Kobayashi Issa
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Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶 Kobayashi Issa) (June 15, 1763 - January 5, 1828) was a Japanese writer of haikai (haiku) known for his hokku verses. He was born with the name Kobayashi Nobuyuki (and also known as Yataro) in Kashiwabara, Shinano province (present-day Shinanomachi, Nagano prefecture). Leaving behind a troubled family, wherein his farmer father was widowed and remarried unhappily, he studied haikai under Mizoguchi Somaru and Nirokuan Kobayashi Chikua at the Katsushika poetry school in present-day Tokyo. He eventually gained patronage from Seibi Natsume.
According to the Western Calendar, Issa died on January 5, 1828 in his native village of Kashiwabara, Shinano Province (present-day Nagano Prefecture). According to the old Japanese calendar, he died on the 19th day of Eleventh Month, Tenth Year of the Bunsei Era. Since the Tenth Year of Bunsei roughly corresponds with 1827, many sources list this as his year of death.
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[edit] Poetry
Despite a multitude of personal trials, his poetry reflected a subjective and childlike simplicity, making liberal use of local dialects and conversational phrases:
- Quiet;
- In the depths of the lake,
- A peak of cloud.
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Under the pen name of Issa, Kobayashi wrote over 20,000 confessional and observational poems that still console generations of readers today. Though his hokku were very popular, he suffered great monetary instability. His most famous works are Chichi No Sh/u/en Nikki (1801, tr. The Diary at My Father's Death), and Ora Ga Haru (1819, tr. The Year of My Life).
[edit] Trivia
One of Issa's hokku, as translated by R.H. Blyth, appears in J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey:
- O snail
- Climb Mount Fuji,
- But slowly, slowly!
[edit] References
- Sam Hamill (translated by), The Spring of My Life and Selected Haiku: Kobayashi Issa, Shambhalla Publications © 1997 ISBN 1-57062-144-6 pbk 180 pp., 160 haiku plus 'The Spring of My Life, an autobiographical sketch of linked prose and haiku
- David G. Lanoue, Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa, Buddhist Books International © 2004 ISBN 0-914910-53-1
- Lewis Mackensie (translated and introduced by), The Autumn Wind: A Selection of the Poems of Issa, Kodansha International © 1984 ISBN 0-87011-657-6 137 pp. 250 haiku
[edit] External links
- Haiku of Kobayashi Issa a searchable online archive of 6000+ haiku by David G. Lanoue, author of 'Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa'. Originally housed at Xavier University of Louisiana, this archive was moved after Hurricane Katrina to its present, permanent location. The search function has been restored.
