Omit

I often see this haiku mistranslated to make it seem like Shiki is greeting the wind. He is actually writing about his meeting with his old friend Hyotei, a fellow haiku poet whom he had worked with at the newspaper where he wrote his essays calling for haiku reform. Hyotei had recently returned from China where he had fought in the army, and Shiki is commenting that both are still alive to meet again: neither his illness had killed him yet nor had the China war killed Hyotei.[2]

In his notes for this haiku Shiki wrote about the mixed feelings he had when meeting with Hyotei. He was very happy to see Hyotei again, but at the same time he was sad that Hyotei had been given a full life of adventure while his illness had confined him to his bed most of the time. He wasn't exactly angry at the universe for this unfairness, but he was sad regardless. His confusion over his feelings gave birth to this haiku.