俳句 Haiku - Wadai English

俳句
松尾芭蕉 Matsuo Bashō (1644 -1694)
kareeda ni
karasu no tomaritaru
aki no kure
世にふるも
道のべの
yo ni furu mo
sara ni sōgi no
yadori kana
食はれけり
At the edge of the path
a mallow flower
gobbled up by the horse.
--------------Collins
by the road
a rose mallow…it has been
eaten by my horse!
--------------Ueda
木槿は馬に
To grow old in this world is,
after all, nothing more than
Sōgi’s taking shelter from the winter rain
--------------Collins
さらにも宗祇の
life in this world
just like a temporary shelter
of Sōgi’s
--------------Ueda
やどりかな
To age is enough—
and then to have to watch showers
from Sōgi’s hut!
--------------Carter
The roadside
marsh mallow
has been eaten by my horse
--------------Watson
枯枝に
On a withered branch
a crow has perched—
autumn dusk.
--------------Collins
烏のとまりたる
on a bare branch
a crow has alighted…
autumn nightfall
--------------Ueda
秋の暮れ
On a bare branch
a crow has settled down to roost.
In autumn dusk.
--------------Carter
Haiku
michi no be no
mukuge wa uma ni
kuwarekeri
Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 110
furuike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
君火をたけ
よきもの見せむ
蛸壺や
an octopus pot—
inside, a short-lived dream
under the summer moon
--------------Ueda
はかなき夢を
Haiku
kimi hi o take
yokimono misemu
yukimaruge
夏の月
Octopus pots
fleeting dreams
the summer moon
--------------Collins
雪まるげ
Will you start a fire?
I’ll show you something nice:
a giant snowball
--------------Ueda
You build the fire and
I’ll show you something wonderful—
a snowball
--------------Collins
Octopus traps:
fleeting dreams—
the summer moon
--------------Watson
古池や
the old pond—
a frog jumps in,
water’s sound
--------------Ueda
An old pond—
a frog jumps in,
sound of water
--------------Collins
You stoke up the fire,
and I’ll show you something fine:
a big ball of snow!
--------------Carter
曙や
akebono ya
shirauo shiroki
koto issun
水の音
At an old pond,
a frog takes a sudden plunge.
The sound of water.
--------------Carter
蛙飛び込む
At daybreak—
the white fish is only
an inch of white
--------------Collins
白魚白き
twilight of dawn
a white fish, with an inch
of whiteness
--------------Ueda
こと一寸
Daybreak:
a white fish is white
just an inch
--------------Watson
takotsubo ya
hakanaki yume o
natsu no tsuki
Matsuo Bashō Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 111
Summer grasses
where stalwart soldiers
once dreamed a dream
--------------Ueda
夏草や
兵どもが
夢の跡
Summer grasses—
traces of
warrior dreams
--------------Collins
natsugusa ya
tsuwamonodomo ga
yume no ato
the scorching day—
dipping it into the ocean
the Mogami River
--------------Ueda
Pouring the heat of the day
into the sea
Mogami River
--------------Collins
atsuki hi o
umi ni iretari
mogamigawa
木のもとに
汁も膾も
桜かな
Beneath the trees
atop both the soup and the morsels of fish
cherry petals
--------------Collins
閑さや
It takes the hot sun
and pushes it into the sea—
Mogami River
--------------Carter
shizukasa ya
iwa ni shimiiru
semi no koe
暑き日を
海に入れたり
the stillness—
seeping into rocks
cicada’s screech
--------------Ueda
最上川
Quietness:
piercing the rocks
the cicadas’ voice
--------------Watson
岩にしみ入る
Stillness—
penetrating the rocks,
voices of the cicadas
--------------Collins
蝉の声
Ah, such stillness:
that the very rocks are pierced
by cicadas’ drone!
--------------Carter
ko no moto ni
shiru mo namasu mo
sakura kana
Haiku
Matsuo Bashō Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 112
otoroi ya
ha ni kuiateshi
nori no suna
bush warbler—
a dropping on the rice cake
at the veranda’s edge
--------------Ueda
鶯や
餅に糞する
縁のさき
A warbler
poops on rice cakes
at the veranda’s edge
--------------Collins
衰ひや
Declining with age—
grating on my teeth
seaweed sand
--------------Collins
歯に食ひあてし
ebbing strength—
my teeth detect a grain of sand
in the dried seaweed
--------------Ueda
海苔の砂
Enfeebled:
I’ve bitten on
the sand in seaweed
--------------Watson
uguisu ya
mochi ni funsuru
en no saki
White chrysanthemum
without a speck of dust
the eyes can catch
--------------Ueda
白菊の
目にたてて見る
塵もなし
White chrysanthemums—
not even a speck of dust meets
an intensely gazing eye.
--------------Collins
shiragiku no
me ni tatete miru
chiri mo nashi
Haiku
Matsuo Bashō Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 113
与謝蕪村 Yosa Buson (1716 -1783)
What pleasure
to cross a river in summer
sandals in hand
--------------Collins
A summer river
being crossed, how pleasing!
Sandals in my hand
--------------Sawa and Shiffert
natsu kawa o
kosu ureshisa yo
te ni zōri
Though divorced
she steps right in
for rice planting
--------------Watson
sararetaru
mi o fumikonde
taue kana
Only Mount Fuji
is not covered by them—
fresh new leaves
--------------Sawa and Shiffert
The young leaves
have left Fuji alone
unburied.
--------------Watson
On the hanging bell
staying while he sleeps,
a butterfly!
--------------Sawa and Shiffert
Haiku
fuji hitotsu
uzuminokoshite
wakaba kana
Stopping to sleep
on a temple bell—
a butterfly
--------------Collins
釣鐘に
とまりてねむる
こてふ哉
On a temple bell
it has stopped and gone to sleep—
a butterfly.
--------------Carter
不二ひとつ
埋みのこして
若葉かな
Fuji all alone—
the one thing left unburied
by new green leaves.
--------------Carter
離別れたる
身を踏込むで
Though they’ve parted ways
they plod together
for rice planting
--------------Collins
田植えかな
They’ve separated,
but she tramples her pride
at rice planting time
--------------Carter
夏河を
越すうれしさよ
手に草履
Ah, what a pleasure
to cross a stream in summer
sandals in hand.
--------------Carter
tsurigane ni
tomaritenemuru
kochō kana
Yosa Buson Pre-Modern Japanese Poetry, 114
Coolness—
separating from a bell,
the bell’s voice.
--------------Watson
Coolness—
the sound of the bell
parting from the bell
--------------Collins
小林一茶 Kobayashi Issa suzushisa ya
kane o hanaruru
kane no koe
(1763 -1827)
雪とけて
村一ぱいの
子どもかな
Snow starts melting
and the village overflows—
with children
--------------Carter
涼しさや
鐘をはなるる
鐘の声
Ah, what coolness—
echoing out from the bell,
the sound of the bell!
--------------Carter
Snow gone,
the village fills up
with children
--------------Watson
yuki tokete
mura ippai no
kodomo kana
Hang on
skinny frog—
Issa’s here with you
--------------Collins
痩蛙
まけるな一茶
是に有り
You, skinny frog—
don’t go give up just yet,
Issa’s here!
--------------Carter
yasegaeru
makeruna Issa
kore ni ari
秋風に
歩行て逃げる
蛍かな
From the autumn wind,
it escapes on foot—
a firefly
--------------Collins
aki kaze ni
aruite nigeru
hotaru kana
Haiku
Kobayashi Issa