Mizuta Masahida (1657–1723 CE) was a Japanese samurai and poet who also practiced medicine. He studied haiku with the master Basho, and this haiku is said to have won high praise from his teacher.
Barn’s burnt down —
now
I can see the moon.
Translation Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto
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Fabulous example of a grateful interpretation of an unexpected turn of events. Years ago I saw a different version of this poem. The one you are sharing is sweeter and shorter and has the author’s name! Thank you, Nawab!
Thank you, Howard. Difficult at this distance to know if the translation is faithful to the original. Masahide devoted the skills of a samurai, a doctor and a mystic to the artistic arrangement of seventeen syllables, so his haiku must have been quite remarkable.