My Haiku

Category: Matsuo Basho 松尾 芭蕉

  • Oh, tranquility!

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    by

    閑けさや　岩にしみいる　蝉の声 Shizukesa ya/ Iwa ni shimiiru/ Semi no koe Oh, tranquility! Penetrating the very rock, A cicada’s voice. Translated by Helen Craig Mccullough *The haiku poem at Risshakuji Temple, Yamagata Prefecture.

  • The early summer rain

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    by

    五月雨の　降のこしてや　光堂 Samidare no/ Furinokosite ya/ Hikari-do The early summer rain Fall and fall yet Leave untouched Hikari-do Hall. *Hikari-do: Konjikido. One of the hall of Chusonji, in Hiraizumi.

  • The summer grasses

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    by

    夏草や　兵どもが　夢の跡 Natsu kusa ya/ Tsuwamono domo ga/ Yume no ato The summer grasses. All that remains Of warriors’ dreams. *Hiraizumi prospered as the independent country from Japan centered on Kyoto. However in the late Heian Period, the Kamakura government destroyed it.

  • Spring is passing

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    by

    行春や　鳥啼き魚の　目は泪 Yuku haru ya/ Tori naki uwo no/ Me wa namida Spring is passing. The birds cry, and the fishes’ eyes are  With tears. *”Spring is passing” often means an eternal parting. The birds and the fishes mean Basho and his friends.

  • Old thatched hut

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    by

    草の戸も　住替る代ぞ　ひなの家 Kusa no to mo/ Sumikawaru yo zo/ Hina no ie A owner of the old thatched hut Is also changed to another It’s the Doll’s Festival. *Basho gave his house another before going on a journey. Apparently it seems that the new residents were a family with girls.