Hokusai and Yafutei

The original text runs:


　　　椰風亭
　　　　　侍蓑

志のゝめ能
　常の
　　もやうの
　　多く奈き
　霧の麻ふ
　むなしや烏

In contemporary text:

　　　椰風亭
　　　　侍蓑

東雲の
　常の
　　模様の
　　多くなき
　霧の舞う
　むなしや烏　　

　Yafutei
Jisai/Samurai-mino


Shi-no-no-me-no
Tsu-ne-no
mo-yo-u-no
O--o-ku-na-ki
Ki-ri-no-ma-u
Mu-na-shi-ya-ka-ra-su

This is my rendition:

At dawn
little change of atmosphere
than usual
the fog dancing
never more raven

This is my interpretation or rather conjecture of this woodblock print.
We do wonder why the raven has a sword in his mouth.
Firstly this raven must be a samurai 侍 or warrior, whose index we see
in the name 侍蓑　samurai-mino。　　
These two Chinese characters do resonate oｒ simply remind us,
if we are familiar with Japanese poetry, of Ohta Dohkan and his poem.

Ohta Dokan wanted to borrow a straw raincoat when it started to rain.
He visited one of the village houses to ask for a straw raincoat.
There came out a young lady with a branch of Japanese rose with her poem.
The poem reads, "Yamabuki no mino hitotsu dani naku
kanashi" or "what a pity that/no fruits for Japanese rose/ no straw raincoats for me/ to lend to you /but his branch of Japanese rose."
Here lies the pun in 蓑（mino）/raincoat、whose homonyms are 実の（mino)/of fruit and 身の（mino)/of body。

Now we have to turn to the original text, which looks and sounds
a little bizzar: it does not form 5-7-5-7-7 but it is made of 5-7-5-5-7.
It could be that I'm misreading the text. If I were not mistaken,
there must be a good reason and ground for this text to get along
with the print. The raven looks like symbolizing a warrior,
as I mentioned. Having a sword is nothing unusual for a samurai,
which seems to be supported by the text "little change of atmosphere
than usual."
So we just leave it as it is. The text says "At dawn/little change of
atmosphere than usual." Nothing unusual at all. It suggests that
the dawn breaks and a new day begins.　According to the ancient
Chinese legend there lives the Raven in the sun.
If we take this into consideration of this print, it may suggest that
this raven warrior is a sort of guardian angel of the night.

However, there could be some counterpart of raven warrior.
We have to crack our brain and bring out something to counterbalance
and counterpart a sword. What is it? It must be an arrow.
Arrow 矢/arrow　gets along with 夜/night ;　both characters have
the same sound "ya." Now we add raven/烏 to night/夜; we get
鵺 Nue, sometimes referred to as a Japanese chimera, are supposed
to be bringers of misfortune and illness.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nue

Probably Hokusai loves this reading, for he is such a versatile artist.

It's a joy to share firstly Hokusai and the text, which resonates with “craw”,
in Latin a similar word “cras” meaning “tomorrow” that would result in
deferring any action, by this you must be reminded of “The Raven” or “Nevermore” by E.A. Poe (1845), as well as “No answer riddle” by
Lewis Carroll (1865). We have raven and craw as clairevoyant,
messanger of omen or auspiciousness ;we see in the messenger
of dieties both in the West and East.
I imagined the Raven in the print fighting off the Nue; the Raven fights
off Nue into nevermore and yet the Nue would be again tomorrow/cars
with the cry similar to the Raven's?!
I find the great humor in Hokusai and this print, whose fragments I tried to
show above. I owe the cue and the direction of my reading
to Franco Palestro, who referred to the Latin etymology of "craw."
http://www.facebook.com/sophienatau#!/photo.php?fbid=363663906999554&set=t.100000092300831&type=3&theater

skipped Renè Magritte with his work of clairevoyance in his raven/craw.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=354594384573173&set=t.100000092300831&type=3&theater

Franco Palestro Thank you, Mariko Shimizu, here you have my tribute for you http://youtu.be/cPOPY8C-KkI

The words of this song:

Don't give me love, don't give me faith,
Wisdom nor pride, give innocence instead.
Don't give me love, I've had my share
Beauty nor rest, give me truth instead.
A crow flew to me, kept its distance
Such a proud creation,
I saw its soul, envied its pride
But needed nothing it had.
An owl came to me, old and wise
Pierced right through my youth
I learned its ways, envied its sense
But needed nothing it had.
Don't give me love, I've had my share
Beauty nor rest, give me truth instead.
A dove came to me, had no fear
It rested on my arm
I touched its calm, envied its love
But I needed nothing it had.
A swam of white, she came to me
The lake mirrored her beauty sweet
I kissed her neck, adored her grace
But needed nothing she could give.
Don't give me love, don't give me faith
Wisodm nor pride, give me innocence instead.
Don't give me love, I've had my share
Beauty nor rest, give me truth instead.