The Classic Tradition of Haiku

An Anthology

Faubion Bowers

• Editore: Dover Publications
• Anno: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780486113333
• Argomento: Literature
• Categoria: Poetry

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.

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...