Matsuo Basho Haiku Poems

Matsuo Basho Haiku Poems

Awake at night

Awake at night--

the sound of the water jar

cracking in the cold.

-Transalation made by Robert Hass 

Autumn moonlight

Autumn moonlight--

a worm digs silently

into the chestnut.

-Transalation made by Robert Hass 

As they begin to rise again

Chrysanthemums faintly smell,

After the flooding rain 

-Matsuo Basho

Wild Sea

A wild sea-

In the distance over Sado

The Milky Way 

A weathered skeleton

A weathered skeleton 

in windy fields of memory, 

piercing like a knife 

Strange Flower

a strange flower

for birds and butterflies

the autumn sky

Snowy Morning

A snowy morning--

by myself,

chewing on dried salmon.

-Transalation made by Robert Hass

Kori nigaku enso ga nodo o uruoseri 

Bitter–tasting ice — 

Just enough to wet the throat 

Of a sewer rat.

A monk sips morning tea,

it's quiet,

the chrysanthemum's flowering

-Transalation made by Robert Hass 

A man, infirm

With age, slowly sucks

A fish bone.

-Basho

Cold Rain

A cold rain starting

And no hat --

So?

At a hermitage:

A cool fall night--

getting dinner, we peeled

eggplants, cucumbers.

Transalation made by Robert Hass

Cuckoo Cries

a cuckoo cries

and through a thicket of bamboo

the late moon shines 

Field Of Cotton

A field of cotton--

as if the moon

had flowered.

Transalation made by Robert Hass 

A cicada shell

A cicada shell;

it sang itself

utterly away.

Transalation made by R.H. Blyth 

A caterpillar

A caterpillar,

this deep in fall--

still not a butterfly.

Transalation made by Robert Hass 

A bee

A bee

staggers out

of the peony.

Transalation made by Robert Hass

A Ball of Snow

you make the fire

and I’ll show you something wonderful:

a big ball of snow!

Sick on my journey, 

only my dreams will wander 

these desolate moors

Matsuo Basho Haiku Poems

Narrow Road by Basho Matsuo

Narrow Road (Oku no Hosomichi) by Basho Matsuo

kusa no to mo

sumikawaru yo zo

hina no ie

Behind this door

Now buried in deep grass,

A different generation will celebrate

The Festival of Dolls.

-Translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa

even this grass hut

could for the new owner be

a festive house of dolls!

-Translated by Tim Chilcott 

My old grasshut

Lived in now by another generation

Is decked out with dolls.

-Translated by Earl Miner

This rude hermit cell

Will be different now, knowing Dolls’

Festival as well.

-Translated by Dorothy Britton

the grass door too

turning into

a doll’s house

-Translated by Cid Corman and Kamaike Susumu

Even a thatched hut

May change with a new owner

Into a doll’s house.

-Translated by Donald Keene

Even this grass hut

may be transformed

into a doll’s house.

-Translated by Sam Hamill

Even my grass-thatched hut

will have new occupants now:

a display of dolls.

-Translated by Helen Craig McCullough

Narrow Road by Basho Matsuo

Old Pond by Matsuo Basho

Old Pond by Matsuo Basho

Furuike ya 

kawazu tobikomu 

mizu no oto

-Basho

These are some translation of the "Old Pond" 

made by the famous haiku poet Matsuo Basho

Fu-ru (old) i-ke (pond) ya, 

ka-wa-zu (frog) to-bi-ko-mu (jumping into) 

mi-zu (water) no o-to (sound)

-translation made by: Fumiko Saisho

The old pond--

a frog jumps in,

sound of water.

-transalation made by Robert Hass

Old pond...

a frog jumps in

water's sound.

-transalation made by William J. Higginson

Antic pond--

frantic frog jumps in--

gigantic sound.

-translation made by: Bernard Lionel Einbond 

An old silent pond...

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

-translation made by: Harry Behn

There is the old pond!

Lo, into it jumps a frog:

hark, water's music!

-translation made by: John Bryan

The silent old pond

a mirror of ancient calm,

a frog-leaps-in splash.

-translation made by: Dion O'Donnol

old pond

frog leaping

splash

-translation made by: Cid Corman

Old pond 

frogs jumped in 

sound of water.

