The Classic Tradition of Haiku
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The Classic Tradition of Haiku

An Anthology

Faubion Bowers

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eBook - ePub

The Classic Tradition of Haiku

An Anthology

Faubion Bowers

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About This Book

A highly distilled form of Japanese poetry, haiku consists of seventeen syllables, usually divided among three lines. Though brief, they tell a story or paint a vivid picture, leaving it to the reader to draw out the meanings and complete them in the mind's eye. Haiku often contains a hidden dualism (near and far, then and now, etc.) and has a seasonal tie-in, as well as specific word-images that reveal deeper layers in each poem.
This unique collection spans over 400 years (1488–1902) of haiku history by the greatest masters: Bashō, Issa, Shiki, and many more, in translations by top-flight scholars in the field. Haiku commands enormous respect in Japan. Now readers of poetry in the West can savor these expressive masterpieces in this treasury compiled by noted writer Faubion Bowers, who provides a Foreword and many informative notes to the poems.

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Information

Year
2012
ISBN
9780486113333
Subtopic
Poetry
Matsuo Bashƍ (1644–1694)3
bashƍ uete / mazu nikumu ogi no / futaba kana4
Having planted a plantain, at once / hate two stalks of reed
HS
I plant a banana tree
But first see only two stalks
Of dreaded weeds.
AK
by my new banana plant
the first sign of something I loathe –
a miscanthus bud
MU
kareeda ni / karasu no tomari keri / aki no kure 5
On dead branches crows remain perched at autumn’s end
HS
on a barren branch
a raven has perched —
autumn dusk
WJH
On a leafless bough
A crow is sitting: —autumn,
Darkening now —
HGH
furuike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto6
Old Pond — frogs jumped in — sound of water
LH
A lonely pond in age-old stillness sleeps . . .
Apart, unstirred by sound or motion . . . till
Suddenly into it a lithe frog leaps.
CHP
The quiet pond
A frog leaps in,
The sound of water
EGS
old pond . . .
a frog leaps in
water’s sound
WJH
Th’old pond —a frog jumps in. Kerplunk!
AG
frog pond . . .
a leaf falls in
without a sound
BLE7
inazuma ni / satorenu hito no / tƍtosa yo8
A flash of lightning
but still benighted
Oh worthy man!
FB
horohoro to / yamabuki chiru ka / taki no oto9
Do the yellow-rose petals
Tremble and fall
At the rapid’s roar?
NGS
umi kurete / kamo no koe / honoka ni shiroshi10
The waters fade
and the wild ducks’ cries
are faintly white
JBe
hiru neburu / aosagi no mi no / tƍtosa yo11
sleeping at noon
the body of the blue heron
poised in nobility
EM
shizukasa ya / iwa ni shimiiru / semi no koe 12
How still it is!
Stinging into the stones,
The locusts’ trill.
DK
Quietness: seeping into the rocks, the cicada’s voice
HS
yagate shinu / keshiki wa miezu / semi no koe
Never an intimation in all those voices of sémi. . .
How quickly the hush will come . . . how speedily all must die.
LH
It gives no sign
that it knows its death is near
the cicada’s cry
EM
matsushima ya / ā matsushima ya / matsushima ya13
Matsushima!
Ah, Matsushima.
Matsushima!
FB
shimajima ya / chiji ni kudakete / natsu no umi
Islands: shattered into thousands of pieces in the summer sea
HS
ominaeshi / sono kuki nagara / hana nagara14
The ominaeshi, ah!
The stems as they are,
The flowers as they are.
RHB
kumo oriori / hito ni yasumuru / tsukimi kana
Clouds now and again
give a soul some respite from
moon-gazing — behold
BLE
clouds occasionally
make a fellow relax
moon-viewing
WJH
yoku mireba / nazuna hana saku / kakine kana15
Looking closely
I find a shepherd’s purse blooming
under the hedge.
SF
michinobe no / mukuge wa uma ni / kuware keri16
The roadside thistle, eager
To see the travellers pass,
Was eaten by the passing ass!
CHP
Mallow flowers
By the side of the road —
Devoured by my horse.
DK
mezurashi ya / yama o ideha no / hatsunasubi17
How rare, How lovely!
emerging from sacred peaks
young Ideha...

Table of contents