梅遠近 南すべく 北すべく ume ochikochi minami subeku kita subeku buson 蕪村 Plum blossoms everywhere, I should go south, I should go north

Plum blossoms everywhere,
I should go south,
I should go north

梅遠近南すべく北すべく (ume ochikochi minami subeku kita subeku): plum blossoms here and there; south would do, and north would do.

Yosa Buson's verse is a walk in early spring, with plum in bloom all around. South would be good, and north would be good, so any road will do. The sentence stops in the air, and the rest is left unsaid. Readers have filled it in the same way: either way, as the heart pleases.

In the Japanese, 遠近, ochikochi, means here and there, far and near. 南すべく and 北すべく are to go south and to go north, each with べく, would do. Nothing follows them, so the verse ends on an open choice.

The English is Timothy L. Jackowski's, made for Takase Studios.

One also sees the pronunciation minnami which would make the second line seven syllables.

The verse is Buson's: he wrote it out under the headnote 野徑梅, plum along the field paths, in a letter to his pupil 霞夫 that a 1925 edition dates provisionally to 1777, and it was first printed in his 蕪村句集 of 1784.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 梅遠近南すべく北すべく.

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Eri Takase was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, and holds the rank of Shihan, the highest rank in Japanese calligraphy, from the Bokuteki-kai and the Bunka-shodo. About Master Takase