MATSUO BASHŌ

TWO HUNDRED
SELECTED HAIKUIntroduction
Chronology
A note on hokku, haiku, and haibun
PARALLEL TEXT
Notes
Further Reading and Linksa portrait of Bashō,
now in the Itsuo Museum,
Ikeda City, Osaka[The word NOTE in the text indicates a particular crux of translation,
which is discussed further. Click on NOTE to be taken to the relevant
discussion, and then on RETURN to come back to the translation.

© www.tclt.org.uk 2008

INTRODUCTION

In translating such poems into what I hope is a vibrant and persuasive
English, three features of Bashō’s original are worth exploring in a little
detail:INTRODUCTION
syllabic rhythm
This new translation of two hundred haiku by Matsuo Bashō presents
many of the finest poems he ever wrote, from a collection of nearly athousand; and the translation builds upon the foundations established by
the version of his travelogue Oku no hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the
Deep North), which appeared on this site in 2004. The rendering of Oku
no hosomichi into English confronted, quite deliberately, a fundamental
question in literary translation: to what extent, if any, might it be possible
to translate from a language of which one had little or no knowledge?
Would it be simply impossible? Or would such a version have to rely
upon so many extraneous aids (other translations, commentaries,
dictionaries, grammars, thesaureses, native speakers, scholars) as todrown any vibrant individual voice in what would essentially be thetranslation of a grey collective? And if these supports were unavailable,or lacking, would such a text inevitably have to be loose paraphrase orimitation or re-composition because the richness and subtlety of theoriginal had not been grasped?
It is for individual readers to judge the successes and failures of thatavowedly experimental translation of Oku no hosomichi which appeared
four years ago. But the experiment is now developed further in this newcollection of Bashō’s haiku, selected from the nearly three decades of his
literary career. The term haiku, and its relationship to two closely
associated terms, hokku and haibun, are clarified in a separate section; buthere, the basic features of Bashō’s poems in this mode are worth
summarising briefly. They are very short, extraordinarily condensed andconcentrated poems, almost always following a tripartite 5-7-5 syllabic
pattern, and presenting a distilled moment of perception, very often of thenatural world but also sometimes of domestic or personal life. They
capture things in the unique moment of their happening or being,celebrating their unequivocal ‘this-ness’. A frog leaps into a pond, awater jar cracks in a freezing night, waves of heat shimmer about a paperrobe, a cricket chirps beneath a helmet, a night-heron cries in thedarkness: these moments are held frozen, immune to both easy
symbolisation and to the flow of time. The reality of their presentness isabsolute.
ii

as indicated above, Bashō’s haiku almost always follow a 5-7-5 syllabic
pattern; and there is often an assumption that this pattern can be easilytranslated into a similar syllabic count in English. Yet, as David Landis
Barnhill has pointed out [see Further Reading], Japanese ‘syllables’ areboth shorter and more uniform than in English, most of them comprising
simply a consonant and a vowel. The acoustic world evoked by Bashō’s
haiku, as a result, has a simpler, more regular cadence because of thesimilarity between each sound. A 5-7-5 syllabic pattern, moreover, is notnative to English poetry. The metrical units most common in English
verse are either of two or of three syllables, with an overwhelming
emphasis upon the two-syllabled iamb, a weak beat followed by a strong
beat ( ˆ ¯ ). It is not easy to see, at first sight, how such twos can bereadily reconciled with the fives and sevens of the original.
Possibly because of these difficulties, few contemporary translators try to
reproduce the exact 5-7-5 pattern in English. Some opt for 4-6-4 or 5-8-3
or 3-7-6, or any pattern where the second section is longer than the first
and third. Some do not worry even about relative length, making all three
sections the same, or the second actually shorter than the other two. Suchvariations, however, have an arbitrary air about them, as if the form inwhich Bashō is speaking is somehow marginal, rather than intrinsic, towhat he is saying. It is for this reason that the translation here retains the5-7-5 syllabic pattern of the original, except on the very rare occasions
when Bashō himself varies the pattern, and the English follows his
variation. I have tried to sustain, rather than erode, the natural rhythms ofEnglish in this syllabic fidelity; but only individual readers can determinewith what success.

lineation
it is not always realised that, in Japanese script, Bashō’s haiku arepresented, not as three horizontal separate lines, but as one continuousvertical line, read from top to bottom. As a result, some translators havesuggested, his haiku should not be set in multiple lines, because pre-iii

INTRODUCTION

modern Japanese poets had no concept of lineation as a poetic device.
And yet, as Makoto Ueda [see Further Reading] cogently argues,
to insist that a hokku should be a one-line poem in English because theoriginal Japanese poet had no sense of lineation is tantamount to insisting thatno English grammatical article, such as “a” or “the”, should be used intranslating Japanese sentences because the Japanese language includes noconcept of articles.

Moreover, even in the single continuous line, Japanese readers are awareof the tripartite structuring embedded in it. It is for these reasons that I
have chosen to present the haiku in three distinct lines, but in an indented
and overlapping visual pattern, rather than a clean and straightforwardjustification at a left-hand margin. The difference in impact between thelinear, almost military precision ofAutumn passing now.
Through the slow drizzling of rain,
The shape of the moon.

and the more fluid connectedness of

INTRODUCTION

heard. Beginning a haiku with a capital letter and ending it with a fullstop suggests that the perception is contained solely and authoritatively
within the seventeen syllables of the poem. But in truth, Bashō’s haiku
begin long before the first syllable is uttered, just as they sound long after
the seventeenth syllable has been heard.

The two hundred haiku in this collection are presented chronologically,
from the earliest, composed in 1666, to the last haiku Bashō ever wrote,in the autumn of 1694. Each poem is presented in a similar format:
the number in the sequence
the period of compositiona Romanised version of the Japanese charactersa completely literal rendering that follows the originalordering of the Japanese words exactly
the final translation into English.
A typical presentation therefore looks like this:autumn passing now …
through the slow drizzling of rain
the shape of the moon

85
[Summer 1689]

will be very apparent.

shizukasa ya / iwa ni shimiiru / semi no koe[stillness! / rock into penetrate / cicada’s voice]punctuation and capitalisationin order to maintain the rhythmic flow and suggestiveness of Bashō’s
original, I have tried to punctuate as sparingly as possible, and then oftenwith marks such as the dash ( – ) or ellipses (…), rather than the more
widely used forms of comma, colon, semi-colon, full stop. All Bashō’s
haiku contain what is known as a kireji, or ‘cutting word’, which is often
indicated in English versions by an exclamation mark. Although I haveused this particular form of punctuation occasionally, it has generally
seemed too rhetorical and melodramatic in visual and emotional impact
for any broader application. The almost imperceptible pause of wonderthat the kireji signals is better represented by – or … .

the utter silence …
cutting through the very stone
a cicada’s rasp

Where Bashō gives a title or other explanatory material for a haiku, this ispresented after the period of composition. A NOTE against a line or word
indicates further discussion of a particular issue in translation, which canbe accessed by clicking on NOTE.

Similarly, the typographical device of capitalisation seems intrusive,
directing response rather than allowing the resonance of the original to beivv

INTRODUCTION

Where the versions of haiku presented four years ago in my translation of
Oku no hosomichi were lacking, I hope this new collection will have
remedied any faults. Where the earlier versions were successful, I hope I
have maintained their effectiveness here. Like any translator of Bashō, I
owe thanks to all those many predecessors who have done so much topave the way, a number of whom are listed in the Further Reading and
Links section. But I am particularly indebted to Makoto Ueda and David
Landis Barnhill for the word-for-word, literal renderings presented intheir editions, and without which, my advance would have been so much
more difficult.
Tim Chilcott
May 2008

vi

vii

CHRONOLOGY

he himself as ‘Master Bashō’, the pen name he adopts for the
rest of his life.

CHRONOLOGY

1644

1656

born in the town of Ueno, in Iga Province, some thirty miles
south-east of Kyoto. His father, Matsuo Yozaemon, is
probably a low-ranking samurai, but little is known about his
mother.
his father, who may have been in the service of a local
aristocratic family, the Tōdō, dies. Probably by this time,Bashō is also in the service of the family. He develops aclose friendship with Tōdō Yoshitada, a boy two years older
than him who is already interested in poetry. The two receive
their first training in poetic composition together.

1662

composes his earliest known haiku.

1666

Tōdō Yoshitada dies suddenly in his twenty-fifth year – anevent that may have shocked Bashō so deeply that heresigned from the service and embarked on a life ofwandering.

1666-71

no secure evidence about his whereabouts. He may havegone to live in Kyoto, or only visited it occasionally. He
continues, however, to write: at least four poems in 1666,
thirty-two in 1667, six in 1669, two in 1670, three in 1671.

1682-3in the winter of 1682, the Bashō hut burns down in a fire thatdevastates large parts of Edo. Manages nevertheless tosupervise the first full-scale anthology of his school, now
comprising the work of over a hundred poets. His motherdies, but he remains too poor to be able to travel to her
funeral. His students collect donations and provide him withnew accommodation.

1684

embarks on a journey that results in the first of his travel
narratives, The Journal of a Weatherbeaten Skeleton.

1686

composes what has since become the most famous of all
haiku, about a frog leaping into a pond.

1687

in the winter of 1686-7, meets Sora, a neighbour who is later
to become his companion in Oku no Hosomichi. Travels tothe lake country some fifty miles northeast of Edo, which
results in a short travel sketch, Kashima mōde (Thepilgrimage to Kashima Shrine). Compiles Atsume ku(Collected verses), a collection of his work from the past
three years. Sets out on another journey to western Japan,
which results in Oi no kobumi (My knapsack notebook).

1688

continues to travel. Writes Sarashina kikō (The journal of
travel to Sarashina).

1689

undertakes the long northern journey which is to result in
Oku no Hosomichi. He leaves Edo in late spring and draws
his journey to a close in Ōgaki five months later, as autumn
begins to fall. He walks over twelve hundred miles. Morethan four years are spent composing, revising and polishing
the final version.

1672

first goes to live in Edo (modern-day Tokyo), and in the next
six years becomes more and more known in literary circles,
writing haiku for anthologies, teaching, and judging poetrycompetitions. A school of Bashō gradually comes into being.

1677-81

seems to have worked for a local waterworks company,
while continuing to gain recognition as a poet.

1690-91

continues to travel and to participate in haikai gatherings,
although he is plagued with ill health.

1681

his students build a small house for him in Edo, and plant abashō tree (a variety of banana tree) close by. It grows sowell that his house becomes known as ‘the Bashō hut’ and1692

another Bashō hut is built for him by his supporters, and hecontinues to participate in haikai gatherings.

viii

ix

CHRONOLOGY

1693

heartbroken at the death of his nephew Tōin, whom he has
cared for as a son since 1676. Closes the gate to his
residence and refuses to see people altogether, although helater resumes normal social activities.

1694

begins planning another westward journey, although hishealth is failing and he feels his end is drawing near. But hesets out in early summer, carried on a litter. His illness
becomes increasingly critical, and in late autumn, on 28
November, he dies. He is just fifty.

xxiA NOTE ON HOKKU, HAIKU, AND HAIBUNA NOTE ON HOKKU, HAIKU, AND HAIBUN

Sarashina Journal, and The Narrow Road to the Deep
North, Bashō is revealed as the first great haibun writer,
juxtaposing prose and poetry to persuasive imaginative
effect.

It is worth clarifying briefly the similarities and differences between threeterms that readers will often meet in discussion of Bashō’s work: hokku,
haiku, and haibun.
hokku

historically, hokku evolved out of a favourite form offourteenth and fifteenth century Japanese poetry, known as
renga. Renga, literally meaning ‘linked poetry’, was asequence of short poems generally written by a team ofpoets, and following prescribed metrical rules. The hokku,
literally meaning ‘opening verse’, was the first and mostimportant part of the sequence, since it prepared the groundfor everything that followed. Its syllabic pattern was 5–7–5.
Gradually, though, the close link between hokku and renga
became more tenuous, with hokku being increasingly
regarded as semi-independent, even self-contained verse, nolonger initiating a following sequence. This view gained
increasing force during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries until the independence of hokku was established by
the writer Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902).

haiku

In order to distinguish it from earlier verse forms, Shiki gave
the name haiku to this short, independent verse form thatstood by itself, and that retained the earlier syllabic patternof 5–7–5. The name haiku became increasingly prevalentduring the twentieth century, and is now very widely used,even though (in the case of Bashō’s work) it isanachronistically applied. In the interests of accessibility andintelligibility to a twenty-first century audience, however, I
use the term haiku (rather than hokku) throughout thetranslation.

haibunhaibun is a kind of poetic-prose, and normally refers to a
relatively short piece of prose, punctuated by hokku. In his
Journal of Bleached Bones in a Field, Knapsack Notebook,
xii

xiii

1

4

[1666][1668-9]akikaze no / yarido no kuchi ya / togarigoe[autumn wind’s / sliding-door’s opening! / piercing-voice]

NOTE

the wind of autumn
through the opening of a door…
a cry piercing throughnami no hana to / yuki mo ya mizu no / kaeribana[wave’s blossom as / snow also? water’s / returning-flower]
the waves blossoming…
has snow returned to water,
flowered out of season?

25[1666-7][1672]At the home of someone whose child has diedkumo to hadatsu / tomo ka ya kari no / ikiwakare NOTE
[cloud as separate / friend ! goose’s / living-separation]

shiroe fusu ya / yo wa sakasama / yuki no take NOTE
[withered bent! / world as-for upside down’s / snow’s bamboo]
withered and bent low
the whole world turned upside down…
bamboo under snow

as clouds drift aparta wild goose now separates
from his only friend

63[1679][1667]

sōkai no / nami sake kusashi / kyō no tsuki NOTE
[blue-sea’s / wave rice-wine smell / today’s moon]hana ni akanu / nageki ya kochi no / utabukuro NOTE
[blossoms at not-open / grieve! my / poem-bag]blossoms all around –I grieve I cannot open
now my poem bag
2

on a sea of blue,
the waves fragrant with rice-wine,
this moon as wine-cup

3

NOTE

7

10

[1680-1][1681]

Feelings on a cold night in Fukagawa

Feelings in my grass-thatched hut

ro no koe nami o utte / harawata kōru / yo ya namida NOTE
[oar’s voice waves [acc.] hitting / bowels freeze / night! tears]

bashō nowaki shite / tarai ni ame o / kiku yo kana NOTE
[banana-plant windstorm doing / tub in rain (acc.) / hear night!]

the squeak of the oars slapping on the waves,
a bowel-freezing night…
and then the crying

8[1681]
kareeda ni / karasu no tomarikeri / aki no kure[withered-branch on / crow’s is-perched / autumn’s evening]
on a withered brancha crow perches and settles:
evening in autumn

banana tree in windstorm,a night of listening to rain
dripping in a tub

11[1681-3]
The bravery of the noonflower
nuki no waka wa / hirugao karenu / hikage kana[snow’s within as for / noon-face not wither / sunlight!]
even in the snow
the noonflower does not wither –the light of the sun

912[1681][1683]

yūgao no / shiroku yoru no kōka ni / shisoku torite[evening-face (nom.) / white night’s outhouse on / candle hold]ganjitsu ya / omoeba sabishi / aki no kure[year’s first day! / when-think lonely / autumn’s evening]the moonflowers are whitein the night by the outhouse,candle in my handthe new year’s first day! …
yet I pensive and lonely
like autumn’s evening

4

5

13

16

[1683][1684-7]

On a paintingNOTE

koe sumite / hokuto ni hibiku / kinuta kana[voice is-clear / northern-stars to echo / fulling-block]uma bokuboku / ware o e ni miru / natsuno kana[horse clip-clop / me (acc.) painting in see / summer-moor!]
clip-clop of a horse ‒I see a painting of meon this summer moor

how clear its sound, anecho to the Northern Stars:
block of wood pounds cloth

1714[1684-94][1684-7]chiru hana ya / tori mo odoroku / koto no chiri[fall blossoms! / bird also surprised / koto’s dust]

kane kiete / hana no ka wa tsuku / yūbe kana[bell disappear / flower’s scent as-for strike / evening!]
the bell fades away,
the flowers’ scent is ringing –early eventide

blossoms are falling,
the birds also are startled –dust moved by a harp NOTE

18
15

[1684-94][1684-7]

harusame ya / mino fukikaesu / kawa yanagi[spring-rain / straw-raincoat blow-back / river willow]

musubu yori / haya ha ni hihiku / izumi kana[scoop from / quickly teeth in echo / spring!]
just as I scoop it
at once it rings through my teeth –water from a spring
6

spring’s soft drizzling rain…
like straw coats billowing out,
the river willows

7

19

22

[1684-94][1684]

waga yado wa /shikaku na kage o / mado no tsuki[my hut as-for / square’s light (acc.) / window’s moon]

nozarashi no / kokoro ni kaze no / shimu mi kana[bones-exposed-in-a-field (acc.) / heart into wind’s / penetrate body]shining in my hut,light in the shape of a squarefrom the window’s moon

I think of bleached bones
in a field; wind pierces mybody to the heart

20

23[1684-94][1684]A motto: don’t speak of others’ limitations; don’t brag about your strengths

kumo kiri no / zanji hyakkei o / tsukushikeri[cloud mist’s / short-time hundred-scenes (acc.) / exhaust]

monoieba / kuchibiru samushi / aki no kaze[something speak-when / lips are-cold / autumn’s wind]
if you say something
the lips become quite frozen…
the wind of autumn

in the mists and cloud
for a moment a hundred scenes
brought to fulfilment

24
21[1684][1684]

uma ni nete / zanmu tsuki tōshi / cha no keburi[horse on sleep / lingering-dream moon distant / tea’s firematsukaze no / ochiba ka mizu no /oto suzushi[pine-wind’s / falling-leaves? water’s / sound is-cool]
are needles fallingas the wind blows through the pines?
cool sound of water
8

dozing on my horse,
dream lingering, distant moon,smoke from a tea fire

9

25

28

[1684][1684-5]

misoka tsuki nashi / chitose no sugi o / daku arashi NOTE
[last-night-of-month moon is-not / thousand-year’s sugi (acc.) / holdwindstorm]

yuki to yuki / koyoi sjiwasu no / meigetsu ka[snow and snow / tonight twelfth-month’s / bright moon?]last night of the month, no moon…
a thousand-year old cedar
caught in a windstorm

snow is upon snow…
can tonight be the twelfth month’s
full and whitest moon?

29
26[1684-5][1684]

Spending a day at the seashore

wuta yumi ya / biwa ni nagusamu / take no oku[cotton bow! / lute by console / bamboo’s interior]umi kurete / kamo no koe / honoka ni shiroshi NOTE
[sea darken / duck’s voice / faintly white]

cotton-beating bow,as consoling as a lute
deep in the bamboos

the sea is darkening…
now a wild duck’s call,faint and indistinct and white30
27[1684]
tsuyu tokutoku / kokorimi ni ukiyo / susugabaya[dew drip drip / trial as floating-world / would-that-I-could wash]
dew dripping, dripping…
could I wash in it the dustof the floating world

10[1685]On the road to Nara
haru nare ya / na mo naki yama no / usugasumi[spring is! / name also is-not mountain’s / thin-mist]
it’s spring now, yes spring!
above the nameless mountains
a faint haze and mist

11

31

34

[1685][1685]

Secluded in Second Month Hall

A field of sunlightmizutori ya / kōri no sō no / kutsu no oto NOTE
[water-dripping! / ice’s monk’s / clog’s sound]chō no tobu / bakari nonake no / hikage kana[butterfly’s fly / only mid-field’s sunlight!]

water being drawn –in the frozen night NOTE
clopping of monks’ clogs

only butterflies,
fluttering in the middle ofthis field of sunlight32

35[1685][1685]

Crossing the mountains on the road to ŌtsuAll through the night the sky kept shifting between clear and cloudy,
leaving us restless

yamaji kite / naniyara yukashi / sumiregusa[mountain-path come / somehow appealing / wild-violet]
on a mountain pathit was somehow so moving –a wild violet

kumo oriori / hito o yasumeru / tsukimi kana[clouds time-time / people (acc.) give-rest / moonviewing!]from time to time theclouds let people have some restas they view the moon

33
[1685]At Minakuchi I met a friend I had not seen for twenty years
inochi futatsu no / naka ni ikitaru / sakura kana[life two’s / between in lived / cherry-blossom!]
the lives of us two –between them has grown up thisblossoming cherry
1236[1686]
furu hata ya / nazuna hana saku / kakine kana[well if-look / shepherd’s-purse flower bloom / hedge!]
if you look closely –a shepherd’s purse flowering
underneath the hedge

13

37

40

[1686][1686]

Grieving for priest Tandō

zatō ka to / hito ni mirarete / tsukimi kana[blind man? / person to appear-as / moonviewing!]

chi ni taore / ne ni yori hana no / wakare kana[land on fall / root to approach blossoms’s / departure!]falling to the ground,returning home to its roots –a flower’s farewell

he seems to be likesomebody whose eyes are blind,gazing at the moon…

41[1686]
38[1686]
furuike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizo no oto[old pond! / frog jump-in / water’s sound]mono hitotsu / waga yo wa karoki / hisago kana[thing one / my house as-for light / gourd!]
just one possession –and my house feels as weightlessas an empty gourd

ancient is the pond –suddenly a frog leaps – now!
the water echoes

42
39[1686-7][1686]A cold nighthigashi nishi / awaresa hitotsu / aki no kaze[east west / pathos one / autumn’s wind]kame waruru / yoru no kōri no / nezame kana[water-jar crack / night’s ice’s / waking!]

throughout east and west
the pathos is the same, comethe winds of autumn

a water jar cracks:
in the freezing of the night
I lie here awake

14

15

43

46

[Spring 1687][Winter 1687-8]

haranaka ya / mono ni mo tsukazu / naku hibari[field-within! / thing to even not-attach / cry skylark]

go o taite / tenugui aburu / samusa kana[dried-pine-needles (acc.) burn / hand-towel dry-over-a-fire/ coldness!]on the plain – up there! –not attached to anythinga skylark’s singing…

burning pine needles
dry my hand towel by the fire –how bitterly cold

47
44
[Autumn 1687]
inazuma o / te ni toru yami no / skisoku kana[lightning (acc.) / hand into take dark’s / small-candle-light!]
a flash of lightning
grasped so tightly in the hand –torchlight in the dark

[Winter 1687-8]
fuyu no hi ya / bashō ni kōru / kagebōshi[winter’s sun! / on-horseback on freeze / shadow]a pale wintry sun –as I ride now on my horse
my shadow freezes

45

48[Autumn 1687][1688-94]

shizu no ko ya / ine surikakete / tsukiomiru[poor’s child! / rice husking-leaving / moon (acc.) see]karite nen / kakashi no sode ya / yowa no shimo[borrow sleep / scarcecrow’s sleeves! / midnight’s frost]

a poor peasant boy
husking rice: he pauses now
to gaze at the moon

16

I should like to sleep
borrowing the scarecrow’s clothes –the cold of midnight

17

49

52

[Spring 1688][Spring 1688]

kareshiba ya / yaya kagerō / ichi ni-sun[dead-grass! / slightly heat-wave’s / one two-inch]

Nijikō
horohoro to / yamabuki chiru ka / taki no oto NOTE
[flutteringly / mountain-rose falls! / rapid’s sound]the dead withered grass –and yet the faintest heat-waves
a few inches highpetal on petal
mountain roses flutter down:
the rush of rapids

50[Spring 1688]53

At Hatsuse[Spring 1688]

haru no yo ya / komorido yukashi / dō no sumi
[spring’s night! / secluded-person intriguing / temple’s corner]

hi wa hana ni / kurete sabishi ya / asunarō[sun as-for flower on / darken lonely! / false-cypress]a night in springtime:someone hides mysteriously
in a temple corner NOTE

sun falls on the flowers,
and yet it darkens, lonely,
like some false cypress

51

54[Spring 1688][Spring 1688]

Hoso Pass (on the road from Tafu Peak to Ryūmon)Yoshinohibari yori / sora ni yasurau / tōge kana[skylark more-than / sky in rest / mountain-pass!

hanazakari / yama wa higoro no / asaborake[flowers-in-full-bloom / mountain as-for everyday’s / dawn]

higher than the lark,
resting there far in the sky,
Hoso mountain passflowers in full bloom,
and the mountains as always
at the day’s dawning

18

19

NOTE

55

58

[Summer 1688][Summer 1688]

kusa no ha o/ otsuru yori tobu / hataru kana[grass’s leaf (acc.) / fall then fly / firefly!]

