classic hunting haiku #9

This is the ninth in our series of classic hunting haiku by Issa.

1824

老鳥の追れぬ先に覚悟哉
oi tori no owarenu saki ni kakugo kana

old bird--
even before the hunt begins
accepting the inevitable

Translator's note: "The old bird knows that it can't fly away from the hunters and their falcons.

"French translator Jean Cholley helped me to understand this haiku; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 219."

Translation and notes by David G. Lanoue, who includes the following note: "Translations based on Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 9 volumes. Some of the translations first appeared in Issa, Cup-of-Tea Poems and Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa."