Haiku:An Anthology Of Japanese Poems Read online

Sunlight

  passes through a butterfly

  asleep

  —RANKŌ

  With the power of non-attachment

  floating on the water—

  a frog

  —JŌSŌ

  Highlighting the blossoms,

  clouded by blossoms—

  the moon

  —CHORA

  Flower petals

  set the mountain in motion—

  cherry blossoms

  —HŌITSU

  On the surface

  of petal-covered water—

  frogs’ eyes

  —FŌSEI

  The retreating shapes

  of the passing spring—

  wisteria

  —KANA-JO

  Spring passes—

  the last reluctant

  cherry blossoms

  —BUSON

  Illustration 6

  Shallow river

  twisting west and twisting east—

  young leaves

  —BUSON

  Forsythia—

  and radiant spring’s

  melancholy

  —MANTARŌ

  In daytime “darken the day”

  at night “brighten the night”

  frogs chant

  —BUSON

  Crossing the sea

  into a net of mist—

  the setting sun

  —BUSON

  Misty grasses—

  water without voices

  in the dusk

  —BUSON

  Spring passing—

  looking at the sea,

  a baby crow

  —SHOKYŌ

  The cuckoo

  with a single song

  has established summer

  —RYŌTA

  The voice of the cuckoo

  slants

  over the water

  —BASHŌ

  The cuckoo calls—

  and the waters of the lake

  cloud over a little

  —JŌSŌ

  The cuckoo—

  flies and insects,

  listen well!

  —ISSA

  Summer rains—

  leaves of the plum

  the color of cold wind

  —SAIMARO

  Early summer rains—

  lunging at the blue sea

  muddy waters

  —BUSON

  Illustration 7

  Early summer rains—

  even nameless rivers

  are fearsome

  —BUSON

  Summer cool—

  in the green rice fields

  a single pine

  —SHIKI

  Only Fuji

  remains unburied—

  young leaves

  —BUSON

  On the hydrangeas

  the weight of the morning sun,

  the evening sun

  —OTSUYŪ

  Mountain ant—

  seen so clearly

  on the white peony

  —BUSON

  Alone, silently—

  the bamboo shoot

  becomes a bamboo

  —SANTŌKA

  The warbler

  amid the bamboo shoots

  sings of old age

  —BASHŌ

  A triangle—

  is the lizard’s head getting

  a little longer?

  —KYOSHI

  In my dwelling

  friendly with the mice—

  fireflies

  —ISSA

  How interesting—

  running errands right and left

  fireflies

  —KAIGA

  Pursued,

  it hides in the moon—

  the firefly

  —SANO RYŌTA

  Burning so easily,

  extinguishing so easily—

  the firefly

  —CHINE-JO

  The morning breeze

  ripples the fur

  of the caterpillar

  —BUSON

  Illustration 8

  As the lake breeze

  cools his bottom

  the cicada cries

  —ISSA

  As lightning flashes

  he strokes his head—

  the toad

  —ISSA

  The snake flees—

  but the eyes that peered at me

  remain in the weeds

  —KYOSHI

  Rustling, rustling,

  the lotus leaves sway—

  a tortoise in the pond

  —ONITSURA

  Today too

  mosquito larvae—

  and tomorrow again

  —ISSA

  As flies retreat

  mosquitoes start

  their battle cry

  —ANONYMOUS

  Dashing into one another

  whispering, parting—

  ants

  —ANONYMOUS

  Inhaling clouds

  exhaling clouds—

  mountaintop pines

  —ANONYMOUS

  Illustration 9

  Across a pillar of mosquitoes

  hangs the bridge

  of dreams

  —KIKAKU

  Even the clams

  keep their mouths shut

  in this heat

  —BASHŌ

  Motionless

  in a crevice of an old wall—

  a pregnant spider

  —SHIKI

  Heat in waves—

  in the stones

  angry reverberations

  —KYŌTAI

  Sudden shower—

  and rising from the heat,

  the broken-down horse

  —KITŌ

  Lightning!

