Saturday 13 June 2015

Basho's CROWS

Crow or CROWS
#haiku scholars and fans often debate the use of #karasu in a famous #autumn #haiku by #Basho.

Kare eda ni / karasu no tomari keri  / aki no kure

Bare / dry branch on / at
crow(s) connective on / of stop
autumn end of or autumn sunset

Personally I give more consideration as to whether  kure means sunset or seasons end?

Given the reference to bare branches I prefer seasons end.

Regarding whether crow should be singular or plural may I note that  corvids flock!

I actually have a small raven clan living in the immediate area and even when the flock spreads out to feed if I see one their mate is usually near by and even after fledglings grow up and move away there's usually a consistent core group of five or six who stay together. I opt for crows plural unless Japanese crows behave differently?



No comments:

Post a Comment