Kai mo naki

かいもなき/眠り薬や/夜半の秋
(芥川龍之介 1892-1927)

kai mo naki / nemuri-gusuri ya / yowa no aki
(Akutagawa Ryunosuke 1892-1927)

ineffective
sleeping drugs:
autumn midnight


This haiku is rather disturbing if you know that Akutagawa committed suicide by taking an overdose of Veronal, a sleeping aid in the form of a white powder. However, I can't find any mention of the poem on the net, either in English or Japanese, so any speculation on how it might connect with his death would remain speculation. (When I can't find the poem in Japanese I begin to wonder if it exists, though it's there in the book in front of me). Disregarding the biographical information there's also something slightly humorous about it, with the two lines of build-up and the last line of punch-line. Having said this I often find humour where none is intended.

I didn't know the expression 'kai mo nai' before reading this haiku and it baffled me at first. It's one of those cases where having the kanji would have made things a lot easier, and in this case the kanji are '甲斐', though it seems from the dictionary to usually be written in hiragana. Apparently it means something like 'worth' as well as 'effect', so while I think 'ineffective' is the most accurate translation, there's the idea of pointlessness hovering about in the background too. It's the second sleepless haiku from Akutagawa, and if haiku often seem to be about solitary experience, there's not much more solitary than being awake when everyone else is asleep.

Alternate searches:

'nemurigusuri ya'