The moon
hovering above the snow-capped mountains
rained down hailstones
—Sekitei Hara,
Oh, dreamlike winter butterfly:
a puff of white snow
cresting mountains
—Kakio Tomizawa,
Spring snow
cascades over fences
in white waves
—Suju Takano,
First one hidden face is revealed,
then the other; thus spinning it falls,
the autumn leaf.
—Ryokan
This world:
a distant mountain echo
dying unheard...
—Ryokan
The peonies I planted around my hut
I must now surrender
to the wind's will
—Ryokan
Wild peonies
blossoming in their prime,
glorious in full bloom:
Too precious to pick,
To precious to leave unplucked
—Ryokan
The Orchid
Deep in the valley, a secluded beauty!
Serene, peerless, impossibly lovely.
In the bamboo thicket's shadowy tower
she seems to sigh softly for a lover.
—Ryokan
Observe:
see how the wild violets bloom
within the forbidden fences!
—Shida Yaba
A white swan
parts the cherry-petalled pond
with her motionless breast.
—Roka
When no wind ruffles the Kiri tree
leaves fall
of their own free will.
—Nozawa Boncho
The rain is helpless
to reach the ground—
a winter gale
—Mukai Kyorai
As the moon rises
the rooftop tomcat
philosophizes.
Ikuyo Yoshimura
Air ballet:
twin butterflies, twice white,
meet, match & mate
—Matsuo Basho,
Denied transformation
into a butterfly,
autumn worsens for the worm
—Matsuo Basho,
Higher than a skylark,
resting on the breast of heaven:
this mountain pass.
—Matsuo Basho
Farewell,
my cloud-parting friend!
Wild goose migrating.
—Matsuo Basho,
A crow settles
on a leafless branch:
autumn nightfall.
—Matsuo Basho,
An exciting struggle
with such a sad ending:
cormorant fishing.
—Matsuo Basho,
Secretly,
by the light of the moon,
a worm bores into a chestnut.
—Matsuo Basho,
This strange flower
investigated by butterflies and birds:
the autumn sky
—Matsuo Basho,
Where's the moon tonight?
Like the temple bell:
lost at sea.
—Matsuo Basho,
Spring departs;
birds wail;
the pale eyes of fish moisten.
—Matsuo Basho,
The moon still appears,
though far from home:
summer vagrant.
—Matsuo Basho,
Cooling the pitiless sun's
bright red flames:
autumn wind.
—Matsuo Basho,
Saying farewell to others
while being told farewell:
departing autumn.
—Matsuo Basho,
Traveling this road alone:
autumn evening.
—Matsuo Basho,
Thin from its journey
and not yet recovered:
late harvest moon.
—Matsuo Basho,
Occasional clouds
bless tired eyes with rest
from moon-viewing.
—Matsuo Basho,
The moon so bright
a wandering monk carries it
lightly on his shoulder.
—Matsuo Basho,
What am I doing,
writing haiku here on the threshold of death?
Hush, a bird's song!
—Matsuo Basho,
Fallen ill on a final tour,
in dreams I go roving
earth's flowerless moor.
—Matsuo Basho,
Today, catching sight of the mallards
crying over Lake Iware:
Must I too vanish into the clouds?
—Prince Otsu
This world—to what may we compare it?
To autumn fields darkening at dusk,
dimly lit by lightning flashes.
—Minamoto no Shitago
Like a half-exposed rotten log
my life, which never flowered,
ends barren.
—Minamoto Yorimasa
There is no death, as there is no life.
Are not the skies cloudless
And the rivers clear?
—Taiheiki Toshimoto
All five aspects of my fleeting human form
And the four elements of existence add up to nothing:
I bare my neck to the unsheathed sword
And its blow is but a breath of wind...
—Suketomo
Had I not known
I was already dead
I might have mourned
my own passing.
—Ota Dokan
1.
Both victor and vanquished are dewdrops:
flashes of light
briefly illuminating the void.
