HAIKU BY KOBAYASHI ISSA
In the beggar’s tin
a few thin copper coins
and this evening rain
Issa – tr. Sam Hamill – The Sound of Water (Shambhala, 2000)
As the great old trees
are marked for felling, the birds
build their new spring nests
Issa – tr. Sam Hamill – The Sound of Water (Shambhala, 2000)
The distant mountains
are reflected in the eye
of the dragonfly
Issa – tr. Sam Hamill – The Sound of Water (Shambhala, 2000)
From the woman
on the beach, dusk pours out
across the evening waves
Issa – tr. Sam Hamill – The Sound of Water (Shambhala, 2000)
A world of trials
and if the cherry blossoms,
it simply blossoms
Issa – tr. Sam Hamill – The Sound of Water (Shambhala, 2000)
The blossoming plum!
Today all the fires of hell
remain empty
Issa – tr. Sam Hamill – The Sound of Water (Shambhala, 2000)
This world of dew
is only a world of dew—
and yet … and yet …
Issa – tr. Sam Hamill – The Spring of My Life (Shambhala, 1997)
Oh, don’t mistreat
the fly! He wrings his hands!
He wrings his feet!
Issa – tr. Harold G. Henderson – An Introduction to Haiku (Doubleday, 1958)
In the thicket’s shade,
and all alone, she’s singing—
the rice-planting maid.
Issa – tr. Harold G. Henderson – An Introduction to Haiku (Doubleday, 1958)
Somehow it seems wrong:
to take one’s noonday nap and hear
a rice-planting song.
Issa – tr. Harold G. Henderson – An Introduction to Haiku (Doubleday, 1958)
Little sparrow! Take care!
Get out of the way!—Mr Horse
is coming there!
Issa – tr. Harold G. Henderson – An Introduction to Haiku (Doubleday, 1958)
Out from the hollow
of Great Buddha’s nose—
comes a swallow.
Issa – tr. Harold G. Henderson – An Introduction to Haiku (Doubleday, 1958)