The Classic Tradition of Haiku
eBook - ePub

The Classic Tradition of Haiku

An Anthology

  1. 96 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Classic Tradition of Haiku

An Anthology

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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Yes, you can access The Classic Tradition of Haiku by Faubion Bowers in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Poetry. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Dover Publications
Year
2012
Print ISBN
9780486292748
eBook ISBN
9780486113333
Topic
Literature
Subtopic
Poetry
Index
Literature
Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)3
bashō 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 / tōtosa 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 / tōtosa 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

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Foreword
  6. Acknowledgments to Translators
  7. Iio Sōgi
  8. Sōchō
  9. Yamazaki Sōkan
  10. Arakida Moritake
  11. Matsunaga Teitoku
  12. Matsue Shigeyori [Ishū]
  13. Yasuhara Teishitsu
  14. Nishiyama Sōin
  15. Ihara Saikaku
  16. Yamaguchi Sodō
  17. Ichikawa Danjūrō I
  18. Kitamura Kigin
  19. Hōjō Dansui
  20. Matsuo Bashō
  21. Takarai Kikaku
  22. Hattori Ransetsu
  23. Mukai Kyorai
  24. Kosugi Isshō
  25. Ochi Etsujin
  26. Shida Yaba
  27. Kagami Shikō
  28. Tachibana Hokushi
  29. Nozawa Bonchō
  30. Yamamoto Kakei
  31. Ogawa Haritsu
  32. Sanboku
  33. Kawai Otokuni
  34. Anonymous
  35. Den Sute-jo
  36. Uejima Onitsura
  37. Chigetsu
  38. Shōfū-ni
  39. Ogawa Shūshiki
  40. Takeda [Tome] Ukō-ni
  41. Kaga no Chiyo
  42. Hayano Hajin
  43. Gozan
  44. Tan Taigi
  45. Yagi Shokyū-ni
  46. Yosa Buson
  47. Ōshima Ryōta
  48. Tagami Kikusha-ni
  49. Kobayashi Issa
  50. Ōtomo Ōemaru
  51. Ichikawa Danjūrō V
  52. Sakurai Baishitsu
  53. Kubota Seifū-jo
  54. Masaoka Shiki