my favorite poem in Japanese
August 17, 2012 10:45 AM Subscribe
Quick Japanese translation request ^_^
天も地もなしただ雪の降りしきる
I've seen the googled translations, but would like a bit more in depth of how its being translated and other workings. E.g. is the snow pouring (heavy snow) is there no land or no earth, or what is not in existence here, what is? Thank you Japanese friends!
There are definitely a few Japanese-speakers around here (plokent presumably one of them!), but for a question like this, a language-specific forum may give you a wider and richer set of answers. Here's the Japanese forum at wordreference.com; I don't have personal experience of this one, but I've found several other forums on the site useful.
posted by lapsangsouchong at 11:52 AM on August 17, 2012
posted by lapsangsouchong at 11:52 AM on August 17, 2012
My take on it: the snow is coming down so much so that you can't see the earth or sky.
The question is: How much snow? しきる refers to "(1) frequently; repeatedly; incessantly; continually; (2) very; awfully". As the reader, what do you see? Is the snow so heavy that there is nothing but white, or is it coming down constantly so you can see the snowflakes but nothing beyond them? And what sort of feeling do you have - is there a sense of oppression (all that snow, and nothing else) or perhaps wonder ("Hey, I can't see the land or the sky because there is so much snow all around me!")?
That's what is lovely about haiku - the personal interpretation.
(Sometimes my MA in Japanese lit does come in handy.)
posted by sazanka at 11:56 AM on August 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
The question is: How much snow? しきる refers to "(1) frequently; repeatedly; incessantly; continually; (2) very; awfully". As the reader, what do you see? Is the snow so heavy that there is nothing but white, or is it coming down constantly so you can see the snowflakes but nothing beyond them? And what sort of feeling do you have - is there a sense of oppression (all that snow, and nothing else) or perhaps wonder ("Hey, I can't see the land or the sky because there is so much snow all around me!")?
That's what is lovely about haiku - the personal interpretation.
(Sometimes my MA in Japanese lit does come in handy.)
posted by sazanka at 11:56 AM on August 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
I read this as sazanka did -- snow so heavy that its falling seems to have obliterated the earth and sky.
posted by vorfeed at 1:26 PM on August 17, 2012
posted by vorfeed at 1:26 PM on August 17, 2012
Having lived in Snow Country, I would agree with vorfeed
Falling snow so heavy, no earth no sky
posted by KokuRyu at 3:11 PM on August 17, 2012
Falling snow so heavy, no earth no sky
posted by KokuRyu at 3:11 PM on August 17, 2012
There are two parts to this phrase, joined by a word. The first is "天も地もなし". It means neither heaven nor earth. なし usually means "none of something". There's actually another word 天地 which means "heaven and earth" or "the universe".
ただ is "only" or "merely". 雪の降りしきる is "the continuous fall of the snow" or "the heavy snowfall". You can use 降りしきる to talk about rain or snow incessantly falling. So...
No heaven, no earth, perpetual snow.
posted by nevan at 5:27 PM on August 17, 2012
ただ is "only" or "merely". 雪の降りしきる is "the continuous fall of the snow" or "the heavy snowfall". You can use 降りしきる to talk about rain or snow incessantly falling. So...
No heaven, no earth, perpetual snow.
posted by nevan at 5:27 PM on August 17, 2012
As an amateur student of Japanese, I'm going to go with a modification of nevan's succinct translation:
No heaven, no earth; only perpetual snow.
posted by Senza Volto at 8:16 AM on August 18, 2012
No heaven, no earth; only perpetual snow.
posted by Senza Volto at 8:16 AM on August 18, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by plokent at 11:43 AM on August 17, 2012