The Economy Magazine + Press

ISBN 978-1-7356630-6-7

Printed in Chicago, IL
First Edition, August 2020

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POEMS OF KOBAYASHI ISSA
ふしぎ也生れた家でけさの春
fushigi nari umareta ie de kesa no haru

So strange
in the house I was born
this spring morning
もたいなや昼寝して聞田うへ唄
motaina ya hirune shite kiku taue uta

Feels wrong
taking a nap
hearing rice-planting songs
頬べたにあてなどしたる真瓜哉
hobeta ni ate nado shitaru makuwa kana

Held close
against her cheek
a small cantaloupe

* Above this haiku Issa wrote: “My daughter, Sato, smiling in her sleep.”
秋風やむしりたがりし赤い花
aki kaze ya mushiritagarishi akai hana

Autumn wind
the red flowers
you liked to pick

* Issa visiting his daughter’s grave a month after her death.

鶯や泥足ぬぐふ梅の花
uguisu ya doro ashi nuguu ume no hana

The warbler
wipes his muddy feet
on plum blossoms
柴の門や錠のかはりのかたつぶり
shiba no to ya jô no kawari no katatsuburi

A makeshift gate
in place of a lock
a snail
Drawing and calligraphy by Issa,
Kobayashi Issa Museum.
春雨や蛤殻の朝の月
harusame ya hamaguri gara no asa no tsuki

In the spring rain

a clamshell
the morning moon
The text of Poems of Kobayashi Issa is set in Minion Pro
designed by Robert Slimbach
and Monotype Grotesque
designed Frank Hinman Pierpont

*The Japanese text is set in MS Mincho

Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) grew up in poverty and
neglect. His poems are playful, crass, and full of
compassion for the unnoticed and the undignified. In
A Taste of Issa, David G. Lanoue writes, “Issa is a poet
who speaks to our common humanity in a way that is
so honest, so contemporary, his verses might have been
written this morning. While Basho is the most revered
of the haiku poets of Old Japan, Issa is the most loved.”

Anthony Opal (b. 1983) is a poet, translator, and editor.

His books include Action (2014), Procession (2020),
and The Roof Above Our Heads (2021), as well as
translations of Hatano Sōha, Kobayashi Issa, Matsuo
Basho, and a linguistic survey on the Book of Jonah. His
work has appeared in various magazines and journals,
including Boston Review, Harvard Divinity Bulletin,
Notre Dame Review, and Poetry. He received an MFA
from Northwestern University and currently lives in
Chicago, IL.
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