On plum.
梅柳さぞ若衆哉女かな
mume yanagi
sa zo waka shu kana
onna kana |
Plum blossom and a willow tree:
The former as a handsome youth, the latter
As a woman. |
(1682)
On butterflies.
物好や匂はぬ草にとまる蝶
monozuki ya
niowanu kusa ni
tomaru chô |
Perhaps from love of novelty
Upon a scentless stalk of grass
Alights a buterfly. |
(1690 or before)
On butterflies.
蝶の飛ばかり野中の日かげ哉
chō no tobu
bakari nonaka no
hikage kana |
Butterflies fly
Alone amid the fields:
Shadows in the sunlight. |
(1685)
On a frog.
古池や蛙飛こむ水のをと
furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto |
An ancient pool,
A frog jumps in–
The sound of water. |
(1686)
On whitebait.
明ぼのやしら魚しろきこと一寸
akebono ya
shirauo shiroki
koto issun |
In the dawn:
A whitebait, whiteness
One inch long. |
(Winter 1684)
On a bird’s nest: when the monk who had the hut next door departed on a journey.
ふるすたゞあはれなるべき隣かな
furu su tada
aware narubeki
tonari kana |
An empty nest is simply
Sad I feel for sure–
As is next door. |
(1686)
On sparrows.
雀子と聲鳴かはす鼠の巣
suzumego to
koe naki kawasu
nezumi no su |
The fledgling sparrows’
Chirping cries blend with peeps
From the mouse’s nest. |
(1691)
On pheasants.
父母のしきりに戀し雉子の聲
chichi haha no
shikiri ni koishi
kiji no koe |
My father and my mother
Seem especially dear to me
When a pheasant calls. |
(1688)
On swallows.
盃に泥な落しそむら燕
sakazuki ni
doro na otoshi so
mura tsubame |
Within my winecup
Let no mud fall,
O, you flocking swallows. |
(1688)
On a skylark.
原中や物にもつかず鳴雲雀
haranaka ya
mono ni mo tsukazu
naku hibari |
Amongst the fields
And unattached
Sings a skylark. |
(1687)
'Simply moving and elegant'