Things never stand still,
not even for a second:
consider the trees’ colors.
—Seiju
Lately the nights
dawn
plum-blossom white.
—Yosa Buson
Bitter winter winds!
But later, river willow,
reopen your buds ...
—Senryu
Who cares
where aimless clouds are drifting?
—Bufu
Like a lotus leaf’s evaporating dew,
I vanish.
—Senryu
Man’s end:
this mound of albescent bones,
this brief flowering sure to fade ...
—Hamei
Frost on a balmy day:
all I leave is the water
that washed my brush.
—Tanaka Shutei
My aging body:
a drop of dew
bulging at the leaf-cliff.
—Kiba
Forbearing the night
with its growing brilliance:
the summer moon.
—Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Blow if you must,
autumn wind,
but the flowers have already faded.
—Gansan
Time to go ...
They say this journey is a long trek:
this final change of robes.
—Roshu
The moon departs;
frost paralyzes the morning glories.
— Kato
As the monks sip their morning tea,
chrysanthemums quietly blossom.
—Matsuo Basho
The fragrance of plum blossoms
on a foggy path:
the sun rising.
—Matsuo Basho
The sea darkens ...
yet still faintly white
the wild duck protests.
—Matsuo Basho
Pear tree blossoms
whitened by moonlight:
a young woman reading a letter.
—Yosa Buson
Outlined in the moonlight ...
who is that standing
among the pear trees?
—Yosa Buson
Your coolness:
the sound of the bell
departing the bell.
—Yosa Buson,
As the moon flies west
the flowers' shadows
creep eastward.
—Yosa Buson,
By such pale moonlight
even the wisteria's fragrance
seems distant.
—Yosa Buson,
Leaves
like crows’ shadows
flirt with a lonely moon.
Kaga no Chiyo
Let me die
covered with flowers
and never again wake to this earthly dream!
—Ochi Etsujin
These silent summer nights
even the stars
seem to whisper.
Kobayashi Issa,
The enormous firefly
weaves its way, this way and that,
as it passes by.
Kobayashi Issa
Composed like the Thinker, he sits
contemplating the mountains:
the sagacious frog!
Kobayashi Issa,
A fallen blossom
returning to its bough?
No, a butterfly!
Arakida Moritake
Illuminated by the harvest moon
smoke is caught creeping
across the water ...
Hattori Ransetsu
Fanning its tail flamboyantly
with every excuse of a breeze,
the peacock!
Masaoki Shiki
Waves row through the mists
of the endless sea.
Masaoki Shiki
