Seasons Ending

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summer's end -
a new beginning
at Haiku Hut

This page is dedicated to Mike Rehling and the Haiku Hut!


http://www.haikuhut.com/
http://www.michaelrehling.com/

September 24, 2007

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Seasons Ending

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Season

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Explanation

Each change of a season brings a mixed bag of feelings, some people are happy it is over, some would like it to last a bit longer ... all can be expressed in kigo.

Here let us look at some kigo related to the END of each season. Each belongs to the "late" part of the season words.

If you can think of different and better ways to translate these words, please let me know.

Gabi Greve


A friend once remarked:
end of autumn, i'm not sure if this sounds good in a haiku, it seems just a statement rather than an image.

I hope the kigo collection below helps you choose the right kigo for your haiku.

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There are some special expressions in Japanese that are used to express the ending of a season.

hate 果て

A first ku (hokku) that can stand alone, usually with a mention of a special area, an independent hokku, is called
jihokku 地発句（じほっく）

The last ku of a linked verse is "ageku　挙句", and there is a popular Japanese proverb, ageku no hate 挙句の果て, at the last ku, meaning "at last" (with a strong feeling of relief that it is over!).

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hedataru, 隔たる ... to be distant from

minato, 湊 ... port, harbour

nagori, 名残 ... a trace of something

oshimu, 惜しむ ... to hold something dear, place great value on something
to lament the passing of a season

tonari/donari 隣（どなり）


SPRING and AUTUMN, two special seasons to come to an end

The end of the pleasant spring season with its mild temperatures is especially sad, since now the hot and humid summer is starting.

In autumn, the feeling of sadness and loss is expecially explicit in most of the kigo related to its parting. The coming winter season was a hard one to live through in the times without electricity and central heating of the Edo period.

We have "Spring is leaving, Autumn is leaving" haru/aki yuku, but the same expressions are not used for winter and summer.

The same holds for the combinations with OSHIMU 惜しむ, which are only used in spring and autumn. In winter, it is used in relation to the change of the year, not so much the change of the weather. Oshimu is used to express a strong poetic feeling. It has been used by the people since olden times, it also expresses the honest feeling of the farmers since historic times.


tsuku, coming to an end, 尽く（つく）is only used for march in spring and september in autumn to denote the change of the season.


tonari, next to the following season, can be used for all the four seasons.
It expresses the change of all things, as it is also seen in the life and death of humans too. It also carries a bit of the worries the new season might bring, like saying a little prayer "let it not be too harsh in the coming season"! And then the farmers had to go on with the preparations for the new season.

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SPRING

spring is leaving, passing spring, departing spring,
parting spring, yuku haru 行く春 (ゆくはる)
... haru yuku 春行く（はるゆく）
The end of the pleasant spring season with its mild temperatures is especially sad, since now the hot and humid summer is starting.

lingering spring, haru no nagori 春の名残（はるのなごり）
mementos of spring, haru no katami 春のかたみ（はるのかたみ）

end of spring, spring's end, spring comes to a close
... kure no haru 暮の春 (くれのはる)
... boshun 暮春 (ぼしゅん)
... haru kururu 春暮るる (はるくるる)

spring is leaving, haru no yukue 春の行方（はるのゆくえ）
spring is leaving, haru no wakare春の別れ（はるのわかれ）

nothing left of spring, haru no kagiri 春の限り（はるのかぎり）
end of spring at last, spring's end,
... haru no hate 春の果て（はるのはて）

spring is going, haru no minato 春の湊（はるのみなと）
... haru no tomari 春の泊（はるのとまり）


"oh spring, you are parting", haru zo hedataru
... 春ぞ隔たる（はるぞへだたる）

spring coming to an end, haru tsuku 春尽く（はるつく）
..... shunjin春尽（しゅんじん）, soshun徂春（そしゅん）

seeing off the spring, haru o okuru
... 春を送る（はるをおくる）

spring without tomorrow, asu naki haru 翌なき春（あすなきはる）


to lament about the passing of spring, lamenting spring
haru oshimu 春惜しむ はるおしむ
..... haru o oshimu 春を惜しむ（はるをおしむ）
..... sekishun 惜春（せきしゅん）、

... ... ...

