The life of the poor farmer — two poems.
work and work and still the plumes of pampas grass
hataraite mo hataraite mo susukippo
1939–1940 · Matsuyama, Issō-an hermitage
Sōmokutō · The Crow (Karasu)
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A poem headed "the life of the poor farmer." Work and work, and still life grows no easier; all the eye takes in is the plumes of pampas grass. The whiteness of those plumes looks on quietly at the futility of the toil.