JAPONISME Turns Three!

1795

.遠かたや青田のうへの三の山
ochikata ya aoda no ue no mitsu no yama

far distance--
above green rice fields
three mountains

1804

.雨だれや三粒おちてもけさの秋
amadare ya san tsubu ochite mo kesa no aki

from the roof's overhang
three drops...
first autumn morning

1812

.露三粒上野の蝉の鳴出しぬ
tsuyu mi tsubu ueno no semi no nakidashinu

three dewdrops--
Ueno's cicadas
break out into song

1817

.雪どけや鷺が三疋立臼に
yuki-doke ya sagi ga sambiki tachi usu ni

snow melting--
three herons perch
on the rice cake tub

1820

.親と子の三人連や帰る雁
oya to ko no sannin-zure ya kaeru kari

parents and child
three in a row...
the geese depart 1

APRIL

Nympharum membra disjecta

Three spirits came to me
And drew me apart
To where the olive boughs
Lay stripped upon the ground:
Pale carnage beneath bright mist.

Ezra Pound

DRINKING ALONE IN THE MOONLIGHT

A pot of wine among flowers.
I alone, drinking,
without a companion.
I lift the cup and invite
the bright moon.
My shadow opposite certainly makes us three.
But the moon cannot drink,
And my shadow follows the motions of my body in vain.
For the briefest time are the moon and my shadow my companions.

Oh, be joyful! One must make
the most of Spring.
I sing—the moon walks forward rhythmically;
I dance, and my shadow shatters
and becomes confused.
In my waking moments,
we are happily blended.
When I am drunk, we are divided
from one another and scattered.

For a long time I shall be obliged to wander without intention;
But we will keep our appointment by the far-off Cloudy River.

Li-Po

years, that is