Mount Inaba
tsukigane no / hibuku yō nari / semi no koe[temple-bell also / reverberate like is / cicada’s voice]falling from a bladeof grass, and flying away,
there goes a firefly

the temple bell too
seems as if it’s echoing
a cicada’s cry

5659[Summer 1688][Autumn 1688]
At Ōtsu
In the rice fields at the treasury of the Dharma Temple
yo no natsu / korui ni ukamu / nami no ue[world’s summer / lake on float / wave’s top]summer in the world
floating now upon the lakeon the tops of waves

kari ato ya / wase katakata no / shigi no koe[harvest after! / early-rice one-side’s / snipe’s voice]after the reaping,beside a field of early
rice, cry of a snipe

57

60[Summer 1688][Autumn 1688]

Gathering on the fifth day of the sixth month, the first year of Genroku

A view of Narumi

hirugao no / mijikayo neburu / hiruma kana[noon-face’s / short-night sleep / daytime!]

hatsuaki ya! / umi mo aota no / hitomidori[early-autumn! / sea also green-rice-field / one-green]

here the noon-flowers,
sleeping through the shortest nights
till the daylight breaks
20

early autumn now:
the ocean and the rice fields
turn a single green
21

61

64

[Autumn 1688][Autumn 1688]

First day of autumn

Mt. Obasutetabi ni akite / kyō iku ka yara / aki no kaze[journey on tired / today which day? / autumn’s wind]omokage ya / oba hitori naku / tsuki no tomo
[face! / old-woman alone cry / moon’s companion]

tired of the journey,
what day is it now today?
the wind of autumn

shadow of a face –old woman crying alone,
the moon’s companion

62

65[Autumn 1688][Winter 1688-9]

Butterfly on a chrysanthemum blossom

Grieving over Rika’s wife

aki o hete / chō mo nameru ya / kiku no tsuyu[autumn (acc.) passing / butterfly also lick! / chrysanthemum’s dew]

kazuki fusu / futon ya samuki / yo ya sugoki[put-on lie-down / futon! cold / night! terrible]

deep into autumn,
a butterfly sipping there
chrysanthemum dew

as I lie down, thefuton pulled up tight, how cold
the desolate night

63

66[Autumn 1688][Winter 1688-9]

Yasui departing on a journey

At the memorial service of a certain person

miokuri no / ushiro ya sabishi / aki no kaze[see-off’s / back! lonely / autumn’s wind]uzumibi mo / kiyu ya namida no / niyuru oto[banked-fire even / make-disappear? tear’s / boiling sound]seeing you go off,
only your back far away:
the wind of autumn
22

don’t they extinguisheven the banks of charcoal –these tears boiling over?
23

NOTE

67

70

[Spring 1689][Spring 1689]

ganjitsu wa / tagoto no hi koso / koishikere[New-Year’s Day as-for / each-field’s sun! / longing]

Second year of Genroku, Second Month, at Tōzan’s lodging

first day of the year:
it’s the sun on every fieldthat brings such longing

kagerō no / waga kata ni tatsu / kamiko kana[heat-waves / my shoulder on rise / paper-robe!]
the waves of heat NOTE
that shimmer from the shouldersof my paper robe…

68
71[Spring 1689][Spring 1689]
omoshiro ya / kotoshi no haru mo / tabi no sora
[exciting! / this year’s spring also / journey’s sky]
how enticing now –in the spring of this year too,a traveller’s sky

On a painting of someone drinking saketsuki hana mo / nakute sake nomu / hitori kana[moon flower also / is-not sake drink / alone!]
no moon, no blossoms,
just me now drinking sake,totally alone

69[Spring 1689]

72

asayosa o / taga matsu shima zo / katagokoro NOTE
[morning evening (acc.) / who wait island! / unrequited-love][Spring 1689]
yuku haru ya / tori naki uo no / me wa namida[go spring! / bird crying fish’s / eye as-for tearmorning and evening
on pine island, someone waits:
love that’s unfulfilled24

the spring is passing –the birds all mourn and fishes’
eyes are wet with tears
25

73

76

[Spring 1689][Summer 1689]

irikakaru / hi mo itoyū no / nagori kana[about-to-enter / sun also heat-waves / departure!]ara tōto / aoba wakaba no / hi no hikari[oh solemn / green-leaf young-leaf’s / sun’s light]

the sun is sinking
now, and the threading heat waves
also now departhow holy a place …
green leaves, young leaves, and through themthe sunlight now bursts

74

77[Spring 1689][Summer 1689]

kane tsukanu / sato wa nani o ka / haru no kure[bell not-ring / village as-for what (acc.) ? / spring’s evening]

The Killing Stoneishi no ka ya / natsugusa akaku / tsuyu atsushi[rock’s scent / summer-grass red / dew hot]a village where nobells are rung – what kind is thaton spring evenings?

the stench round the stone –red now the grass of summer,
the dew is scorching…

75[Spring 1689]

78

Spending a lonely spring evening in a country cottage[Summer 1689]

iriai no / kane mo kikoezu / haru no kure[sunset’s / bell also not-hear / spring’s evening]nishi ka higashi ka / mazu sanae ni mo / kaze no oto[west? east? / first rice-sprouts in also / wind’s sound]the bell of sunset
also cannot now be heard
on spring evenings
26

from the east, or west?
among the first rice-sprouts now
the sound of the wind
27

79

82

[Summer 1689][Summer 1689]

shimajima ya / chiji ni kudakete / natsu no umi[islands-islands! / a thousand-pieces broken / summer’s sea]suzushisa o / waga yado ni shite / nemaru nari[coolness (acc.) / my lodging into make / relax indeed]islands on islands –a thousand pieces broken
in the summer sea

the lovely coolnessof this lodging – I sit here
wholly at my ease80

83

[Summer 1689][Summer 1689]

At Takadachi in Ōshū Province

haiide yo / kaiya ga shita no[crawl-out! / silkworm’s-nursery’s / toad’s voice]natsugusa ya / tsuwamono-domo ga / yume no ato[summer-grass! / noble-warrior’s / dream’s remains]
mounds of summer grass –the place where noble soldiers
one time dreamed a dreamcome on, crawl out now!
beneath the silkworm nursery
croaking of a toad

84
81

[Summer 1689][Summer 1689]

mayuhaki o / omokage ni shite / beni no hana[eye-brow brush (acc.) / image into make / rouge-plant’s flower

samidare no / furi nokoshite ya / hikaridō[fifth-month-rain’s / falling leaving? / light-hall]so the rains of spring
fall and fall, yet leave untouchedthis bright Hall of Gold28

so they bring to mind
a lady’s small eyebrow brush –these saffron blossoms

29

85

88

[Summer 1689][Summer 1689]

shizukasa ya / iwa ni shimiiru / semi no koe[stillness! / rock into penetrate / cicada’s voice]kumo no mine / ikutsu kuzurete / tsuki no yama[cloud’s peak / how-many crumbling / moon’s mountain]

the utter silence …
cutting through the very stone
a cicada’s rasp

how many cloud peaks
have come tumbling down upon
the moon’s own mountain

86

89[Summer 1689][Summer 1689]

samidare o / atsumete hayashi / mogamigawa[summer-rains (acc.) / gathering swift / Mogami-River]atsuki hi o / umi ni iretari / mogamigawa[hot sun (acc.) / sea into have-put / Mogami-River]gathering the rainsof summer, how swift it is –Mogami Riverthe blistering sun
is gathered in the sea by
Mogami River

87

90[Summer 1689][Summer 1689]

suzushisa ya / hono mikazuki no / haguroyama[coolness! / faint third-day’s moon / Haguro-Mountain]yūbare ya / sakura ni suzumu / nami no hana[evening-clearing! / cherry-blossoms under to-cool / wave’s flowers]

such lovely coolness …
palely now the crescent moonon Mount Haguro

clearing at evening –cool now under cherry trees,
blossoms on the waves

30

31

91

94

[Summer 1689][Autumn 1689]

shiogoshi ya / tsuru hagi nurete / umi suzushi[shallows! / crane legs is-wet / sea cool]At a place called Little Pinesshiorashiki / na ya komatsu fuku / hagi susuki[lovely / name! small-pine blows /bush-clover pampas]

crossing of the tides …
a crane, its long legs splashing –ah how cool the sea

what a lovely name!
the wind wafts through young pines, bush
clover, pampas grass

