Haiku by Bashō
and His School
Haranaka ya
mono ni mo tsukazu
naku hibari
|
On the moor: from things
detached completely—
how the skylark sings!
|
Kane tsukanu
mura wa nani wo ka
haru no kure
|
A village where they ring
no bells!—oh, what do they do
at dusk in spring?
|
Chō tori no
shiranu hana ari
aki no sora
|
To bird and butterfly
it is unknown, this flower here:
the autumn sky.
|
Ara umi ya
Sado ni yokotau
ama-no-gawa
|
How rough a sea!
and, stretching over Sado Isle,
the Galaxy….
|
Yagate shinu
keshiki wa miezu
semi no koe
|
Very soon they die—
but of that there is no sign
in the locust-cry.
|
Hiya-hiya to
kabe wo fumaete
hirune kana
|
How very cool it feels:
taking a noonday nap, to have
this wall against my heels.
|
Invitation to Etsujin
Futari mishi
yuki wa kotoshi mo
furikeru ka
|
Snow that we two
saw together—this year
is it fallen anew?
|
Inazuma ya
yami no kata yuku
goi no koe
|
A sudden lightning gleam:
off into the darkness goes
the night heron’s scream.
|
Tabi ni yande
yume wa kareno wo
kakemeguru
|
On a journey, ill—
and my dreams, on withered fields
are wandering still.
|
- · ·
Yado no haru
nanimo naki koso
nanimo are
|
My hut, in spring:
true, there is nothing in it—
there is Everything!
|
Yamaguchi Sodō (1642–1716)
- · ·
Kojiki kana
Tenchi wo kitaru
natsugoromo
|
There a beggar goes!
Heaven and Earth he’s wearing
for his summer clothes!
|
Neko ni kuwareshi wo
semi no tsuma wa
sudakuran
|
Eaten by the cat!
Perhaps the cricket’s widow
is bewailing that.
|
Meigetsu ya
tatami no ue ni
matsu no kage
|
Bright the full moon shines:
here upon the matted floor,
shadows of the pines.
|
Enomoto Kikaku (1661–1707)
- · ·
No mo yama mo
yuki ni torareta
nami mo nashi
|
Mountains and plains,
all are taken by the snow—
nothing remains.
|
Naitō Jōsō (1661–1704)
Translated by Harold G. Henderson
