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Matsuo Basho: English translations of Haiku about Summer 2

Matsuo Basho: English translations of haiku about summer, trees, firefly, fireflies, cuckoos, rice fields, rice paddies, bush-clover, Iris, Irises, temple, temples, Japanese culture, light, daylight, lit, boat, boats. Fireflies turn our trees into well-lit lodges. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch A noontime firefly, dim by daylight, hides behind a pillar. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Firefly watching, the tipsy boatman rocks the boat. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Rising above fields of rice and barley, the cry of the summer cuckoo. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Tedious life! Plowing the rice field back and forth... —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Lying in the summer grass, discarded like a king’s robe, the snakeskin. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The shrubby bush-clover? How impudent her appearance! —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Glistening dew sways without spilling from the bush-clover. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch I bow low to the venerable rabbit-eared Iris. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Rabbit-eared Iris, pausing to chit-chat, one joy of my journey. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The rabbit-eared iris inspires another hokku. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Rabbit-eared Iris, admiring your reflection? —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Inside Uchiyama, unknown to outsiders, blossoms full-bloom. —Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Uchiyama was a temple little-known to the outside world. In fact, uchi means “inside.”

Copyright © | Year Posted 2025




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