【ともし火の島かくれゆくすずみ舟】（正岡子規）
Translation
A lighted summer boat is hiding in the shadow of the island.
（Shiki Masaoka）
Hello☺
Here is a haiku（japanese song 5-7-5） by Masaoka Shiki, a poet of the Meiji era.
I felt 2 opposing beauties in this haiku. One is movement and stillness. The other is light and darkness.
The contrast between the stillness of the sea, the night sky, and the island scene, and the movement of the summer boat and its lights, is striking.
The boat is in lively movement with everyone drinking and talking, but when you go on deck, the night sky is still and if there are fireworks going off, it is movement in the stillness.
I can also imagine the beauty of the contrast of the brightness of the lights of the summer boat in black darkness.
Shiki Masaoka was sickly and spent many years on his bed, so he might had been looking at the sea from his sickbed. This would give me a sense of the stillness of Shiki's own bed and the movement of life.
I think this haiku is wonderful because it is simple but profound and brings various scenes to my mind.
It is very hot in Tokyo. Please take care of yourself and enjoy the summer.
Shin Ei
