ganjitsu ya / omoeba sabishi / aki no kure  

The First Day of the Year: / I remember / A lonely autumn evening. (© R.H.Blyth)
The first day of the year: / thoughts come, - and there is loneliness; / the autumn dusk is
here. (© Harold G. Henderson)

My first impression is how sad and lonely this poem is. Matsuo Basho suffered
from loneliness and depression. He had many moments where he was very lonely and
he isolated himself. I think this poem came from a time of darkness for him. I can
assume that it is a new year and it is starting off very lonely. Sometimes as the years
pass and you get older, you become more lonely and depressed. I can assume that he
has felt as the year has not gone well and he has no hope for a better year. Since he is
saying autumn even though it is a new year, he is referring to the end of the year as if
he is looking down the road.

The difference between the two is not much. I chose these two translations
because they were close in meaning. That could mean that they are more accurate
translations considering how similar it is. The first translation is a little bit different
because it is saying how it is a new year and he realizes it is going to be a lonely year.
The second translation is saying how he is already thinking and he becomes lonely and
next thing you know the year has passed and it is autumn. Both have the overall
message that Matsuo Basho is lonely this year.

Autumn​, ​the third season of the year, when crops and fruits are gathered and leaves
fall, in the northern hemisphere from September to November
Autumn has made the leaves turn into a beautiful golden color.

Dusk,​ the darker stage of twilight

I will be home by dusk mom.

First day of school is here/ Fear is here too/ no friends and alone again

My Haiku lacks season reference. The only reference I have is the first day of school
which could be referred to as late May or late summer. However that is not a good
enough reference. My haiku is very contemporary and not traditional. I tried to stick to
that loneliness and syllable structure of the first translation. This haiku is also not very
descriptive for a picture or image. It is more relatable in feeling.
The haiku of matsuo basho lacks imagery. You can’t exactly place an image with
loneliness. However this is one of my favorite poems because it is more contemporary
than the traditional season descriptive haiku.

I can use this haiku to better the types of haikus structures I know. Haikus can
come in all forms of topic, feeling, imagery, or etc. For example this haiku is very
descriptive in feeling and emotion which is very relatable, but not very descriptive in
imagery and “​With the passing of autumn / Butterflies, too, sup upon / Dewdrops on the
chrysanthemums” is very seasonal and imagery heavy.” This does not make Matsuo
Basho a bad haiku writer or an inconsistent writer. If anything this makes him a well
rounded, unique, and interesting writer. Haiku is about experience, and whatever he is
seeing, feeling, or thinking can be used as a haiku. This haiku can show me a different
side of haiku writing.

I can use this haiku in other assignments by incorporating emotions and thinking state in
my poetry. Poetry is just another expression in writing. Feeling lonely, depressed, and
anxious is an experience. For example, the first day of school is terrifying. It is a mix of
emotions between scared, excited, anxious, and happiness. This mixture of emotion is
relatable because everyone goes through the first day of school jitters. This haiku taught
me that use of emotion can be used in haiku writing.