The wren
Earns his living
Noiselessly.
– Kobayahsi Issa
From time to time
The clouds give rest
To the moon-beholders.
– Matsuo Bash?
Over-ripe sushi,
The Master
Is full of regret.
– Yosa Buson
Consider me
As one who loved poetry
And persimmons.
– Masaoaka Shiki
In the cicada’s cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die.
– Matsuo Bash?
Blowing from the west
Fallen leaves gather
In the east.
– Yosa Buson
Winter seclusion –
Listening, that evening,
To the rain in the mountain.
– Kobayashi Issa
Don’t weep, insects –
Lovers, stars themselves,
Must part.
– Kobayashi Issa
My life, –
How much more of it remains?
The night is brief.
– Masaoka Shiki
An old silent pond…
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
– Matsuo Bash?
I kill an ant
and realize my three children
have been watching.
– Kato Shuson
Over the wintry
forest, winds howl in rage
with no leaves to blow.
– Natsume Soseki
Sparrow’s child
out of the way, out of the way!
the stallion’s coming through
– Kobayashi Issa
Toward those short trees
We saw a hawk descending
On a day in spring.
– Masaoka Shiki
No one travels
Along this way but I,
This autumn evening.
– Matsuo Bash?
In the twilight rain
these brilliant-hued hibiscus –
A lovely sunset
– Matsuo Bash?
First autumn morning
the mirror I stare into
shows my father’s face.
– Murakami Kijo
The lamp once out
Cool stars enter
The window frame.
– Natsume Soseki