うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉 urayamashi utsukushū natte chiru momiji Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves

Enviable, to turn beautiful and then to fall: the maple leaves.

うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉 (urayamashi utsukushū natte chiru momiji): enviable, to turn beautiful and then to fall: the maple leaves. うらやまし is how I envy, enviable, and the verse opens on the feeling and gives its object last; 美しう成て is having become beautiful, 美しう the classical form of 美しく; 散る紅葉 is the maple leaves that fall, the autumn season word. It is Shikō's on the record of two books of 1909 from one publisher that set his name beside it, and Miyamori and Yasuda agree; nothing older is known. Miyamori read it through the wild cherry that scatters at the height of its beauty, the samurai's flower, and the maxim better a jewel broken than a tile whole: the poet envies the maple for going the same way. The envy comes first, and the leaves last. The English is Timothy L. Jackowski's, made for Takase Studios.

Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves (うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉 urayamashi utsukushū natte chiru momiji Vertical Cursive VC6B

Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves (うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉) in Design style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉 urayamashi utsukushū natte chiru momiji Vertical Design VD5B

Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉 urayamashi utsukushū natte chiru momiji Vertical Design VD6B

Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves (うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉 urayamashi utsukushū natte chiru momiji Vertical Semi-Cursive VS6C

More about うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉

Shikō wrote the verse in the autumn of 1730, in his last illness, on a visit to the memorial he had raised for himself, and it was first printed in 1732 in the record of that illness his disciple 廬元坊 published; he later changed its opening to 花よりも, more than the flowers.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of うらやまし美しう成て散る紅葉.

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Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves (urayamashi utsukushū natte chiru momiji)

Haiku by Shikō on a traditional Japanese Scroll by Master Eri Takase.

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Shikō - How enviable, Turning beautiful then falling, maple leaves as a hand-brushed scroll

Master Takase personally brushes your scroll when you order, and it bears her red seal and her signature. The scroll has real silk borders and layered Japanese paper, so it hangs straight, and it arrives ready to display.