(edit) 古池 / 蛙飛び込む / 水の音 furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto Ah! The ancient pond / As a frog takes the plunge / Sound of …

(edit) 蛸壺や / はかなき夢を / 夏の月 tako tsubo ya / hakanaki yume wo / natsu no tsuki The octopus' fleeting dream / in the trap / the summer moon

(edit) Sabi is the color of a poem さびは句の色なり sabi wa ku no iro nari

(edit) 年暮れぬ / 笠きて草鞋 / はきながら Toshi kurenu / Kasa kite waraji / Hakinagara Another year is gone; / and I still wear / straw hat and stra…

(edit) Saga Diary Excerpt 嵯峨日記(4月22日)

(edit) この道や / 行く人なしに / 秋のくれ Kono michi ya / yuku hito nashini / aki no kure Along this road / Goes no one, / This autumn eve. /

(edit) 旅に病で / 夢は枯野を / かけ廻る tabi ni yande / yume wa kareno wo / kake-meguru Sick on a journey, / my dreams wander / the withered fields

(edit) 京にても / 京なつかしや / 時鳥 Kyou nitemo / kyou natsukashi ya / hototogisu Even in Kyôto— / hearing the cuckoo's cry— / I long for Kyôto

(edit) Notes from my Knapsack Excerpt 笈の小文 Oi no kobumi

(edit) 田一枚 / 植て立去る / 柳かな ta ichimai / uete tachisaru / yanagi kana One field / did they plant. / I, under the willow.

(edit) 静けさや / 岩に滲み入る / 蝉の声 Shizukesaya / Iwa ni shimiiru / Semi no koe This pervasive silence / Enhanced yet by cicadas simmering / …

(edit) 行春や / 鳥啼魚の / 目は泪 Yuku haru ya / tori naki uo no / me wa namida Spring departing— / the birds cry out / and the eyes of the f…

(edit) 一家に / 遊女もねたり / 萩と月 hitotsuya ni / yûjo mo netari / hagi to tsuki Under the same roof / Prostitutes were sleeping— / The moon a…

(edit) 蛤の / ふたみにわかれ / 行秋ぞ hamaguri no / futami ni wakare / yuku aki zo Dividing like clam / and shell, I leave for Futami— / Autumn …

(edit) 荒海や / 佐渡によこたふ / 天河 ura umi ya / sado ni yokotau / ama no gawa Turbulent the sea— / across to Sado stretches / the Milky Way

(edit) 蚤虱 / 馬の尿する / 枕もと nomi shirami / uma no shito suru / makura moto Plagued by fleas and lice, / I hear the horses stalling / Rig…

(edit) 木のもとに / 汁も膾も / 桜かな ki no moto ni / shiru mo namasu mo / sakura kana Underneath the trees / soups and salads are buried / in cherr…

(edit) 風流の / 初やおくの / 田植うた Fûryû no / hajime ya oku no / ta ue uta The true beginnings / Of poetry—an Oku / Rice-planting song

(edit) 桂男 / すまずなりけり / 雨の月 Katsura-otoko / sumazu nari keri / ame no tsuki The man in the moon / Has become homeless; / Rain clouded night

(edit) 塚も動け / わが泣く聲は / 秋の風 tuka mo ugoke / waga naku koe wa / aki no kaze Though I would move the grave, / my teary cry / was lost in t…

(edit) Bashô on flowers & moons

(edit) 朝顔に / 我は飯食ふ / 男かな asagao ni / ware wa meshi kû / otoko kana I am one / Who eats his breakfast, / Gazing at morning glories.

(edit) 秋深き / 隣は何を / する人ぞ aki fukaki / tonari wa nani wo / suru hito zo Deep autumn— / my neighbor, / how does he live, I wonder?

(edit) うき我を / さびしがらせよ / 閑古鳥 uki ware wo / sabishigarase yo / kankodori Not this human sadness, / cuckoo, / but your solitary cry.

(edit) 憂き節や / 竹の子となる / 人の果て uki fushi ya / take no ko to naru / hito no hate Sad nodes / we're all the bamboo's children / in the end

(edit) 早稲の香や / 分入右は / 有磯海 wase no ka ya / wake iru migi wa / Ariso umi Sweet-smelling rice fields! / To our right as we push through…

(edit) 白魚や / 黒き目を明く / 法の網 Shirauo ya / kuroki me wo aku / hô no ami The whitebait / opens its eye / in the net of the law

(edit) 稲妻に / 悟らぬ人の / 貴さよ Inazuma ni / satoranu hito no / tattosa yo

(edit) 手にとらば消ん / 涙ぞ熱き / 秋の霜 te ni toraba kien / namida zo atsuki / aki no shimo Should I take it in my hand, / it would disappear with my hot…