七島の一島つつむ霞かな 三田きえ子
nanatô no ittô tsutsumu kasumi kana
covering one
of seven islands
haze
Kieko Mita
from “Haiku Shiki” (“Haiku Four Seasons,” a monthly haiku magazine) , January 2012 Issue, Tokyo Shiki Shuppan, Tokyo
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When I started exploring Japanese poetics, one of the best books I found was: “From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry” translated and edited by Hiroaki Sato and Burton Watson. So as I come to this haiku, the first thing that strikes me is: Why it only refers to seven islands? Is it talking about the spring haze over Japan? or is there something else going on here?
Merrill: As a former Tokyo-er (!?), when I saw the word ‘seven islands,’ I thought about Izu Seven Islands. Criminals were sent to one of them and forced to have harsh life during the Edo Period.
But at the same time, the archipelagos of ‘seven,’ not ten or four, etc., made me one long continuous line to the eternity and calmness …