小林一茶について
In this blog, I will comment on some representative haiku from 小林一茶. Then, I will analyze his writing style and connect it to his personal experience.
Haiku style:
- Kobayashi likes using Onomatopoeia. Personally speaking, there are pros and cons.
- Kobayashi's haiku has a unique perspective about life. Through his haiku, it is hard not to connect those images to Kobayashi's own personal experience. As a person who went though suffers, Kobayashi can relate himself to those weak ones he discovered in the nature and express his thoughts on the life.
Kobayashi Issa (小林 一茶, June 15, 1763 – January 5, 1828), one of the most famous haijin in the Edo Period, had a unique style of haiku writing. Using onomatopoeia and writing from a unique viewpoint are two of Issa’s distinctive traits.
Born into a middle-class farming family in Kashiwara, Issa faced numerous hardships. He lost his mother at age three and had strained relations with his stepmother. Following his beloved grandmother's death, these tensions worsened, leading to his departure to Edo at 15 living as an apprentice. Issa suffered a lot during apprentice period, but he learned a lot about haiku.
His father's death when Issa was 39 led to a fierce inheritance dispute with his stepmother and brother, lasting until he was 50. He eventually returned to his hometown, marrying at 52, but tragically lost all four children from his first wife in infancy, followed by her death. His second marriage soon dissolved, and he suffered from physical paralysis. Despite marrying a third time at 64, his home was destroyed by fire shortly before his death at 65.
Issa's life is a life full of misfortune, and it is his tumultuous life that greatly influenced his haiku focusing on life and hardship.
To start with, Issa was fond of using onomatopoeia, which is 擬声語(giseigo) in Japanese. In the Japanese language, there are two types of giseigo: 擬音語(giongo) and擬態語(gitaigo). Giongo are words that imitate the actual sounds of things, such as sounds of animals and the sound of heartbeats. On the other side, gitaigo are words that recreate Japanese people’s general image of the state or emotion, although they apparently have no sounds. Onomatopoeia plays a significant role vividly describing the scene and expressing what the characters are doing. Issa, who lived hundreds of years ago, already applied this technique in his haiku writings.
As I read a collection of 70 haiku by Issa along with some of his representative haiku, it was intriguing to see that many of those haiku used the onomatopoeia. I will use some haiku as examples to analyze the effect of using onomatopoeia in haiku writing.
あまり湯のたらりたらりと日永哉
Overfilled water drips
Slowly out of the bathtub
In a long day of spring
(Translated by Yutaka Arai & Yoshiaki Endo)
The kigo is 日永(hinaga), a spring kigo meaning that the daytime is longer in Spring. In the first line “あまり湯の”, Issa describes the main object “overfilled water” and sets the bath scene. Then, Issa uses onomatopoeia “たらりたらり” in his second line, where the word “たらり” describes the image of the liquid falling vertically. People familiar with this word will at once envision water overflowing from a wood-made Japanese-style bathtub when someone sits in it. Instead of directly portraying how the person enters the bathtub, Issa chose to use onomatopoeia words of the water to let readers imagine the scene themselves.
In addition, “たらりたらり(tararitarari)” sounds pleasing. The word "tarari”, with two continuous "a" vowel syllables in "tara" and two "r" syllables in "rari", already sounds melodious due to the repetition. Issa decided to use this word again to make it "taratitarari", adding more repetition to the haiku. Without considering the actual meaning of the word, its sound alone evokes the image of water and creates a feeling of leisure.
The last line “日永哉”, “a long spring day”, not only reveals the season but also enhances the scene's leisurely atmosphere. Again, considering the sound, “日永哉(hinagakana)” contains four continuous "a" vowel syllables "nagakana". Counting the total number of "a" vowel syllables in this haiku, there are 10 out of 17. The sound of "ah" is like the sound people make when they feel comfortable in a bath or sighing about the long spring day. That is the reason why this haiku sounds exceptionally pleasant and harmonious.
Although Issa wrote this haiku far from now, I believe most people in modern society could share a similar experience with him.
雨だれのぽちぽち朧月夜哉
Dim sound ‘drip, drip’
Is coming from under the eaves
A hazy-moon night
(Translated by Yutaka Arai & Yoshiaki Endo)
Let us analyze the effects of onomatopoeia word “ぽちぽち” here. “ぽちぽち” represents the sound of liquid objects, such as water droplets, falling continuously, and its sound, “pochipochi”, resembles the sound of raindrops. Interestingly, "朧" is pronounced "oboro", and the sound of the whole second line, "pochipochioboro,” is rhythmic and appealing when read aloud.
