225Haiku 俳句
五月雨や大河を前に家二軒
さみだれやたいがをまえにいえにけんSamidare ya taiga o mae ni ie niken
“June rains — facing the swollen river, two houses.”
The meaning
Before the flood, two houses stand side by side. Their fragility is real, their tenacity too — and being two changes everything.
At the origin
A haiku by Buson, the picture of a shared worry.
The characters
- 五月雨 samidareearly summer rain
- や yacutting word
- 大河 taigagreat river
- を
- 前
- に
- 家
- 二軒
やParticle“And” of an open list: among others. In a haiku it is the cut — a silence that parts the verse.
In practice
Facing what rumbles, stand as two rather than alone.
Themes
In the collections · Natsu
Similar proverbs
- 162 五月雨をあつめて早し最上川 Gathering the rains of June, how swiftly flows the Mogami.
- 299 国破れて山河あり The country is broken; mountains and rivers remain.
- 077 雨降って地固まる After the rain, the ground hardens.
- 101 月に叢雲、花に風 Over the moon, gathering clouds; over blossoms, wind.
- 109 ゆく河の流れは絶えずして、しかももとの水にあらず The river flows on and on, and yet the water is never the same.