Elegy to the Old Man Hokuju

Poem by Yosa Buson (Japanese poet & painter of Edo period 1716 - 1784)

You left in the morning, at evening my heart is in a
thousand pieces.

Why is it so far away?

Thinking of you, I go up on the hill and wander.
Around the hill, why is it such a sadness?

Dandelions yellow and shepherds-purse blooming white --
not anyone to look at them.

I hear a pheasant, calling and calling fervently.
Once a friend was there across the river, living.

Ghostly smoke rises and fades away with a west wind
strong in fields of small bamboo grasses and reedy fields.

Nowhere to leave for.

Once a friend was there across the river, living, but today
not even a bird sings a song.

You left in the morning, at evening my heart is in a
thousand pieces.

Why is it so far away?

In my grass hut by the Amida image I light no candle,
offer no flowers, and only sit here alone.

This evening, how invaluable it is.

Priest Buson with a thousand bowings