綴 Neck-plates

Lectured to 90 foreign students yesterday on the subject of haiku. One example poem used:

伏勢の綴にとまる胡蝶かな fushizei no shikoro ni tomaru kochou kana

Perched on the neck-plates

Of the warrior in ambush -

A butterfly! ……… (蕪村 Buson)

We agreed this haiku has great tension and a wonderful image contrast. I wonder what Japanese feel about mentioning the word ‘ambush’ in the translation? Is it implicit in the word 伏勢? Does it improve the haiku?

Beginning with Basho

 

石山の石にたばしる霰哉　　芭蕉

 

Scattering

Across the rocks of Rock Mountain …

Hailstones

(Matsuo Basho)