92[Autumn 1689]

95

Looking towards Sado Island[Autumn 1689]

araumi ya / sado ni yokotau / amanogawa[rough-sea! / Sado over stretch-out / heaven’s river]muzan ya na / kabuto no shita no / kirigirisu[pitiful!! / helmet’s underside’s / cricket]

billow-crested seas!
flowing towards Sado Isle
heaven’s Milky Way

the pity of it …
trapped underneath a helmeta cricket chirping

93

96[Autumn 1689][Autumn 1689]

akaaka to / hi wa tsurenaku mo / aki no kaze
[red-red –ly / sun as-for heartless yet / autumn’s wind]

yu no nagori / koyoi wa hada no / samukaran[hot-spring’s departure / tonight as-for skin’s / cold]

the red, blazing red,of the pitiless sun – yetautumn in the wind32

leaving the hot springs:
tonight my skin will feel sovery cool, so cool
33

97

100

[Autumn 1689][Autumn 1689]

yu no nagori / iku tabi miru ya / kiri no moto[hot-spring’s departure / how-many times see! / mist’s under]

On the fifteenth night, just as the innkeeper had said it might, it rained
meigetsu ya / hokkoku biyori / sadamenaki[bright-moon! / north-country weather / certainty nonexistent]leaving the hot springs:
looking back how many times,
searching through the mistnight of the full moon…
the weather in the north landso often changes

98[Autumn 1689]
101
Visiting the Kannon temple at Nata
[Autumn 1689]
ishiyama no / ishi yori shiroshi / aki no kaze[Stone-Mountain’s / stones more-than is-white / autumn’s wind]whiter far than all
the stones Stone Mountain has –the autumnal windsabishisa ya / suma ni kachitaru / hama no aki[loneliness! / Suma than triumph / beach’s autumn]
oh what loneliness …
more desolate than Suma
this beach in autumn

99[Autumn 1689]

102

Tamae

[Autumn 1689]

tsukimi seyo / tamae no ashi o / karanu saki
[moonview / Jewel-Bay’s reeds (acc.) / not-cut before]nami no ma ya / kogai ni majiru / hagi no chiri[wave’s interval! / small sea-shells in mix / bush-clover’s dust]

the moon’s beams fallingon the reeds of Jewel Bay
before they are cut
34

between each wave-break …
mixed with small shells, the debris
of bush-clover flowers
35

103

106

[Autumn 1689][Winter 1689-90]

hamaguri no / futami ni wakare / yuku aki zo[clam-shell’s / Futami for separating / departing autumn!]

byōbu ni wa / yama o egaite / fuyugomori[folding-screen on as-for / mountain (acc.) paint / winter seclusion]so, to Futami,
like a clam ripped from its shell …
autumn’s deepening now

on a folding screen
a mountain has been painted:
winter seclusion

104

107

[Autumn 1689][Spring 1690]

At a place called Nakamura in Ise Province

kagerō ya / saiko no ito no / usugumori[heat-waves! / saiko’s thread’s / thin-cloud]aki no kaze / ise no hakahara / nao sugoshi[autumn’s wind / Ise’s graveyard / still-more lonely]
the winds of autumn …
now a graveyard in Ise
is even more bleak

such waves of heat now …
the saiko’s leaves so threadlikein the thinnest haze

108
105

[Spring 1690][Winter 1689-90]

chō no ha no / ikutabi koyuru / hei no yane[butterfly’s wing (nom.) / how-many-times cross-over / wall’s roof]

fuyuniwa ya / tsuki mo ito naru / mushi no gin[winter garden! / moon also thread become / insect’s song]a winter garden …
thinning to a thread, the moon
and an insect’s song36

a butterfly’s wings,
fluttering how many times
on top of the wall?

37

109

112

[Spring 1690][Summer 1690]

hitori ama / waraya sugenashi / shirotsutsuji[alone nun / straw-hut aloof / white azalea]

The Evening Cool at Riverside, Fourth Avenue
kawakaze ya / usugaki kitaru / yūsuzumi[river-wind! / pale-persimmon-robes wear / evening-cool]a nun all alone,
aloof there in her straw hut:white azalea

breeze from the river …
wearing pale persimmon robes
the cool of evening

110
113[Summer 1690][Summer 1690]
Staying over at Seta, I worshipped at Ishiyama temple at dawn
and saw the Genji room there.

The transience of life

akebono wa / mada murasaki ni / hototogisu[dawn as-for / still lavender in / cuckoo]

yagate shinu / keshiki wa miezu / semi no koe[soon die / appearance as-for not-show / cicada’s voice]the break of day islavender which lingers still
as a cuckoo calls

it will die so soon –yet showing no sign of it,a cicada’s cry

114
111

[Autumn 1690][Summer 1690]

On Tanabata

hi no michi ya / aoi katamuku / satsukiame[sun’s path / hollyhock lean / summer-rains]nebu no ki no / hagoshi mo itoe / hoshi no kage[silk’s tree’s / through-leaves even dislike / star’s light]

the path of the sun …
the hollyhocks turn with itin the summer rains38

do not even peer
through the leaves of the silk tree:
light falls from the stars
39

115

117

[Autumn 1690][Autumn 1690]

tonbō ya / toritsuki kaneshi / kusa no ue[dragonfly! / cling-to not-able / grass’s upside]

At Katadabyōgan no / yosamu ni ochite / tabine kana[wild duck (nom.) / night-cold from falling / journey-sleep!]dragonfly … NOTE
trying vainly to hold on
to the blade of grass

a wild duck is sick,and falls in the cold of night:
sleep on a journey

116
118[Autumn 1690][Winter 1690-1]
Unchiku, a monk in Kyoto, had painted what seemed to be a selfportrait. It was the picture of a monk with his face turned away. He
asked me to write a verse on it, so I wrote: ‘You are over sixty years old,and I am nearing fifty. Together in a dream, we present the form of
dreams. Here I add the words of one asleep:kochira muke / ware mo sabishiki / aki no kure[this-way turn / I also lonely / autumn’s evening]

On the road to my home town
shigururu ya / ta no arakabu no / kuromo hodo[rain! / fields’s new-stubble’s / darken extent]
early winter showers
enough to blacken fresh-cut
stubble in the fields

turn around to me …
I too feel a lonelinessthis autumn’s evening
119[Winter 1690-1]
kirigirisu / wasurene ni naku / kotatsu kana[cricket / forget-sound with cry / brazier!]no cricket’s sound now
as if it forgets to cry:the brazier burning
40

41

120

123

[Winter 1690-1][Winter 1690-1]

Recalling days of old

chidori tachi / fukeyuku shoya no / hiei oroshi[plover rising / grow-late first-watch’s / Hiei wind-that-blows-down-amountain]

shimo no nochi / nadeshiko sakeru / hioke kana[frost’s after / pink bloom / wooden-brazier!
after the frost comesa pink blossom remains on
the wooden brazier

the plovers rising
as early evening deepens:
winds storm Mount Hiei

124
121
[Winter 1690-1][Winter 1690-1]
kogarashi ya / hohobare itamu / hito no kao[winter-wind! / cheek-swollen hurt / person’s face]
the wind of winter …
cheeks all swollen now in pain
on somebody’s faceishiyama no / ishi ni tabashiru / arare kana[stone-mountain’s / stones on shower-down / hail!]
showering down now
on the stones of Stone Mountaina storm of hailstones!

