Email Poem

Your IP Address: 216.73.216.214
Your Email Address:
To Email Address:
Subject
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
Matsuo Basho: English translations of haiku about birds, flowers, candles, life, death.

Naptime!
But my drowsiness is nixed
by busybody warblers.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Carolers:
the sparrows smile
at their warbling.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Giving thanks to the flowers
for brightening my visit:
farewell.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Melancholy nub!
The bamboo bud’s
sad end.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

This lightning flash
the hand receives in darkness:
a candle.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Nighttime folly:
grabbing a thorn,
expecting a firefly.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

More nighttime weirdness:
a fox stalking
a melon?
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

It’s better to become a beggar
than a critic.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

No rest:
the carpenter
hangs his own shelf.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

A disgusting smell
slimed on waterweeds:
pale chub entrails.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

A country boy
shucking husks
gazes at the moon.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

The poet’s heart?
Will we ever really understand
ume blossoms?
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

What tree blossoms here?
I do not know
its mysterious aroma.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

I will lodge here
until the tender goosefoot
matures into a walking stick.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

May you tumble safely
onto sand or snow,
sake-addled horse rider.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

I miss my mother and father
so much:
the kiji’s cry.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch

Her ascent easy
and yet still hesitant,
the cloud-veiled moon.
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

A cuckoo flying,
cawing, crying and cajoling:
busybody.
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

This swinging bridge:
hard to imagine
horses crossing.
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

Tender-horned snail,
point those tiny tips
toward distant mountains!
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

Even the wild boar
is blown about
by buffeting winds.
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

The Kiyotaki’s unblemished waves
gently dispersing
still-green pine needles.
—Matsuo Basho translation by Michael R. Burch

Said to have been Basho’s last haiku. Kiyotaki means “clear” and is the name of a river.
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required