Haiku and Translation

Haiku and translation are similar. 
They both require a clear and precise understanding of the subject matter.

The following haiku was written by a former professional golf player (i.e., an amateur haiku poet).

Original haiku in Japanese: ふる里の　山河よさらば　卒業す (furusato no sanga yo saraba sotsugyo su)

Translation of the original haiku: (This is my first translation of a haiku....)
Good bye
Hometown rivers and mountains
On the graduation day.

This haiku was revised by a popular haiku master as follows:

Revised haiku in Japanese: 卒業の　山河に誓う　志 (sotsugyo no sanga ni chikau kokorozashi)

Translation of the revised haiku:
I resolved to hometown rivers and mountains
To pursue my dream 
On the graduation day. 

The haiku poet described the meaning of the poem as follows:

"I had to do a lot of practice when I was a child to become a professional golf player and had no time to play with friends and couldn't care about anything but golf. So, on the date graduating from a high school, although everyone around me was hugging and crying, I promised to myself that I would never come home until I became a successful golf player."

This her resolution is not understandable from the original haiku. The haiku master did not either. So, after listening to her explanation, the master revised the poem to clarify her real feelings. 

This also applies to translation. When we translate something, we need to understand the subject matter, whatever it is, e.g., a feeling, a person, an animal, or a concept, etc. This is particularly important when the matter is intangible, such as an idea and a feeling. A description or explanation made by the person who experienced the matter does not necessarily describe what it is correctly. This is why translation requires both language proficiency and subject matter knowledge equally.