on honorable Buddha’s
honorable nose
an icicle
mi-botoke no o-hana no saki e tsurara kana
.御仏の御鼻の先へつらら哉
by Issa, 1814
On one hand, Issa makes fun of the Buddha sporting an undignified icicle dangling from the tip of his nose. Deeper, we sense his sympathy for the Buddha, who endures cold weather for mankind’s sake–recalling a haiku of 1813: hito no tame shigurete owasu hotoke kana for our sake enduring the winter rain… stone Buddha
source: http://cat.xula.edu/issa/