The second line with its delightful sound creates a feeling of amusement, while the imagery of "朧月夜" (a hazy-moon night) evokes tranquility and grace that one would not want to disturb.The juxtapositions of sounds of raindrops with the quiet night, and the of amusement with gracefulness, resonate with each other in this haiku.
By weaving the onomatopoeia word into the scene, Issa adds an auditory dimension to the scene, triggering readers’ memories of a rainy day.
The use of onomatopoeia in haiku adds both sound and image, extending beyond its literal meaning. Japanese people share a shared understanding of how certain onomatopoeic words evoke specific images and emotions. In this sense, onomatopoeia words are just like kigo, which also holds a collective meaning and experience within Japanese poetry. However, for readers unfamiliar with Japanese onomatopoeia, understanding the additional nuances these words convey can be challenging, as it largely depends on their familiarity with the language.
Furthermore, sometimes onomatopoeia words convey limited amount of information, but they usually take on 4-6 syllables and that is a lot for a single haiku. It is hard to say if it is worth using all those syllables for the onomatopoeia words.
Another distinctive aspect of Issa's haiku writing is his portrayal of animals and plants from a unique perspective. He liked to personize them.
やえ蛙まけるな一茶これにあり
Scrawny frog
please don't give up
Issa is here!
(A Translation of Kuki Shuzo’s “A Reflection on Poetic Spirit”)
This is one of Issa’s most famous haiku. The “frog” is the spring kigo here, but the frog seems not to be related to the summer. Here Issa appears to describe a scene where a weak frog battles a stronger opponent, possibly a rival for the attentions of a female frog.
Unlike typical haiku, where haijin describe scenes without directly expressing personal feelings, in this haiku, instead of describing what is happening during the battle, Issa cheers this weak frog on, wishing for its victory. Issa clearly conveyed his feelings, and he might even interfere in the fight.
Another interpretation of this haiku is to read the second line, “まけるな一茶,” which means 'do not lose Issa". Issa might not only cheer for the weak frog but also for himself, reflecting on his personal life experiences.
Seeing the weak frog striving in the fight, Issa might mirror his own life and could not help cheering for it. We could see his understanding and caring for the weak. Maybe he also wished to have someone help him during his own hard time.
やれ打つな蝿が手をすり足をする
Oh,no!
Don't hit it
The fly clasps its hands and feet in prayer.
(Translated by livedoor Blog)
We can also see Issa's caring for the weak in this haiku. Issa directly urges the reader not to harm the fly, because it is begging for mercy. While it is implausible that flies beg like humans, Issa perceives them differently.
Normally, people do not have a good impression of flies, and I believe this also applies to the past time. However, Issa did not view flies as dirty or annoying, instead he depicted them as human reflecting on their vulnerable existence.
Again, the helpless fly might remind Issa of his own helpless past days during the apprentice time or the times when he lost family members.
艸蔭(くさかげ)にぶつくさぬかす蛙(かわず)かな
Murmurs of a frog
In the shade of overgrown weeds
Mouthing off complaints
(Translated by Yutaka Arai & Yoshiaki Endo)
This is another famous frog haiku of Issa. The haiku describes a simple scene where the sound of frog seems to be complaints. It is interesting that Issa interprets the sound of frog as human-like complaints. What the frog was complaining about? We cannot know what the frog is thinking about, but we do know what people usually complain about: our life and hardship. Issa might have projected his own complaints on life’s hardship and cruel reality onto the frog.
Issa created over 20,000 haiku during his entire life, and it is not easy to understand and summarize his writing style only from the 70 haiku that I have read. However, we can glean insights into his use of onomatopoeia and his unique, life-affirming perspective, two prominent features of his poetic expression.
Works Cited
Kuki, Shuzo. “A Reflection on Poetic Spirit (Fūryū ni kansuru ikkōsatsu 風流に関する一考察) (1937/1941)” Translated by Lorenzo Marinucci, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata.
https://asian.fiu.edu/jsr/marinucci-lorenzo-kuki-on-wind-flow-formatted.pdf. Accessed 28 March 2024.
Livedoor Blog. “俳句：一茶：Haiku by Issa.”2017.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/gogo_eigo-denihon/archives/27503483.html. Accessed 28 March 2024.
Public Relations Office. “小林一茶：弱い者に寄り添う俳人.” June 2022.
https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/202206/202206_12_jp.html. Accessed 28 March 2024.
Touken World gives a variety of information related to Japanese swords.
https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/kobayashi-issa/. Accessed 28 March 2024.
Yutaka Arai, Yoshiaki Endo. “Seventy Issa’s Onomatopoeic English Haiku-poems.” 2023.