Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
From the series "A Collection of Desires". "I want to see Kao"「見立多以盡」 「かほが見たい」
The title Mitate-tai-zukushi can be rendered as "Eves' Wishes and Hopes are compared to and alluded to what they are acquainted with." Here "Eves" are those women and ladies of classes from high and low. Some are new women and others remain in the old profession, but hopeful to venture into their own new selves. (Thanks to Mariko Shimizu for the translations).
Words by Moody Ten-ten-do
The say a goddess of Shaman Mountains showed up
in a dream of King Huai the ruler of Chui
and pledged her love with the king of Chu; Chui and Chu
were to fight and King Huai’s dream came true
when he lost the battles. To some Chui and Chu
sound similar and feel they don’t matter,
but they matter when it comes to winning and losing.
If it rains in Shaman Mountains, the Weaving Princess
cannot meet her Prince.
Likewise, my dream will not come true.
When tea houses have fun loving guests for days,
a beautiful geiko does nothing but hates rain.
Lovers split a mirror and share them to themselves to see
in his or her mirror his or her partner’s face.
Her mirror, however, will not reflect his face or his arrival,
when she looks in it under the light of the inn eves,
where she waits for him.
When she loses her affluent client, who can provide her
with new wigs and kimono, the hair ornament she has asked
won’t be decorating her topknot, as the haiku of Arakida *goes:
the fallen blossom coming back to its brough, no it is a butterfly!
Before they fire an empty gun at the noon, I get ready with
my make-ups and dressing-up, but I don’t feel alright
unless I see banknotes shining in gold.
Like worshiper of Buddha statue,
though I know you’d laugh at me,
I want to look at banknotes in awe.
I think it no fun living in the world dominated by money,
but that is what it is to live in the greedy world.
Arakida is Arakida Moritake, who is regarded as the founder of
haiku poetry. The poem by Arakida Moritake that most often
quoted and also is related to the context above reads:
returning to its bough, I figured--
Condition: Good condition, not backed. 13-1/2" x 9" + Margins as shown.
Date: 1877
Publisher: Inoue Shigehei
http://www.yoshitoshi.net/series/desires.html
