ChatGPT and Translation
My first test of having GPT-4 translate a literary passage going very well, I decided to try it with poetry. I took the poems from here. I did this test on March 15, 2023.
Prompt: The following are thirty well-known haiku in Japanese. Translate each one into English in two versions. In both versions, the poem should be presented in three lines. In the first version, the number of English syllables in each line should be five-seven-five. In the second version, you may use any number of English syllables in each line. The English translations should reflect the meaning of the Japanese originals while sounding poetic in English. You do not need to use rhyme in English.
(Note: Despite being told that it could use any number of syllables in the second versions, GPT-4 used five-seven-five for most of them.)
赤い椿 白い椿と 落ちにけり
Red camellia
Falls beside the white one
Camellias drop
Red camellia,
Beside a white one, they fall,
Camellias drop.
秋深き 隣は何を する人ぞ
Deep autumn's here
What does my neighbor do now?
Silent thoughts ponder
Deep in autumn,
What is my neighbor doing?
Silent pondering.
朝顔に つるべとられて もらい水
Morning glory vine
Steals my bucket, now I ask
For water to share
Morning glory,
Takes my bucket, I borrow,
Water from neighbors.
荒海や 佐渡に横たふ 天の川
Wild raging sea
The Milky Way stretches cross
To Sado Island
Rough sea, Sado lies,
Stretching across the heavens,
The Milky Way.
うまさうな 雪がふうはり ふわりかな
Horses seem light
As snow falls softly, so swift
Floating flakes descend
Horses seem so light,
Snow falls gently, swift and free,
Softly floating down.
梅一輪 一輪ほどの あたたかさ
Single plum bloom
Warmth of just one single bloom
In the winter air
One plum blossom,
A single bloom brings warmth,
To cold winter air.
柿くえば 鐘が鳴るなり 法隆寺
Biting persimmon
The temple bell tolls at once
Horyuji chimes
Bite a persimmon,
Temple bell begins to ring,
Horyuji chimes.
行水の 捨てどころなし 虫の声
Washing in the stream
Nowhere to discard my clothes
Insect voices sing
Washing in the stream,
No place to leave my garments,
Insects serenade.
鶏頭の 十四五本も ありぬべし
Cockscomb flowers stand
Fourteen or fifteen of them
Surely they must be
Cockscomb flowers,
Fourteen or fifteen must be,
Standing together.
これがまあ 終のすみかか 雪五尺
Five feet of snow
Is this the end I wonder?
My final dwelling
Is this my end place?
Five feet of snow bury me,
My last dwelling, here.
五月雨を 集めてはやし 最上川
Rain of early June
Gathers, flows swiftly along
Mogami River
Early June rain,
Gathering, flows swiftly through,
Mogami River.
さらさらと 竹に音あり 夜の雪
Quietly it falls
Bamboo rustles in the night
Snow descends with grace
Softly, softly falls,
Bamboo rustles in the night,
Graceful falling snow.
閑かさや 岩にしみ入る 蝉の声
Peaceful stillness now
Cicada's song seeps into
Rocks that surround us
Tranquil solitude,
Cicada's song seeping through,
Rocks that surround.
しばらくは 花の上なる 月夜かな
For a moment's time
Above the blossoms, the moon
Illuminates night
Briefly, the moon shines,
Above the blossoms, lighting,
The night sky aglow.
すずめの子 そこのけそこのけ お馬が通る
Baby sparrows chirp
Move aside, move aside, please
Horses pass our way
Sparrow chicks chirp,
Step aside, step aside, horse,
Coming through our path.
旅に病んで 夢は枯れ野を かけめぐる
Sick on a journey
My dreams wander desolate
Withered fields alone
Ill on a journey,
Dreams wander desolate fields,
Empty and forlorn.
遠山に 日の当たりたる 枯野かな
Distant hills bask in
Sunlight touching upon them
Barren fields do rest
Distant hills basking,
Sunlight touching upon them,
Barren fields resting.
夏草や つわものどもが 夢の跡
Summer grasses stand
Where mighty warriors dreamed
Now only traces
Summer grasses grow,
Warriors' dreams, now only,
Traces left behind.
菜の花や 月は東に 日は西に
Mustard flowers bloom
Moon rises in the east, sun
Sets in the west skies
Fields of mustard blooms,
Moon in the east, sun sets west,
Nature's harmony.
ねぎ白く 洗ひたてたる 寒さかな
Freshly washed green onions
Their whiteness reveals the cold
Of winter's harsh grip
Green onions washed,
Whiteness reveals winter's cold,
Harsh grip upon us.
春の海 ひねもすのたり のたりかな
Spring sea, rising, falling
In constant motion, gentle
Ebb and flow of waves
Springtime sea,
In constant motion, gently,
Ebbing and flowing.
古池や 蛙とびこむ 水の音
Ancient pond and still
A frog leaps, the water's splash
Sound breaks the silence
Old, still pond,
Frog leaps, water's splash resounds,
Silence is broken.
名月や 池をめぐりて 夜もすがら
Harvest moon so bright
Circling the pond all night
Relentless beauty
Harvest moon shines bright,
Around the pond all night long,
Endless, stunning glow.
名月を とってくれろと 泣く子かな
Crying child demands
Give me the harvest moon now!
Wishing for the moon
Crying child pleads,
"Give me the harvest moon now!"
Wishing for the moon.
目には青葉 山ほととぎす 初がつお
Green leaves meet my eyes
Cuckoo in the mountain sings
The start of summer
Eyes meet green leaves,
Mountain cuckoo sings aloud,
Summer's beginning.
やせ蛙 負けるな一茶 これにあり
Thin, hungry frog
Don't lose to Issa, be strong
Victory is near
Gaunt, hungry frog,
Yield not to Issa, be strong,
Triumph is close by.
やれ打つな はえが手をする 足をする
Don't you dare swat it!
The fly waves its hands and feet
In a pleading dance
Do not swat the fly!
Hands and feet waving in plea,
Dancing for mercy.
夕立や 草葉をつかむ むら雀
Sudden evening rain
Sparrows clutch at grass and leaves
Seeking some shelter
Sudden evening rain,
Sparrows clutch grass and leaves,
Seeking safe shelter.
雪とけて 村一ぱいの 子どもかな
Snow melts away, and
The village fills with children
Playing joyfully
Snow melts away,
Village fills with joyful kids,
Playing merrily.
をととひの へちまの水も 取らざりき
Not even one drop
Of water from the gourd fruit
Will I take from you
Not a single drop,
Gourd fruit's water I won't take,
All is yours to keep.
Prompt: In the last haiku, をととひの へちまの水も 取らざりき, the word をととひ means 一昨日. Can you translate that one again?
Day before yesterday
Not a drop of gourd's water
Did I take from you
Day before yesterday,
Gourd's water I didn't take,
Not even one drop.