122

125

[Winter 1690-1][Winter 1690-1]

On a journey

At Ōtsu

hatsuyuki ya / hijiri kozō no / oi no iro[first-snow! / ascetic Koya-missionary’s / knapsack’s colour]

sanshaku no / yama mo arashi no / ko no ha kana[three-foot’s / mountain too windstorm’s / tree’s leaves!]

first snow has fallen …
the colour of a knapsackon a wand’ring priest

on the low hills too
a mountain windstorm swirling
the leaves from a tree

42

43

126

129

[Winter 1690-1][Summer 1691]

shibaraku wa / hana no ue naru / tsukiyo kana[short-time as-for / blossom’s top is / moon-night!]

uki ware o / sabishigarase yo / kankodori[sorrowful me (acc.) / lonely cause-to-feel / mountain-cuckoo]

lingering a while
it hangs above the blossoms:
moon in the night sky

so sunk in sorrow,
make me feel more loneliness,
oh mountain cuckoo

127

130

[Winter 1690-1][Summer 1691]

yami no yo ya / su o madowashite / naku chidori[dark’s night / nest (acc.) lose / cry plovers]

te o uteba / kodama ni akuru / natsu no tsuki[hand (acc.) when-clap / echo in to-dawn / summer’s moon]a night of darkness –it must have lost its nest, aplover crying out

as I clap my hands
the dawn begins to echo:
the moon of summer

128

131

[Summer 1691][Summer 1691]

hototogisu / ōtakeyabu o / moru tsukiyo[cuckoo / large-bamboo grove (acc.) / seep moonlight]

shibaraku wa / hana no ue naru / tsukiyo kana[short-time as-for / flower’s above is / moon-night!

a cuckoo sings now:and through the vast bamboo grove
the moonlight seeping

44

lingering a while
it hangs above the blossoms:
moon in the night sky

45

132

135

[Summer 1691][Summer 1691]

otoroa ya / ha ni kuiateshi / nori no suna
[becoming-weak! / tooth in bite-hit / seaweed’s-sand]uki ware o / sabishigarase yo / kankodori[sorrowful me (acc.) / lonely cause-to-feel! / mountain-cuckoo]

old, with ebbing strength –my teeth find a grain of sandin the dried seaweed

deep in sorrow now,
make me feel more loneliness –you mountain cuckoo

133

136

[Summer 1691][Summer 1691]

yami no yo ya / su o madowashite / naku chidori[dark’s night! / nest (acc.) lose /cry plovers]

te o uteba / kodama ni akuru / natsu no tsuki[hand (acc.) when-hit / echo in to-dawn / summer’s moon]a night of darkness –it has lost its nest, and now
a plover cries out

I clap my hands – now!
the echoes sound at dawnlightand the summer’s moon

134

137

[Summer 1691][Summer 1691]

hototogisu / ōtakeyabu o / moru tsukiyo[cuckoo / large-bamboo-grove (acc.) / seep moonlit-night]

mugi no ho ya / namida ni somete / naku hibari[barley’s ear! / tears with dye / cry skylark]a cuckoo sings out:
and through the vast bamboo grove,the moonlight seeping…

46

these ears of barley …
that redden now in the tearsof crying skylarks

47

138

141

[Autumn 1691][Autumn 1691]

akikase no / fukedomo aoshi / kuri no iga[autumn-wind’s / blow although green / chestnut’s burr]

taka no me mo / ima ya kurenu to / naku uzura[hawk’s eye also / now! darken / cry quail]the winds of autumn
blow, and yet how green still
are the chestnut burrs

the hawk’s eye has now
begun to darken – and thequail begins to cry

139

142

[Autumn 1691][Autumn 1691]

ushibeya ni / ka no koe kuraki / zansho kana[cowshed in / mosquito’s voices dark / lingering-heat!]kusa no to ya / higurete kureshi / kiku no sake[grass’s door! / day-darkening given / chrysanthemum’s wine]

inside a cowsheda mosquito’s dusky buzz …
a lingering heatin this grass-thatched hut –as day darkens I’m given
chrysanthemum wine

140

143

[Autumn 1691][Autumn 1691]

yasuyasu to / idete izayou / tsuki no kumo
[easy-easy –ly / emerge 16th-night-moon / moon’s clouds]
look how easily
the harvest moon emerges
from behind the clouds

48

NOTE

hashigeta no / shinobu wa tsuki no / nagori kana[bridge-girder’s / endure as-for moon’s / departure]along the bridge beam
the fern of longing survives
as the moon departs

49

NOTE

144

147

[Autumn 1691][Winter 1691-2]

kokono tabi / okite mo tsuki no / nanatsu kana[nine time / awake although moon’s / four-o’clock!]nebuka shiroku / araiagetaru / samusa kana[leek white / washing-has-completed / cold!]awakened nine times –and yet the moon is still here
before the day breaks

these leeks, deep-rooted,
washed so spotlessly, pure white,and how very cold …

145

148

[Autumn 1691][Winter 1691-2]

akikaze ya / kiri ni ugokite / tsuta no shimo[autumn-wind! / paulownia by moving / ivy’s frost]suisen ya / shiroki shōji no / tomoutsuri[narcissus! / white paper-screen’s / along-with-reflection]

autumn’s wind blowing
on a paulownia tree –soon frost on ivy

narcissus, and white
paper-screens, reflecting now
each other’s colour

146

149

[Winter 1691-2][Winter 1691-2]

tōtogaru / namida ya somete / chiru momiji[valuable / tears? dye / fall autumn-leaves]

At Kögetsu’s houseyuki o matsu / jōgo no kao ya / inabikari[snow (acc.) wait / wine-drinker’s face! / lightning]

so very precious –and do they tint my tears? – thefall of autumn leaves

50

waiting for the snow,
the faces of wine lovers –a flash of lightning
51

150

152

[Winter 1691-2][Winter 1691-2]

kogarashi ni / iwa fukitogaru / sugima kana[winter-wind by / rock blow-sharpen / cedar-space!]rusu no ma ni / aretaru kami no / ochiba kana[absent’s period in / wild god’s / fallen-leaves!]

the wind of winter,sharpening the rocks as it blows
among the cedars

all the gods have gone:everything is desolate
among the dead leaves

151

153

[Winter 1691-2][Winter 1691-2]

With no settled place in this world, for the last six or seven years I’ve
spent my nights on the road, suffering many illnesses. Not being able toforget my friends and disciples of many years, I finally made my way
back to Edo again. Day after day, they have come to visit me at thisgrassy hut, and so I offer this verse in response:

kuzu no ha no / omote misekeri / kesa no shimo[arrowroot’s leaf’s / face showing / morning’s frost]

tomokakumo / narade ya yuki no / kareobana[somehow / not-becoming! snow’s / dead-pampas grass]somehow, in some way,
it has yet survived … pampas
grass amid the snow

leaves of arrowroot
with their faces now exposed:
the frost of morning

154[Winter 1691-2]
uo tori no / kokoro wa skirazu / toshiwasure[fish bird’s / heart as-for not-know / year-end-party]
how fish and birds feelin their hearts, I cannot know –the old year passes

52

53

155

158

[Spring 1692][Summer 1692]

hito mo minu / haru ya kagami no / ura no ume[person even not-see / spring! mirror’s / behind’s plum]

kara hafu no / irihi ya usuki / yūsuzumi[China gable’s / setting-sun! pale / evening-cool]a spring that is notnoticed – plum blossoms on theback of a mirror

on Chinese gables
the setting sun … growing faint:
the cool of evening

156

159

[Spring 1692][Autumn 1692]

urayamashi / ukiyo no kita no / yamazakura[envious / floating-world’s north’s / mountain-cherry]On the subject of wildflowers of the fields
nadeshiko no / atsusa wasururu / nokiku kana[wild-pink’s / heat forget / wildflower!]

how enviable:
far north of the floating world,
mountain cherries flower

they make me forgetthe heat of the summer pinks:
wildflowers of the fields

157[Spring 1692]

160

A parting gift for one heading east

[Autumn 1692]

kono kokoro / suiseyo hana ni / goki ichigu[this heart / infer blossom with / begging-bowl one-set]mikazuki ni / chi wa oboro nari / soba no hana[third-day-moon under / earth as-for vague is / buckwheat’s flowers]

you may know my heartfrom a flowering blossom
and a begging bowl
54

under the crescentmoon, the earth looms hazily:
the flowers of buckwheat
55

161

164

[Autumn 1692][Winter 1692-3]

meigetsu ya / mon ni sashikuru / shiogashira[harvest-moon! / gate to rising-come / tide-head]tsuki hana no / gu ni hari taten / kan no iri[moon flower’s / foolishness on needle will prick / cold’s entrance]

the moon of harvest –rising now up to my gate
the tide in its flooda needle will prick
the fool entranced by moon flowers:
start of deep winter162
165[Autumn 1692][Spring 1693]
Near the end of the Fukagawa river, the moon shines into a boat at
a place called ‘Five Pines’.

