Haiku of the Middle
and Late Tokugawa Period
Nashi no hana
tsuki ni fumi yomu
onn ari
|
Blossoms on the pear;
and a woman in the moonlight
reads a letter there …
|
Sakura chiru
nawashiro-mizu ya
hoshi-zukiyo
|
Scattered petals lie
on the rice-seedling waters:
stars in the moonlit sky.
|
Harusame ni
nuretsutsu yane no
temari kana
|
As the spring rains fall,
soaking in them, on the roof,
is a child’s rag ball.
|
Harusame ya
dōsha no kimi no
sasamegoto
|
Ah, the rains of spring!
Dear lady driving with me here,
your whispering!
|
Harusame ya
kawazu no hara no
mada nurezu
|
Spring rain: and as yet
the little froglets’ bellies
haven’t got wet.
|
Mijika yo ya
asase ni nokoru
tsuki ippen
|
Night that ends so soon:
in the shallows still remains
one sliver of the moon.
|
Mi ni shimu ya
bōsai no kushi
neya ni fumu
|
What piercing cold I feel:
my dead wife’s comb, in our bedroom,
under my heel….
|
| Medieval scene
|
Toba dono e
go-rokki isogu
nowaki kana
|
To great Toba’s Hall
five or six horsemen hasten:
a storm wind of the fall.
|
- • •
Samidare ya
aru yo hisoka ni
matsu no tsuki
|
All the rains of June:
and then one evening, secretly,
through the pines, the moon!
|
- • •
Haru no mori
tori toru tori mo
neburi kana
|
The grove in spring:
the birds that catch the birds—they too
are slumbering.
|
Takakuma Rankō (1726–1798)
- • •
Soko noite
take uesase yo
hikigaeru
|
Get out of my road
and allow me to plant these
bamboos, Mr. Toad.
|
- • •
Mezurashi to
miru mono goto ni
haru ya yuku
|
“Marvelous!” I say,
and with each single thing I see
springtime fades away.
|
- • •
Yo ga yokuba
mo hitotsu tomare
meshi no hae
|
If the times were good,
I’d say, “Sit down!—one more of you!”
flies around my food.
|
- • •
Isshaku no
taki mo oto shite
yūsuzumi
|
A one-foot waterfall
it too makes noises, and at night
the coolness of it all!
|
- • •
Uguisu ya
doroashi nuguu
ume no hana
|
A bush warbler comes—
and starts to wipe his muddy feet
among the blossoming plums.
|
- • •
Tōyama no
medama ni utsuru
tombo kana
|
In its eye
the far-off hills are mirrored—
dragonfly!
|
Agasao no
hana de fuitaru
iori kana
|
A morning-glory vine
in its full bloom, has thatched
this hut of mine.
|
Utsukushi ya
shōji no ana no
ama-no-gawa
|
A lovely thing to see:
through the paper window’s holes
the Galaxy.
|
Ware to kite
asobe yo oya no
nai suzume
|
Come to me—with each other
let’s play—little sparrow
without any mother.
|
Furusato ya
yoru mo sawaru mo
ibara no hana
|
The place where I was born:
all I come to—all I touch—
blossoms of the thorn!
|
Toshikasa wo
urayamaretaru
samusa kana
|
When one is old
one is envied by people—
oh, but it’s cold!
|
Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828)
Translated by Harold G. Henderson