蒼海の 浪酒臭し 今日の月

blue sea
waves smell of saké
tonight's moon
—Basho
(Tr. David LaSpina)

(sōkai no / nami sake kusashi / kyō no tsuki)

(print by Kawase Hasui)

In addition to the moon being a common topic for autumn, so is saké, which is traditionally enjoyed while watching the moon. Although Basho wrote many haiku on the topic of drinking saké (and getting drunk), he is not doing so now; rather, he is making a pun on the word tsuki, the word for moon which also sounds like the word for saké cup. The image is that the moon looks like a saké cup rising out of the ocean.

Having said that, perhaps he was enjoying some saké while composing this haiku.

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Footnotes

†: Translation by David LaSpina

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Don't miss the other great haiku in the Haiku of Japan series!

1. Traveling to the inn
2. Childless Woman
3. Old Dancing Butterfly
4. Seeing the Moon
5. Checking the Scarecrow
6. Skill of Insects
7. The Spider Lilies
8. A Thousand Green Mountains
9. Falling Lead Enlightenment
10. Lonely Night
11. Her Day Off
12. Autumn Crow
13. Faint Footprints
14. Alone on the Road
15. Autumn Begins
16. Early Morning Moon Viewing
17. Mistaken for a Scarecrow
18. The Galactic River
19. The Love of Cats
20. Autumn Waterfall
21. The Thief and the Moon
22. My Frozen Balls

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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org.