Translated by Lafcadio Hearn

The old pond is still

a frog leaps right into it

splashing the water

Translated by Earl Miner & Hiroko Odagiri

Into the ancient pond

A frog jumps

Water’s sound!

Translated by D.T. Suzuki

The old pond;

A frog jumps in —

The sound of the water.

Translated by R.H. Blyth

An old pond —

The sound

Of a diving frog.

Translated by Kenneth Rexroth

Pond, there, still and old!

A frog has jumped from the shore.

The splash can be heard.

Translated by Eli Siegel

The old pond, yes, and

A frog-jumping-in-the-

Water’s noise!

Translated by G.S. Fraser

The old pond,

A frog jumps in:

Plop!

Translated by Alan Watts

Breaking the silence

Of an ancient pond,

A frog jumped into water —

A deep resonance.

Translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa

Old Pond by Matsuo Basho

Basho Haiku Poems

Basho Haiku Poems


     Baho Matsuo (1644-1694)  is one of the first and greatest poet in the history of Haiku. In 1860, he wrote poems about jokes when he was just starting. Eventually, he began to attach the viral role of thought in this field. The thoughts of Tchouang-tseu, philosopher in the 4th century B.C are one of his greatest influence. Experts noticed that he often quotes some of  Tchouang-tseu's works in his haiku. 


     Most of his haiku works are dramatic, intense humor, sadness and confusion. A paradoxical nature surrounds his dramatic words. This is also the same with his works under humor and despair. Here are some examples of Basho's works.

Basho Haiku Poems

Summer grasses 
All that remains
Of warriors dreams


How ethereal 
The sunlight
Through young leaves


Autumn chill
no other travelers
brave this road


Fallen sick on a journey,
In dreams I run wildly
Over a withered moor.
-Matsuo Basho


No blossoms and no moon,
and he is drinking sake
all alone!


Temple bells die out.
The fragrant blossoms remain.
A perfect evening!


In the cicada's cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die.
-Matsuo Basho


Won't you come and see
loneliness? Just one leaf
from the kiri tree.


No one travels
Along this way but I,
This autumn evening.


In all the rains of May
there is one thing not hidden -
the bridge at Seta Bay.


The first soft snow!
Enough to bend the leaves
Of the jonquil low.
-Matsuo Basho


An old pond!
A frog jumps in-
The sound of water.


The years first day
thoughts and loneliness;
the autumn dusk is here.


Harvest moon:
around the pond I wander
and the night is gone.


Poverty's child -
he starts to grind the rice,
and gazes at the moon.
-Matsuo Basho


Clouds appear
and bring to men a chance to rest
from looking at the moon.


butterflies flit
in a field of sunlight
that is all


June clouds,
At ease on
Arashiyama Peak.


Flower 
under harvest sun - stranger
To bird, butterfly.


Three months after we saw
Cherry blossoms together
I came to see the glorious
Twin trunks of the pine.


the moon still is
though it seems far from home
Suma in summer


Searching storehouse eaves,  
rapt in plum blossom smells,  
the mosquito hums


At the ancient pond  
a frog plunges into  
the sound of water 


Wet with morning dew  
and splotched with mud, the melon  
looks especially cool


in the blossoms’ shade
as in the noh drama
a traveller sleeps


Cedar umbrellas, off  
to Mount Yoshimo for  
the cherry blossoms.


From all these trees –  
in salads, soups, everywhere –  
cherry blossoms fall 

Basho Haiku Poems

The wind from Mt. Fuji
I put it on the fan.
Here, the souvenir from Edo


Sleep on horseback,
The far moon in a continuing dream,
Steam of roasting tea.


Spring departs.
Birds cry
Fishes' eyes are filled with tears


Summer zashiki
Make move and enter
The mountain and the garden.

What luck!
The southern valley
Make snow fragrant.

A autumn wind
More white
Than the rocks in the rocky mountain.

From all directions
Winds bring petals of cherry
Into the grebe lake.

Even a wild boar
With all other things
Blew in this storm.

The crescent lights
The misty ground.
Buckwheat flowers.

Bush clover in blossom waves
Without spilling
A drop of dew.

Basho Haiku Poems