  fleeing up the wall,

  the legs of a spider

  —KICHŌ

  Sudden shower—

  clutching the blades of grass

  a flock of sparrows

  —BUSON

  Down a paulownia tree

  the rain comes trickling

  across a cicada’s belly

  —BAISHITSU

  The tree frog

  riding the plantain leaf

  sways

  —KIKAKU

  “It’s much too long a day,”

  opening its mouth

  a crow

  —ISSA

  The fish

  not knowing they’re in a bucket

  cool by the gate

  —ISSA

  A sudden shower

  drums down upon

  the heads of the carp

  —SHIKI

  Lightning—

  yesterday to the east

  today to the west

  —KIKAKU

  Even in a single blade of grass

  the cool breeze

  finds a home

  —ISSA

  The trout leaps up—

  and below him in a stream

  clouds float by

  —ONITSURA

  How quiet—

  at the bottom of the lake

  peaks of clouds

  —ISSA

  At the sound of the sea

  the sunflowers open

  their black eyes

  —YŪJI

  Octopus pot—

  evanescent dreams

  of the summer moon

  —BASHŌ

  Short summer night—

  flowing through reeds

  bubbles from crabs

  —BUSON

  Stillness—

  seeping into the rocks

  the cicada’s voice

  —BASHŌ

  How beautifully

  the cow has slimmed down

  in the summer fields

  —BONCHŌ

  In the morning dew

  soiled and cooled—

  dirt on the melon

  —BASHŌ

  Illustration 10

  Summ
er coolness—

  lantern out,

  the sound of water

  —SHIKI

  Summer rains—

  secretly one evening

  moon in the pines

  —RYŌTA

  The bat’s

  secret home—

  a tattered hat

  —BUSON

  Evening glories—

  the cat chewing the flower

  has its mind elsewhere

  —BUSON

  Among the ears of barley

  are you hiding your tail?

  old fox

  —TESSHI

  The coming of autumn

  determined

  by a red dragonfly

  —SHIRAO

  The stars

  have already opened

  their autumn eyes

  —KŌYŌ

  Early autumn—

  the evening shower becomes

  a night of rain

  —TAIGI

  Autumn begins—

  ocean and fields

  all one green

  —BASHŌ

  Early autumn—

  peering through willows

  the morning sun

  —SEIBI

  Morning glories—

  blown to the ground

  bloom as they are

  —ISSA

  As dew drips

  gently, gently, the dove

  murmurs its chant

  —ISSA

  Grasses and trees all

  waiting for the moon—

  dewy evening

  —SŌGI

  Illustration 11

  White dew

  on brambles and thorns—

  one drop each

  —BUSON

  On blades of grass

  frolic and roll on—

  pearls of dew

  —RANSETSU

  Dew cooling—

  things with shapes

  all alive

  —KIJŌ

  Its face

  looks like a horse—

  the grasshopper

  —ANONYMOUS

  Dragonfly on a rock

  absorbed in

  a daydream

  —SANTŌKA

  The dragonfly

  cannot come to rest

  on the blades of grass

  —BASHŌ

  Kittens

  playing hide-and-seek

  in the bush clover

  —ISSA

  Dragonflies

  quiet their mad darting—

  crescent moon

  —KIKAKU

  Illustration 12

  The bat

  circling the moon

  would not leave it

  —KYŌTAI

  Give me back my dream!

  a crow has wakened me

  to misty moonlight

  —ONITSURA

  Dyeing his body

  autumn—

  the dragonfly

  —BAKUSUI

  Distant mountains

  reflecting in its eyes—

  a dragonfly

  —ISSA

  A floating sandal—

  an object of scorn

  to the plovers

  —ANONYMOUS

  The pine wind

  circling around the eaves—

  autumn deepens

  —BASHŌ

  Cool breeze

  filling the empty sky—

  pine voices

  —ONITSURA

  To the mountain quietude

  the quiet

  rain

  —SANTŌKA

  The old dog

  is leading the way—

  visiting family graves

  —ISSA

  Typhoons ended,

  the rat swims across

  flowing waters

  —BUSON

  Calling three times,

  then no more to be heard—

  the deer in the rain

  —BUSON

  Running across the shelf

  hoisting a chrysanthemum—

  a temple mouse

  —TAKAMASA

  On a withered branch

  lingers the evanescent memory

  of a cicada’s voice

  —KAGAI

  Singing as it goes,

  an insect floats down the stream

  on a broken bough

  —ISSA

  “The eyes of the hawks

  are now dimmed,”

