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Chichi Arite

By Kobayashi Issa - Japan, 1763–1828
Beginning | Nature

父ありて
chichi arite

明ぼの見たし

akebono mitashi

青田原
aota hara

Translator’s Glossary

CHARACTER
RŌMAJI
DEFINITION
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
明ぼの akebono (n.) daybreak, beginning dawn, morning, sunrise, daybreak, first light
ao (n.) color that comes from mixing blue and yellow, grass-colored green
ありて arite (v.) to be; used to give more information about the subject—its identity, nature, attributes, position of value to exist, to live, to be
chichi (n.) man who is a parent or acting as a parent father, papa, dad
hara (n.) area of agriculture, play, or other activity field, meadow, ground
mi (v.) from the verb miru, meaning “to observe” see, watch, observe, look at, gaze at, survey
ta (n.) rice field rice paddy
たし tashi (v.) desire something, wish for something wanting to, wishing to

Bio

Kobayashi Issa was given the name Kobayashi Nobuyuki (in Japanese the last name is before the first) at birth. “Issa” is a pen name he chose for himself that means “one cup of tea.” One of Japan’s most important poets of haiku—a type of poem composed of seventeen syllables—he was considered a kind, compassionate, and humble man who was a great lover of animals and children. His mother died when he was three years old, and he did not get along with his stepmother. He was sent away to the capital, Edo, at the age of fourteen to study poetry. During his lifetime, Issa wrote over 20,000 haiku poems. He wrote this haiku in 1801 about the death of his father, reflecting on what his life would

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