Blazing Sky (enten)

[ . BACK to Worldkigo . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"blazing sky" (enten)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Summer
***** Category: Heaven

*****************************
Explanation

"blazing sky", enten 炎天 (えんてん)
the burning [blazing] sun, hot weather, scorching sun
sky in a drought, hideri zora 旱空（ひでりぞら）
.... kanten 旱天（かんてん）"dry sky" dry weather


aburaderi 油照 (あぶらでり 脂照) "oily sunshine"
sweltering heat
(implying some kind of humidity)
glühende Hitze


These words come with various translation possibilities.



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Compiled by Larry Bole
. Translating Haiku Forum .

My simple Random House Japanese-English dictionary defines 'enten' as:
"very hot weather."

Blyth, in his comment on a haiku that uses the word 'enten', says:
"'Enten' is extreme, windless heat under the direct rays of the sun."

炎天に菊を養ふあるじ哉
enten ni kiku o yashinau aruji kana

In the burning sunshine,
The master cherishes
His chrysanthemums.

--Masaoka Shiki
Tr. Blyth


What brought the various ways of translating 'enten' to my attention are several different translations of a haiku by Yamaguchi Seishi 山口誓子:

炎天の遠き帆やわが心の帆
enten no / tooki / ho / ya / waga / kokoro no / ho
flaming-sky's / distant / sail / : / my / heart's / sail
(literal translation by Makoto Ueda)

Under the flaming sky,
a distant sail: in my
heart, a sail.
trans. Ueda


Sails in scorching heat
in the offing are the sails
within my spirit.
trans. Kodaira & Marks


Distant sail
under blazing sun, sail
of my heart
trans. Beichman


burning sun
a distant sail
of my heart
trans. Haldane


Seishi himself says of this haiku
(from The Essence of Modern Haiku, trans. Kodaira & Marks):
I can see sails in the offing under a blazing sun. Living near the shore, I often see white sails in the offing and carry them in my heart. The white sails in the offing under a blazing sun are real, while the white sails within my heart are not---the consonance of the real and the unreal.
[end of comment]


Ooka Makoto, in his book, A Poet's Anthology: The Range of Japanese Poetry, comments on this haiku (trans. of comment by Janine Beichman):

Depending on one's point of view, one might call this either a poem of youth, in which a young person expresses longing, or else a poem of maturity, in which an older person's sense of regret and isolation is projected onto a sail seen far off in the distance. The brief haiku form, rather than conveying its creator's real meaning openly, sometimes, as here, shows us a strangely beautiful world, beyond time, beyond thought.

In actual fact, this poem was written on August 22, 1945, one week after the end of the war, while Seishi was convalescing from illness near the sea at Ise. "Down and out" would probably best describe the mood it was born from.
[end of comment]


So, there have been a number of ways of translating 'enten' into English, in translating haiku:

burning sunshine
flaming sky
scorching heat
blazing sun
burning sun

other translations of 'enten' from haiku not given in this post:

scorching sunshine
sky blazing
scorching sky
sun is blazing
sweltering heat

In general, I kind of like "sweltering heat," which is how David Lanoue translates 'enten' for several of Issa's haiku. But "sweltering heat" implies a personal bodily feeling. In the context of Seihsi's haiku, in which something is being observed at a distance, I like Beichman's "blazing sun" best.

Larry Bole



sails under the blazing sky
sails in my heart
Tr. Gabi Greve
Reading the explanations, I see these sails as plural.


*****************************
Worldwide use

Kenya

. Scorching sun .
kigo for the hot dry season


*****************************
Things found on the way

Temple Entenji 炎天寺 Enten-Ji
Tokyo, Adachi ward



This temple is in memory of two haiku by Issa.
There is a statue of a frog on a lotus leaf, reminding of the "yasegaeru" frog haiku by Issa.

At this temple there is an "Issa Festival" held every year on November 23.
A haiku contest for children is held.
一茶まつり全国小中学生俳句大会

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Nearby is the shrine Hachiman Taro Minamoto no Yoshiie, and the area was known as "Rokugatsu Mura" (June village), remembering the famous battle fought there in June. It was very hot during this battle, hence the name.


*****************************
HAIKU

enten ni soogyoo tooku yori kitaru

In the scorching sunshine,
The figure of a monk
Coming in the distance.

--Seishi, trans. Blyth



enten ya jarimichi yukeba choo no kara

Sky blazing--
as I go down the gravel path,
husks of dead butteflies

--Shiki, trans. Burton Watson


enten ya shoufu no ie no fukawadachi

blazing sun...
by a whorehouse
the deep rut

-- Ritsuo Okada,
Tr. William J. Higginson & Tadashi Kondo



enten yori zoo hitori nori Gifu Hashima

under a blazing sun
one monk got on the train -
Gifu Hashima

--Mori Sumio, trans. Gabi Greve



enten no chijoo hana ari sarusuberi

under the scorching sky
on the ground these flowers -
crape myrtle

--Takahama Kyoshi, trans. Gabi Greve



enten ya genbaku shikiten akago naku

The sun is blazing --
a baby crying bitter
in the A-bomb rite

--Yasuhiko Shigemoto, trans. unknown


. . . . .


--Haiku by Itaru Ina
trans. Hisako Ifshin & Leza Lowitz

enten ya jukai ni shizumu karasu ari

Scorching sun!
A crow sinks
into the sea of trees.


entenka umi ni wa tooki kuni ni kinu

Under the blazing sun,
I have come to a country
far from the sea.


enten ka ogoreru kuni ni noroi are

Under the scorching sun
on and on I curse
the arrogant country.


entenka tobaku ni shirete nachisu-jin

Under the scorching sun,
the Nazis lose themselves
in gambling.



enten ni hi o amu toki ikusa yamu

While I was sunbathing
in the broiling weather,
the war ended.

