[Basho]
He is known as the founding father of haiku. A brilliant poet with amazing understanding of the world. These are just my favorites of his translated works.
Along this road
Not a single soul--only
Autumn evening comes.
Nothing in the cry
Of cicadas suggests they
Are about to die.
The first fallen snow
is barely enough to bend
the jonquil leaves.
[Issa]
Another master haiku poet. He isn't very widely known, but his use of words to describe emotion [both human and non] are exquisite. A few of his translated works are:
My dear old village,
Every memory of home
Pierces like a thorn.
A sheet of rain.
Only one man remains among
Cherry blossom shadows.
Before I arrived,
Who were the people living here.
Only violets remain.
[Me]
I like to consider myself a haiku author. I'm not as great as the two preceeding masters, but I do try. My works aren't translated, though.. they were origionally written in English.
How slow, the sun-rise,
Awoken in paradise,
With the one you love.
After a slumber,
Finding dead-skin-cell mountain.
Pity the sunburnt.
Hear that hated tune,
But willingly listening.
True sisterhood, eh?
[the kat's notes]
Alright. Haiku are Japanese poems. They consists of three lines of poetry with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5, respectively. I purchased The Little Book of Haiku and it got me writing. Basho and Issa were possibly the greatest haiku-authors of all time. The book has many of their translated works (and, due to translation, some of the syllable uses may get messed off every now and then). I'm at least glad to have a place to "showcase" some of my favorites of my own and true Japanese poets. Enjoy.