haru mo yaya / keshiki totonou / tsuki to ume[spring also gradually / appearance be-arranged / moon and plum]

kawakami to / kono kawashimo ya / tsuki no tomo
[upriver and / this downriver! / moon’s companion]
up the river now
and then, down the river now –moon’s companion

slowly now the springis beginning to appear:moon and plum blossoms

166
163

[Summer 1693][Winter 1692-3]

hototogisu / koe yokotau ya / mizu no ue[cuckoo / voice lie! / water’s top]uzumibi ya / kabe ni wa kyaku no / kagebōshi[banked-charcoal! / wall on as-for guest’s / shadow]a banked charcoal fire –over there, against the wall,shadow of the guest
56

sound of a cuckoo
whose cry now is stretching out
across the water

57

167

170

[Summer 1693][Autumn 1693]

fūgetsu no / zai mo hanare yo / fukamigusa[wind-moon’s / riches also separate! / peony]izayoi wa / wazuka ni yami no / hajime kana
[16th -night-moon as-for / little -ly darkness’s / beginning!]

they surpass even
the wealth of the wind and moon –these peony flowers

the sixteenth night moon –slightly, ever so slightly,
the darkening begins

171
168[Autumn 1693][Autumn 1693]
Lamenting the death of Matsukura Ranran
takamizu no / hoshi mo tabine ya / iwa no ue[high-water in / star also journey-sleep! / rock’s on]in flooding waters
the stars too sleep upon theirjourney – on a rockakikaze ni / orate kanashiki / kuwa no tsue
[autumn-wind in / broken sad / mulberry’s staff]
in the autumn wind
it lies now, sadly broken –a mulberry stick

169

172

[Autumn 1693][Autumn 1693]

shiratsuyu mo / kobosanu hagi no / uneri kana[white-dew even / not-drop bush-clover’s / swaying!]

Mourning Tōjun
iru tsuki no / ato wa tsukue no / yosumi kana[enter moon’s / after as-for desk’s / four corners!]

without once letting
fall to earth its bright white dew,a bush clover sways

58

the moon has set now;
all that remains are the four
corners of his desk
59

173

176

[Winter 1693-4][Spring 1694]

kinbyō no / matsu no furusa yo / fuyugomori[gold-screen’s / pine’s oldness! / winter-seclusion]

ume ga ka ni / mukashi no ichiji / aware nari[plum’s scent in / past’s one-character / pathos is]on the golden screena pine appears of great age –locked in for winterthe smell of plums, andhow the single phrase ‘the past’seems so full of tears

174

177

[Winter 1693-4][Spring 1694]

kiku no ka ya / niwa ni kiretaru / kutsu no soko
[chrysanthemum’s scent! / garden in broken / sandal’s bottom]

hakkuken / sora de ame furu / yanagi kana[eight-nine ken / sky in rain falls / willow!] NOTE

chrysanthemum’s scent –in the garden, a worn-out
sandal upside down

forty, fifty feetup in the air, the rain falls
through the willow tree

175

178

[Spring 1694][Spring 1694]

ume ga ka ni / notto hi no deru / yamaji kana[plum’s scent in / suddenly sun’s rise / mountain-path!]harusame ya / hachi no su tsutau / yane no mori
[spring-rain! / wasp’s nest go-along / roof’s leak]the smell of plums, andsuddenly the sun appears –on this mountain path

spring rain – dripping downalong a wasp’s nest, waterleaking through the roof

60

61

179

182

[Spring 1694][Summer 1694]

aoyagi no doro ni shidaruru / shiohi kana[green-willow’s / mud in hang-down / low-tide!]

At Nagoya in Owari
yo o tabi ni / shiro kaku oda no / yukimodori[world through journey on / field plough small-field’s / go-return]green willow branches
drooping down into the mud:
it is low tide now

travelling the world, NOTE
tilling a small field of riceback and forth and back …

180[Summer 1694]

183

unohana ya / kuraki yanagi no / oyobigoshi[deutzia! / dark willow’s / bending-back][Summer 1694]
rokugatsu ya / mine ni kumo oku / arashiyama[sixth-month! / peak on clouds lay / windstorm-mountain]

a deutzia bush –and over it, dark, a willowthat is bending backthe sixth month is here! –clouds cover now its summit,
the Windstorm Mountain

181[Summer 1694]

184

uguisu ya / take no koyabu ni / oi o naku
[bush-warbler! / bamboo’s young grove in / age (acc.) cry][Summer 1694]
kiyotaki ya / nami ni chirikomu / aomatsuba[clear-waterfall! / waves in fall-go-in / green-pine-needles]

an old bush warbler –in a grove of bamboo shootssinging of its age

62clear cascading stream –falling in the water now
needles from green pines
63

185

187

[Summer 1694][Autumn 1694]

At Kyokusui’s house

On the back wall of a Nō stage in Honma Shume’s house is a
picture of skeletons playing music and performing. Is human life any
different from this? Zhuangzi used to have a skull for his pillow, andsaid he could not distinguish reality from dream. This truly evokes theinsubstantiality of our lives.

natsu no yo ya / kuzurete akeshi / hiyashimono[summer’s night! / broken dawn / chilled-foodnight in summertime –at dawn, scattered leftoversof cold food, so coldinazuma ya / kao no tokoro ga / susuki no ho[lightning! / face’s place (nom.) / miscanthus’s plume]
a flash of lightning –where once there were faces, now
plumes of pampas grass

186[Summer 1694]
sarabachi mo / honoka ni yami no / yoisuzumi[plate-bowl also / dim -ly dark’s / evening-cool]

188[Autumn 1694]

the plates and bowls too
begin to dim in twilight:
the cool of evening

michi hososhi / sumotorigusa no / hana no tsuyu[road narrow / wire-grass’s / flower’s dew]a narrow pathway
where the wire grass blossoms now
overflow with dew

64

65

189

192

[Autumn 1694][Autumn 1694]

inazuma ya / yami no kata yuku / goi no koe[lightning! / darkness’s direction go / night-heron’s voice]bii to naku / shirigoe kanashi / yoru no shika[‘beee’ cry / trailing-voice is-sad / night’s deer]a flash of lightning –echoing into darkness
a night-heron’s cry

they make a cry ‘beeeee’ …
a lingering sound so sad:the deer of the night

193
190[Autumn 1694][Autumn 1694]
At Dark Passkazairo ya / shidoro ni ueshi / niwa no aki[wind-colour! / confused –ly plant / garden’s autumn]
the colour of the wind –planted all confusedly,
an autumn garden

kiku no ka ni / kuragari noboru / sekku kana[chrysanthemum’s scent in / dark climb / festival!]
chrysanthemum’s scent
all round, climbing through the dark
at festival time

191

194

[Autumn 1694][Autumn 1694]

meigetsu ni / fumoto no kiri ya / ta no kumori[bright-moon under / foothill’s mist! / field’s cloudiness]

At Kiryū’s houseaki mo haya / baratsuku ame ni / tsuki no nari[autumn already / sprinkle rain in / moon’s form]

beneath the harvest
moon, mist upon the foothills,
haze upon the fields

66

autumn passing now …
through the slow drizzling of rain
the shape of the moon
67

195

198

[Autumn 1694][Autumn 1694]

My thoughts

shiragiku no / me ni tatete miru / chiri mo nashi[white-chrysanthemum (nom.) / eye in rises see / dust even is-not]kono michi ya / yuku hito nashi ni / aki no kure[this road! / travelling person not with / autumn’s evening]
and the road ahead –no-one else is travelling it;
an autumn twilightwhite chrysanthemum:
the eye looks at it closely –not one speck of dust

199
[Autumn 1694]
196[Autumn 1694]

Written at Keishi’s house, on the topic ‘Accompanying a lovely boy
in the moonlight’matsukaze ya / noki o megutte / aki kurenu[pine-wind! / eaves (acc.) go-around / autumn end]

tsuki sumu ya / kitsune kowagaru / chigo no tomo
[moon is-clear! / fox fear / boy-lover’s companion]

the wind in the pines –swirling now around the eaves
as the autumn ends

the moon is clear, andI am with my lovely boy
frightened by a fox

197

200

[Autumn 1694][Autumn 1694]

