OTHER POETS
MORITAKE(1452-1540)
Those falling blossoms
all return to the branch when
I watch butterflies
SOIN (1604-1682)
Settling, white dew
does not discriminate,
each drop its home
ANONYMOUS
Chanting Buddha's name
is the deepest pleasure
of one's old age
To learn how to die
watch cherry blossoms, observe
chrysanthemums
SANPU (1647-1732)
First cherry blossoms,
a cuckoo, the moon and snow:
another year closes
KIKAKU (1661-1707)
O Great Buddha,
your lap must be filling with
these flowers of snow
Her mate devoured
by the cat, the cricket's wife
must be mourning
On Buddha's birthday
the orphaned boy will become
the temple's child
In the Emperor's bed,
the smell of burnt mosquitoes,
and erotic whispers
A single yam leaf
contains the entire life
of a water drop
Over the long road
the flower-bringer follows:
plentiful moonlight
I begin each day
with breakfast greens and tea
and morning glories
Riding the wide leaf
of the banana-tree,
the tree-frog clings
RANSETSU (1654-1707)
A single leaf falls,
then suddenly another,
stolen by the breeze
A large slug slides
slowly, glistening over
abandoned armor
On the old plum tree,
one blossom by one blossom,
the spring thaw is born
All by itself,
that beautiful melon,
entirely self-sufficient
Without a sound,
munching young rice-plant stalks,
a caterpillar dines
KYORAI (1651-1704)
Returning from a funeral
I saw this very moon
high above the moor
RAIZAN (1653-1716)
For rice-planting women
there's nothing left unsoiled
but their song
KAKEI (d. 1716)
At the break of dawn
the well-bucket reels in
a camellia bloom
ONITSURA (1660-1738)
To finally know
the plum, use the whole heart too,
and your own nose
The leaping trout sees
far below, a few white clouds
as they flow
True obedience:
silently the flowers speak
to the inner ear
The cherry blossoms
scatter and we watch and the
more cherry blossoms blow
TAIGI (d. 1771)
"Don't touch!" my host cried,
then broke off and presented
a flowering plum
CHIYO (1701-1775)
Since morning glories
hold my well-bucket hostage,
I beg for water
SOGETSUNI (d. ca. 1804)
After the Dance for the Dead
only pine winds to bring
these insect cries
Divine mystery
in these autumn leaves that fall
on stony buddhas
SOGI (1421-1502)
Life in this world
is brief as time spent sheltered
from winter showers
FUHAKU (1714-1807)
So very still, even
cherry blossoms are not stirred
by the temple bell
TEIGA (1744-1826)
In the poor man's house,
crossing the tatami mats,
a cold autumn wind
KIKUSHA-NI (1752-1826)
Only the moon
and I, on our meeting-bridge,
alone, growing cold
TAYO-JO (1772-1865)
People, more people
scurrying through spring breezes
along the rice-field dikes
SOCHO (1448-1532)
The moon this evening,
and in the whole wide sky
not a trace of cloud
SHOHA (19th century)
When the bush warbler
sings, the old frog belches
his reply
Just when the sermon
has finally dirtied my ears-
the cuckoo
O autumn winds,
for me there are no ancient
gods, no Buddhas for me
The Skylark School
argues with the Frog School,
each with its song
The full moon ringed
by these innumerable stars,
and the sky deep green
In the winter river,
discarded, an old dog's
carcass
The thunderstorm breaks up,
one tree lit by setting sun,
a cicada cry