. . . . .


haiku by Santoka 　山頭火


炎天をいただいて乞ひ歩く
enten o itadaite koi aruku

Walking and begging,
thanking the burning sun.
trans. endoy
(http://www2.biglobe.ne.jp/~endoy/AISATSUE.html)


Burning heaven on my head I beg I walk
trans. Hiroaki Sato

. .


enten hateshinaki
kaze fuku

Endless scorching sun--
the wind blows
Tr. Addiss

Comment by Addiss:
Here the calligraphy seems more restrained and graceful than the previous tanzaku, but the freedom of the brushwork is at least as strong as before, if more subtle. The single column of words is maintained within the center of the format as though the red paper were itself the blazing sunlight, withering the calligraphy as though it were Santoka's body in the heat.
For example, the kana syllable shi is created with a single thin verticle line in the center of the tanzaku, but when the character kaze is written three graphs later, it opens the space as it might cool the pores of a sweaty body.
For some viewers, it may seem odd to see a Santoka poem, with its simplicity of diction and plainness of speech, on a surface so highly decorated with fluid patterns of cut squares of gold leaf. However, the contrast may add to the effect of the calligraphy, just as it gives extra impact to the words of the haiku.
source of tansaku :　www.amazon.com


. .

enten kakusu tokoro naku mizu no nagarete kuru

Burning heaven with no place to hide
the water flows toward me
trans. Sato

No place to hide from the blazing sun;
The water flows by.
trans. John Stevens

. . . . .

enten no reeru massugu

Under burning heaven the railroad track straight
trans. Sato

In the blazing sun:
Railroad tracks,
Perfectly straight.
trans. Stevens


enten no machi no mannaka namari ni yu

In the boiling sun
(The construction workers)
Heat lead.
trans. Stevens

. . . . . end of Santoka haiku . . . . .



enten o kite menkai no kyoka narazu

scorching sun
visiting a patient
no admission

--Hakuun, trans. Inaoka Michiko & Inaoka Tadayuki

. . . . .


-- Haiku by Kobayashi Issa, trans. Lanoue

enten ni teri korosaren atama kana

in sweltering heat
sunshine kills...
my poor head!


enten ni tade kuu mushi no kigen kana

sweltering heat--
the knotweed-eating bug
in fine mood


enten no toppazure nari sumi o yaku

at the edge
of the sweltering day...
burning charcoal


. . . compiled by Larry Bole, Kigo Hotline

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


炎天の空美しや高野山　
enten no sora utsukushi ya Kooyasan

the blazing sky
is so beautiful -
Mount Koya Monastery

Takahama Kyoshi 虚子
Tr. Gabi Greve

. Koya San in Wakayama 高野山 .


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


our eyes locked
under a blazing sun
caged cobra and me

Chen-ou Liu
Canada


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


source : Haiku Annai

炎天の色やあく迄深緑　子規
炎天や蟻這ひ上る人の足　子規

炎天や行路病者に蠅群るる　龍之介
炎天や逆上の人もの云はぬ　龍之介
炎天にはたと打つたる根つ木かな　龍之介
炎天や切れても動く蜥蜴の尾　龍之介
炎天に上りて消えぬ箕の埃　龍之介

炎天や天火取りたる陰陽師　鬼城

炎天の底の蟻等ばかりの世となり　放哉
蛇が殺されて居る炎天をまたいで通る　放哉

炎天の涛に照られて月消ゆる　月二郎

炎天や白扇ひらき縁に人　石鼎
炎天に梅干食うて尼が唇　石鼎
炎天や枳殻をわたる烏蝶　石鼎
炎天や彷彿として伊良子崎　石鼎

炎天の火の山こゆる道あはれ　秋櫻子

炎天や死ねば離るる影法師　麦南

炎天や雀降りくる貌昏く　多佳子
炎天に松の香はげし斧うつたび　多佳子
炎天の梯子昏きにかつぎ入る<　多佳子
炎天や笑ひしこゑのすぐになし　多佳子

英霊となり炎天をかへり来給へり　鷹女
炎天に眼をさらし哭かじとす　鷹女
炎天に愛しみあへり鶴と女　鷹女
炎天を泣きぬれてゆく蟻のあり　鷹女

杉の秀に炎天澄めり円覚寺　茅舎

炎天を歩けばそぞろ母に似る　汀女

炎天やけがれてよりの影が濃し　三鬼
炎天の坂や怒を力とし　三鬼

炎天の城や四壁の窓深し　草田男
炎天の城や雀の嘴光る　草田男
炎天の号外細部読み難き　草田男
戦車の後炎天のマラソンひそと　草田男
炎天や金潤ひて銀乾く　草田男
炎天に名所写真師半平和　草田男

炎天の焚火の焔めくれつつ　誓子

炎天に芥焼く火ぞすさまじき　草城

喜劇見て炎天のもの皆歪む　林火
炎天に怒りおさへてまた老うも　林火

炎天に古鏡かくれて光りけり　静塔


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


blazing sky
a patch of brown
on the pink lily

Dr.Vidur Jyoti
New Delhi, India

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

blazing sky-
I look at the eagles
still flying high

Sunil Uniyal
India

*****************************
Related words

***** WKD ... Sky in all seasons ...


***** . Yamaguchi Seishi 山口誓子
（1901.11.03 - 1994.03.26）

. . . . .

Haiku by Itaru Ina
Itaru Ina was born in San Francisco, Calif., on June 10, 1914.
His father was an immigrant who worked for the local Japanese newspaper and his mother came to America as a picture bride.
http://www.modernhaiku.org/essays/itaruinahaiku.html

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::