A wanderer’s thoughts

During illness

kono aki wa / nande toshiyoru / kumo ni tori
[this autumn as-for / why grow-old / cloud in bird]

tabi ni yande / yume wa kareno o / kakemeguru[journey on be-sick / dreams as-for withered-field (acc.) / run-around]the autumn passes:
why now do I feel so old?
into the clouds, a bird
68

ill and journeying –my dreams keep roaming overfields now withered all …
69

NOTESNOTES
1There is a play on words here. Yari can mean both ‘sliding door’ and‘spear’; and kuchi means both ‘opening’ and ‘mouth’. I try to evoke
all four meanings in ‘through the opening of a door … / a cry
piercing through’. RETURN

2

Yo means a ‘joint [here, of bamboo]’ as well as ‘world’. Yo wa
sakasama is a common expression meaning ‘the world is upsidedown’ or ‘the world is topsy-turvy’. RETURN

3

4

Akanu means both ‘not open’ and also ‘not be tired of’. A ‘poem
bag’ was used to carry manuscripts of verse. RETURN
The phrase nami no hana refers to the caps of waves that look likewhite blossoms. Kaeribana literally means ‘returning flower’, andhere refers to a flower that blooms out of season. RETURN

10 The first line of this haiku has, unusually, seven syllables, which are
duplicated in the translation. There are differing views about
whether the tub was outside (to wash in, to catch rainwater) or inside(to stop a leak inundating the hut). RETURN
13 Bashō’s preface to this haiku provides the context of its creation:‘That monk who’s wearing a hat and riding a horse, where has hecome from, and why is he wandering?’ ‘That,’ replied the painter, ‘isa portrait of you on a journey.’ If that is the case, bumblinghorseman who roams the wide world, ‘take care you don’t fall fromthe horse’. RETURN
17 A koto was a classical stringed instrument which, like music ingeneral, was said to have the power to make dust move. RETURN
25 The first line of this haiku has seven, rather than five, syllables. This
expansion is followed in the translation. RETURN
29 Bashō’s original text varies the syllabic count from 5/7/5 to 5/5/7.
This variation is copied in the translation. RETURN
31 Bashō’s original text presents a 5/5/5 syllabic pattern, rather than
5/7/5. This variation is followed in the translation. The adjective‘frozen’ could also be applied to the monks, as well as to the implied‘night’. RETURN

The term kari can indicate both ‘wild goose’ and ‘temporary’, a dual
meaning explained by the fact that wild geese are migrant birds,
leaving Japan in spring and returning in autumn. The first phrase
kumo to hedatsu has also been read as ‘separated by clouds’ or‘beyond the clouds’. RETURN

50

6Tsuki can mean ‘wine cup’ as well as ‘moon’, hence the appositionof ‘this moon as wine-cup’. RETURN

7

A markedly irregular haiku, not only in its metre (the first line has
10 syllables rather than 5, the second 6 rather than 7), but also in its
unusual placing of the ‘cutting word’ ya in the last line. The phrase
ro no koe, too, may refer either to the sound the oar makes in theoarlocks, or to the sound it makes as it dips into the water. The
version here follows the unusual syllabic pattern exactly, as well as
evoking both the sounds that the oar makes (‘the squeak of the oarsslapping on the waves’). RETURN

52 As Ueda [see Further Reading section] points out, ‘the word
horohoro is descriptive of thin and delicate things fluttering down
one after another, but it can also be used as onomatopoeia for apheasant’s cry.’ RETURN

570

A rare deviation from the attempt to preserve Bashō’s syllabic
count, with six syllables in the last line. RETURN

53 As Barnhill [see Further Reading section] argues, ‘the asunarō orfalse cypress…looks like a hinoki cypress, a tree whose wood ishighly prized, while that of the false cypress is not. Literally,
asunarō means “tomorrow I will become”, and the context implies“tomorrow I will become a cypress”. The asunarō seems to be what
it is not; it appears to fall short of what one might expect it toachieve.’ RETURN

71

NOTES

64 The phrase tsuki no tomo has been interpreted as the moon being thewoman’s companion, but also as the woman’s image being Bashō’s
companion as he looks at the moon. RETURN
68 The term matsu means both ‘a pine’ and ‘to wait or look forwardto’; and Matsushima is a cluster of pine-clad islands famous for theirbeauty. Both meanings of the word are contained in the line ‘on pineisland someone waits’. RETURN
70 Following the original kagerō no, the translated line contains foursyllables only. RETURN
115 The three syllables of the first line here follow the original tonbō ya.
RETURN

140 The ‘sixteenth-night moon’ occurs on 8 September (the sixteenthnight of the Eighth Month), a day after the harvest moon. RETURN
143 Shinobu means both ‘to remember’ and ‘to long for something’; andshinobugusa is the hare’s foot fern, the fern of longing. RETURN
177 A ken is a measure of length, of about six feet. There is a continuingdebate about whether the rain is continuing to fall, or has stopped,leaving the drops glistening in the tree. I incline to the former
interpretation, not least because raindrops on leaves would scarcely
be discernible at a height of forty to fifty feet. RETURN
182 The term yo can mean ‘life’ as well as ‘world’, and so the first line
could be equally well rendered as ‘journeying through life’. Kaku
means to plough a field of rice in preparation for transplanting. But
as Barnhill [see Further Reading] points out, the term also has two
homonyms, meaning ‘to write’ and ‘to paint’, which connect
agricultural work with artistic. RETURN

7273

FURTHER READING AND LINKS

Ueda, Makoto, trans.

Bashō and his Interpreters: Selected Hokku
with Commentary. Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1991.

FURTHER READING AND LINKS
Critical studies concerned with translation
Translations
There are countless translations of Bashō’s haiku into English, fromnumerous versions of individual haiku or small selections of them, tolarger and more comprehensive texts. Among the more widely ranging
editions are:Barnhill, David Landis, Bashō’s Haiku: Selected Poems by MatsuoBashō. Albany: State University of New York
Press, 2004.
Blyth, R.H., trans.

Haiku. 4 vols. Tokyo: Hokuseidō, 1949-52.

____

A History of Haiku. 2 vols. Tokyo: Hokuseidō,
1963-4.

Carter, Steven, trans.

Traditional Japanese Poetry: an Anthology.
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991.

Hamill, Sam, trans.

The Essential Bashō. Boston: Shambhala, 1999.

Hass, Robert, ed.

The Essential Haiku: Versions of Bashō, Buson,and Issa. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1994.

Several of the editions above present introductory comments about the
problems to be faced in any translation of Bashō’s haiku. By far the mostdetailed and valuable exploration of those difficulties, though, is Mark
Jewel, ‘The Beat of Different Drummers: English Translations of Hokku
from Matsuo Basho’s Oku no hosomichi’, World Haiku Review, July
2002 [see also under Links section below]. Also of great interest is Mark
McGuinness, ‘Reading Bashō in the original’, inwww.wishfulthinking.co.uk/poetry/2006/04/28. This article explores thedifferent stages of translation presented in Toshiharu Oseko’s Bashō’s
Haiku [see above]. Despite extensive searching, however, Oseko’s edition
remains unavailable.

Links
Internet sites concerned with Bashō’s life and work, and especially withhaiku in general, are very numerous indeed. Searching simply for‘Matsuo Bashō’ in Google, for example, currently (2007) yields over
150,000 references. For general studies and surveys of haiku, which often
point to further material, the following are particularly useful:
http://www.bopsecrets.org
http://www.gardendigest.com/poetry/index.htm

Oseko, Toshiharu, trans. Bashō’s Haiku. 2 vols. Tokyo: Maruzen, 1990.
http://my.execpc.com/~ohaus/haiklink.htm
Shirane, Haruo, ed.

Early Modern Japanese Literature: an
Anthology, 1600-1900. New York: Columbia
University Press, 2002.

http://www.worldhaikuclub.org
http://www.worldhaikureview.org

Stryk, Lucien, trans.

On Love and Barley: Haiku of Bashō.
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985.

74

http://www.f.waseda.jp/mjewel/jlit/

75