The End of the Wind

凩の果はありけり海の音　言水

Kogarashi no / hate wa arikeri / umi no oto

Winter wind
has an end—
the sound of the ocean

(Poem by Gonsui, written around 1690.)

Some things that do not exist: the base of a rainbow, the other side of the horizon, and the wind’s final destination. The haiku poet Gonsui, however, found the “end” of the wind. The kogarashi is a fierce, early winter gale that scatters the leaves from the trees. It sweeps through the town, over fields and hills, and out to the sea to set the waters churning. Gonsui’s haiku presents the wind as reaching its destination in the crashing waves of the ocean. First it rages freely with nothing to block it, and then it fades away.

One surviving copy of this poem has the preface, “Lakeside prospect,” so the wind is thought to have been over Lake Biwa. However, it appears in Gonsui’s anthology without a preface, so he apparently did not mind it being taken as about the sea. The phrase hate wa arikeri (has an end) is taken from a yōkyoku or song from nō drama, which describes passing through what seems like the endless Musashino Plain and arriving at Kasuminoseki, a checkpoint in what is now western Tokyo. These kinds of songs were well-known in the Edo period (1603–1868), so the reference would have amused readers.

Gonsui (1650–1722) was from Nara. He traveled to Edo (now Tokyo) when he was young, where he became friendly with Bashō, before moving to Kyoto. This wind haiku was well received and became associated with the poet.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)