The cheerful-chirping cricket
contends gray autumn's gay,
contemptuous of frost
—Matsuo Basho,
Illuminated by the harvest moon
smoke is caught creeping
across the water ...
—Hattori Ransetsu,
An empty road
lonelier than abandonment:
this autumn evening
—Matsuo Basho,
A solitary crow
clings to a leafless branch:
autumn twilight
—Matsuo Basho,
Brief autumn breeze ...
she always wanted to pluck
the reddest roses
—Issa,
Taming the rage
of an unrelenting sun—
autumn breeze.
—Basho,
The sun sets,
relentlessly red,
yet autumn’s in the wind.
—Basho,
As autumn deepens,
a butterfly sips
chrysanthemum dew.
—Basho,
This strange flower
investigated by butterflies and birds:
the autumn sky
—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
This world—
to what may we compare it?
To autumn fields
lying darkening at dusk
illuminated by lightning flashes.
—Minamoto no Shitago
Sick of this autumn migration
in dreams I drift
over flowerless fields ...
―Matsuo Basho
Denied transformation
into a butterfly,
autumn worsens for the worm
—Matsuo Basho
Picking autumn plums
my wrinkled hands
once again grow fragrant
―Yosa Buson
A crow has settled
on a naked branch―
autumn nightfall
―Basho
Sick of its autumn migration
my spirit drifts
over wilted fields ...
―Matsuo Basho
The first morning of autumn:
the mirror I investigate
reflects my father’s face
―Masaoka Shiki
Brittle autumn leaves
crumble to dust
in the freezing wind.
—Takao
Dewdrops beading blades of grass
have so little time to shine before dawn;
let the autumn wind not rush too quickly through the field!
—Eihei Dogen Kigen