summer is near, natsu chikashi 夏近し (なつちかし)
... spring is close by, in the neighbourhood
natsu donaru 夏隣る（なつどなる）, natsu donari 夏隣（なつどなり）
summer is close, natsu chikamu 夏近む（なつちかむ）
... chikamu natsu 近き夏（ちかきなつ）

month of Yayoi (now April)i is coming to an end,
... yayoi jin 弥生尽 (やよいじん)
Yayoi is the month of growth in the Asian lunar calendar.
5 April – 5 May


april is over, shigatsu jin 四月尽 しがつじん
shigatsu owaru 四月終る（しがつおわる）
shigatsu tsuku 四月尽く（しがつつく）



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SUMMER

end of summer, at last, natsu no hate
夏の果 (なつのはて)
... natsu hate 夏果（なつはて)

summer is going, yuku natsu ゆく夏（ゆくなつ）

summer comes to an end, natsu owaru, 夏終る（なつおわる）
summer is leaving, natsu no wakare 夏の別れ（なつのわかれ）

to lament about the passing of summer, lamenting summer
... natsu oshimu 夏惜しむ（なつおしむ）

end of summer, kure no natsu 暮の夏（くれのなつ）

nothing left of summer, natsu no kagiri
... 夏の限り（なつのかぎり）

running after summer, natsu o ou 夏を追う（なつをおう）


"waiting for autumn", aki o matsu 秋を待つ (あきをまつ)
..... aki matsu 秋待つ（あきまつ）


month Minazuki (now July) is coming to an end
minazuki jin 水無月尽 (みなづきじん )
Minazuki is waterless month in the Asian lunar calendar.
7 July – 7 August

July is over, shichigatsu jin 七月尽（しちがつじん）

"tomorrow is autumn", asu wa aki 翌は秋（あすはあき)
tomorrow comes autumn, asu kuru aki 翌来る秋（あすくるあき）

"night is like autumn", autumnal night,
... yoru no aki 夜の秋 (よるのあき)

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AUTUMN

autumn is leaving, yuku aki 行く秋 (ゆくあき)
... aki yuku 秋行く（あきゆく）
In autumn, the feeling of sadness and loss is expecially explicit in most of the kigo related to its parting. The coming winter season was a hard one to live through in the times without electricity and central heating of the Edo period.

lingering autumn, aki no nagori 秋の名残（あきのなごり）
..... nokoru aki 残る秋（のこるあき）
autumn is leaving, aki no wakare, 秋の別（あきのわかれ）
autumn is over, aki no owari 秋の終（あきのおわり）

nothing left of autumn, aki no kagiri
秋の限（あきのかぎり

autumn is going, aki no minato 秋の湊（あきのみなと）
autumn is leaving, aki no yukue 秋の行方（あきゆくえ）

"autumn is going home", kaeru aki
帰る秋（かえるあき）
seeing autumn off, aki ni okururu 秋に後るる（あきにおくるる）

"oh autumn, you are parting" aki zo hedataru
... 秋ぞ隔る（あきぞへだたる）

end of autumn at last, aki no hate
秋の果（あきのはて）

autumn has passed, aki sugu 秋過ぐ（あきすぐ）

to lament about the passing of autumn, lamenting autumn,
aki oshimu 秋惜む (あきおしむ)


winter is close, fuyu donari 冬隣 (ふゆどなり)
fuyu tonaru 冬隣る（ふゆとなる）
winter is near, fuyu chikashi 冬近し（ふゆちかし）
waiting for winter, fuyu o matsu 冬を待つ（ふゆをまつ）


"september is over" kugatsu jin 九月尽 (くがつじん)
... kugatsu tsuku 九月尽く（くがつつく）
"September" in the old lunar calendar, means the end of the autumn season. Now it is mostly the beginning of November. In the lunar calendar, this kigo was often used on the last day (misoka) of the ninth month.


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WINTER

winter is over, fuyu tsuku 冬尽く (ふゆつく)
..... mifuyu tsuku み冬尽く（みふゆつく）
..... fuyu owaru 冬終る（ふゆおわる）

end of winter at last, fuyu hatsu 冬果つ（ふゆはつ）

winter is going, fuyu yuku 冬行く（ふゆゆく）
..... fuyu saru 冬去る（ふゆさる）

lingering winter, fuyu no nagori 冬の名残（ふゆのなごり）

nothing left of winter, fuyu no kagiri
冬の限り（ふゆのかぎり）
winter is leaving, fuyu no wakare
冬の別れ（ふゆのわかれ）

seeing off the winter, fuyu okuru 冬送る（ふゆおくる）

... ... ...

The following kigo express the strong wish for spring to start soon!

spring is near, haru chikashi 春近し (はるちかし)
..... haru tonari 春隣（はるとなり）
..... haru o tonari 春を隣（はるをとなり）
..... haru tonaru 春隣る（はるとなる）

spring very close, haru majika 春まぢか（はるまぢか）
heading fast toward spring, haru o isogu
春を急ぐ（はるをいそぐ）、、春の急ぎ（はるのいそぎ）

spring still far, haru tooshi 春遠し（はるとおし）
..... haru tookaraji 春遠からじ（はるとおからじ）
..... haru yaha tooki 春やは遠き（はるやはとおき）

spring wind is close, harukaze chikashi
春風近し（はるかぜちかし）

"spring of tomorrow", asu no haru 明日の春（あすのはる）


"spring will start this year", nennai risshun
年内立春 (ねんないりっしゅん)

"spring in this winter", fuyu no haru 冬の春（ふゆのはる）
"spring in this year", toshi no haru 年の春（としのはる）
..... toshi no uchi no haru 年の内の春（としのうちのはる）

"spring on the last day of the year (oomisoka)
jojitsu risshun 除日立春（じょじつりっしゅん）

According to the Asian lunar calendar, the beginning of the New Year co-incided with the beginning of spring.

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NEW YEAR

last year, kozo 去年 (こぞ) , kyonen 去年（きょねん）
... kyosai 去歳（きょさい）、
old year, kyuunen 旧年（きゅうねん)

old winter, kyuutoo 旧冬（きゅうとう）
old year, furutoshi 古年（ふるとし）
"first past", hatsu mukashi 初昔（はつむかし）

"the year of tonight", yoi no toshi宵の年（よいのとし）

past year, new year, kozo kotoshi 去年今年（こぞことし）


An interesting expression is the use of ROO, a word used in Buddhism to count the years of a person living in a monastery.
old monastic year, kyuuroo,旧臘（きゅうろう）

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Worldwide use

Europe / Europa

It came as quite a surprise to see how different the *feelings* of the ends of seasons are in Japan, compared to the temperate countries of Europe that I know (Ireland, Belgium).

My impression is that, in Europe, while spring is a season full of hope and colour and life, it is so much loved because it is the precursor of summer, the high point of the year.

Subtle poets love spring and autumn because they are beautiful in a more subtle way -- but I am pretty sure that the average temperate European citizen loves summer best. Lamenting the passing of spring would not be a common occurrence, even among poets, I believe...

Read an interesting discussion
Isabelle Prondzynski


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


Painting by Buson

行く春や 重たき琵琶 の だき心
yuku haru ya omotaki biwa no daki kokoro

spring is leaving -
thinking about carrying
a heavy biwa lute

...

ゆく春や逡巡として遅ざくら
yuku haru yashunjun to shite oso zakura

la fin du printemps-
hésitantes, les dernières
fleurs de cerisier

Buson , Tr. nekojita

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行く春や鳥啼き魚の目は泪
yuku haru ya tori naki uo no me wa namida

spring is leaving ..
birds cry and the eyes of fish
full of tears

Matsuo Basho
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

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Cool breeze through jersey
As I lament summer's end.
Leaves mirrored in shade.

natsu no hate, by Fritz

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lamenting autumn --
sake sips from lips
not my own

The memory of the first time I visited Japan is of scattered images from scenes flashing by the window on a Bullet Train. The trip is comfortable but long and we anticipated its end in early evening to check in and enjoy a late evening meal and drinks. Akita having some of the best sake in Japan (ask anyone from Akita).
I remember its subtle flavor in sips from a special sake cup wrapped in cherry tree
bark. The cup is unique to this region.

Chibi - simple_sigh_man

Handicraft from Cherry Tree Bark : 桜皮細工

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winter is leaving -
my badger finally
opens his eyes




© Photo and Haiku Gabi Greve, 2005

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Related words

***** Seasons beginning


***** The Asian Lunar Calendar. Reference


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