Harawata ni

腸に/春滴るや/粥の味
(夏目漱石 1867-1916)

harawata ni / haru shitataru ya / kayu no aji
(Natsume Soseki 1867-1916)

spring dripping
into the guts,
the taste of gruel


According to a few Japanese websites (including this one), the above haiku refers to a specific moment in Soseki's life, when he was recovering from a critical illness. He went to stay at a spa in Shuzenji to treat a stomach ulcer, but his condition got worse and he started spitting blood. During his recovery, he was unable to eat for a long time, until finally he was allowed a bowl of gruel, which seemed to him incredibly delicious. Until I discovered this fact, I was considering translating 'kayu' as 'porridge', which has more tasty connotations in English than 'gruel' (for me at any rate).

It should also be noted that 'harawata' translates directly as 'guts' or 'intestines', but figuratively as the heart. When I originally translated this, I wrote 'spring dripping /on the heart', but having a look at the page for 'harawata' on Yahoo! (jp) dictionary, it doesn't seem like quite the right heart (not the kokoro). I've come to prefer the 'guts' version as more immediate and direct, though I'm still not certain it's nearer the mark.