
every house has its eastside window open
" I'm sick of eating fish stew on this shore "
plovers call, and night by night it gets cold
they try endlessly to figure the amount of unpaid tax
they've brought in a bride without even letting their neighbors know
by a screen I see a tray of cookies