  quails sing

  —BASHŌ

  A grasshopper

  chirps in the sleeve

  of the scarecrow

  —CHIGETSU

  The fields have withered—

  no need for the crane

  to stretch out its neck

  —SHIKŌ

  The first goose

  seeking its own sky

  in the dusk

  —SHIRŌ

  When they fall,

  just as they fall—

  garden grasses

  —RYŌKAN

  Mountains darken—

  robbing the scarlet

  from maple leaves

  —BUSON

  The moon speeds on—

  the treetops

  still holding rain

  —BASHŌ

  A rock

  against the moon

  sits big

  —SEISENSUI

  The bright moon—

  out from the sleeve

  of the scarecrow

  —ISSA

  Fallen leaves

  fall on each other—

  rain beats on the rain

  —KYŌTAI

  Blown from the west

  collecting in the east—

  falling leaves

  —BUSON

  The old pond’s

  frog also growing old—

  fallen leaves

  —BUSON

  Sweeping

  and then not sweeping

  the fallen leaves

  —TAIGI

  Very squarely

  setting its buttocks down—

  the pumpkin

  —SŌSEKI

  The autumn wind

  takes the shape

  of pampas grass

  —KIGIN

  To passing autumn

  the pampas grass waves

  goodbye goodbye

  —SHIRAO

  Autumn rains—

  a spider encased in

  a clump of fallen grass

  —SEKITEI

  Evening fog—

  my horse has learned

  the holes on the bridge

  —ISSA

  The sound

  of the raindrops

  also grown older

  —SANTŌKA

  In the harvest moonlight

  standing nonchalantly—

  the scarecrow

  —ISSA

  Its hat fallen off

  and embarrassed—

  the scarecrow

  —BUSON

  A rinse of vermilion poured

  from the setting sun, and then

  autumn dusk

  —TAIGI

  The bitter persimmons

  spending their autumn

  quietly

  —RITŌ

  Garden gate

  slamming and thwacking—

  autumn wind

  —HARITSU

  Just like people

  the monkey clasps its hands—

  autumn wind

  —SHADŌ

  One edge

  hanging over the mountain—

  the Milky Way

  —SHIKI

  The moon in the water

  turns somersaults

  and flows away

  —SANO RYŌTA

  Whiter than

  the stones of Stone Mountain—

  the autumn wind

  —BASHŌ

  The autumn wind

  at the sliding door—


  a piercing voice

  —BASHŌ

  The huge setting sun—

  little remains of

  its power

  —KYOSHI

  All in calmness—

  the earth with half-opened eyes

  moves into winter

  —DAKOTSU

  New garden

  stones settling down—

  first winter rain

  —SHADŌ

  Red berries—

  just one has fallen

  frosty garden

  —SHIKI

  Without a companion,

  abandoned in the fields

  winter moon

  —ROSEKI

  Camphor-tree roots

  silently soak in

  the early winter rain

  —BUSON

  How amusing,

  it may change into snow—

  the winter rain

  —BASHŌ

  Crescent moon warped

  coldness

  keen and clear

  —ISSA

  First snow—

  just enough to bend

  the narcissus leaves

  —BASHŌ

  On the mandarin duck’s wings

  a dust of snow—

  such stillness!

  —SHIKI

  Cold moon—

  the gateless temple’s

  endless sky

  —BUSON

  Unable to wrap it

  and dropping the moon—

  the winter rain

  —TOKOKU

  How warm—

  the shadows of withered trees

  stretching out their arms

  —TEI-JO

  There’s nothing

  he doesn’t know—

  the cat on the stove

  —FŪSEI

  On a mandarin duck

  its beauty is exhausted—

  winter grove

  —BUSON

  The sea grows dark

  the voice of the duck

  faintly whitens

  —BASHŌ

  Cold moon—

  among the withered trees

  three stalks of bamboo

  —BUSON

  Its saddle taken off

  how cold it looks—

  the horse’s rump

  —HEKIGODŌ

  Snow

  falls on snow—

  and remains silent

  —SANTŌKA

  Wolves

  are keening in harmony—

  snowy evening

  —JŌSŌ

  If it had no voice

  the heron might disappear—

  this morning’s snow

  —CHIYO-JO

  Dawn—

  the storm is buried

  in snow

  —SHIRŌ

  Withered by winter

  one-colored world—

  the sound of wind

  —BASHŌ

  The winter moon

  trailing its white glow

  leaves the mountain

  —DAKOTSU

  The salted sea bream’s

  teeth are also chilly—

  fish-market shelf

  —BASHŌ

  Bleakly, bleakly

  the sun enters into the rocks—

  a withered field

  —BUSON

  Blistering wind—

  splintered by rocks

  the voice of the water

  —BUSON

  Today is also ending—

  at the bottom of the snowstorm

  a gigantic sun

  —ARŌ

  Wintry blasts—

  blown off into the ocean

  the evening sun

  —SŌSEKI

  Sad stories

  whispered to the jellyfish

  by the sea slug

  —SHŌHA

  Frozen together,

  what are they dreaming?

  sea slugs

  —SEISEI

  In the eyes of the hawk