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

Famous Haiku Poems

Famous Haiku Poems

Old Pond - Matsuo Basho

Four Haiku - Matsuo Basho

Narrow Road (Oku no Hosomichi) - Basho

More Poems from Matsuo Basho

Five Haiku - Paul Eluard

Famous Haiku Poems

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

Five Haiku by Paul Eluard

Five Haiku 

by: Paul Eluard

The wind 

Undecided 

Rolls a cigarette of air 

The mute girl talks: 

It is art's imperfection. 

This impenetrable speech. 

The motor car is truly launched: 

Four martyrs' heads 

Roll under the wheels. 

Ah! a thousand flames, a fire, 

The light, a shadow! 

The sun is following me. 

A feather gives to a hat 

A touch of lightness: 

The chimney smokes.

Five Haiku by Paul Eluard

Four Haiku by Matsuo Basho

Four Haiku

by: Matsuo Basho

Spring

A hill without a name

Veiled in morning mist.

The beginning of autumn:

Sea and emerald paddy

Both the same green.

The winds of autumn

Blow: yet still green

The chestnut husks.

A flash of lightning:

Into the gloom

Goes the heron's cry.

Four Haiku by Matsuo Basho