2
—Ôuchi Yoshitaka
Even a life of long prosperity is like a single cup of sake;
my life of forty-nine years flashed by like a dream.
Nor do I know what life is, nor death.
All the years combined were but a fleeting dream.
Now I step beyond both Heaven and Hell
To stand alone in the moonlit dawn,
Free from the mists of attachment.
—Uesugi Kenshin
My life appeared like dew
and disappears like dew.
All Naniwa was a series of dreams.
—Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Felt deeply in my heart:
How beautiful the snow,
Clouds gathering in the west.
—Issho
Brittle cicada shell,
little did I know
that you were my life!
—Shoshun
Inhale, exhale.
Forward, reverse.
Live, die.
Let arrows fly, meet midway and sever the void in aimless flight:
Thus I return to the Source.
—Gesshu Soko
My body?
Pointless
as the tree's last persimmon.
—Seisa
Farewell! I pass
as all things do:
dew drying on grass.
—Banzan
Seventy-one?
How long
can a dewdrop last?
—Kigen
A tempestuous sea...
Flung from the deck —
this block of ice.
—Choha
Empty cicada shell:
we return as we came,
naked.
—Fukaku
Since I was born,
I must die,
and so …
—Kisei
Let us arise and go,
following the path of the clear dew.
—Fojo
Depths of the cold,
unfathomable ocean's roar.
—Kasenjo
Things never stand still,
not even for a second:
consider the trees' colors.
—Seiju
Bitter winter winds!
But later, river willow,
reopen your buds...
—Senryu
Who cares
where aimless clouds are drifting?
—Bufu
Man's end:
this mound of albescent bones,
this brief flowering sure to fade...
—Hamei
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
Stumble,
tumble,
fall,
slide down the slippery snow *****.
— Getsurei
Because it will not melt
we dedicate this ice
to the New Year's dawning sun
—Matsuo Basho
These useless dreams, alas!
Over fields of wilted grass
winds whisper as they pass.
—Uejima Onitsura
When a nightingale stops singing,
it's just another bird.
—Uejima Onitsura
The sincerity of snow, the moon and cherry blossoms
is the truthfulness of art.
—Uejima Onitsura
Return my dream, raven!
You woke me to a misted-over
unreadable moon
—Uejima Onitsura
Tears are useless:
insects, lovers, the stars themselves
must part.
—Kobayashi Issa,
Now, as the sun and moon shine as one,
the arrow, hurtling from the bow,
speeds my spirit toward the enemy,
bearing also a hundred million souls
—my people of the East—
as the sun and moon shine as one.
—Tomoyuki Yamashita,
Oh, magnificent peony,
please don't disdain
these poor surroundings!
Kobayashi Issa
The rutting cat
has grown so scrawny
he's nothing but eyes.
—Natsume Soseki,
No rain
and yet the flowers glisten?
Dew.
—Natsume Soseki,
Autumn's here, crickets,
whether you chirp
or not.
—Natsume Soseki,
The plum blossom’s fragrance
warms
winter’s frigid embrace.
—Matsuo Basho,
White plum blossoms:
have the cranes
gone undercover?
—Matsuo Basho,
Suddenly, the scent of plums
on a mountain path:
sunrise!
—Matsuo Basho,
The white poppy
accepts the butterfly's broken wing
as a keepsake
—Basho,
As autumn deepens
a butterfly sips
chrysanthemum dew
—Basho,
A single leaf
of paulownia falling
reflects the sun.
—Takahama Kyoshi,
Evening shadows
grow thick
on the floating algae
—Takahama Kyoshi,
The bamboo grove
is lit
by the yellow spring sunlight
—Takahama Kyoshi,
On a hot summer night
dreams and reality
merge.
—Takahama Kyoshi,
The summer butterfly
has to look sharp
to make its getaway.
—Takahama Kyoshi,
The autumn sky
is severed
by the big chinquapin tree.
—Takahama Kyoshi,
“Cawa-cawa!”
The winter crow
elocutes coarsely.
—Takahama Kyoshi,
