蝶とんで我身も塵のたぐひ哉
chō tonde
wa ga mi mo chiri no
tagui kana |
A butterfly in flight, and
I, too, am a speck of dust
Just the same. |
かりそめの娶入月夜や啼く蛙
karisome no
meiri tsuki yo ya
naku kawazu |
If only for a while,
For a bride upon this moonlit night
The frogs do sing. |
藪の蜂來ん世も我にあやかるな
yabu no hachi
kon yo mo ware ni
ayakaru na |
O bees within the grove,
For your lives to come how I do
Envy you! |
At Itabashi.
かしましや江戸見た雁の歸り樣
kashimashi ya
edo mita kari no
kaeri yo |
What a commotion!
The geese have seen Edo and
Are on their way home. |
武士や鶯に迄つかはるる
samurai ya
uguisu ni made
tsukawaruru |
The samurai
Even have the warblers
Dancing attendance on them! |
さをしかに手拭かさん角のあと
saoshika ni
tenugui kasan
tsuno no ato |
The stags
Proudly display
Their horn-buds. |
The Lord of Kaga.
梅ばらの大挑灯やかすみから
umebara no
ōchōchin ya
kasumi kara |
The plum-blossom crest
On the great lanterns
Appear in the haze. |
陽炎やそば屋が前の箸の山
kagerō ya
sobaya ga mae no
hashi no yama |
In the heat-haze
Before the noodle shop lies
A mountain of chopsticks. |
陽炎や新吉原の晝の體
kagerō ya
shin yoshiwara no
hiru no tei |
Heat-haze shimmers
In the pleasure quarters
At noontime. |
春雨や喰はれ殘りの鴨が鳴く
harusame ya
kuware nokori no
kamo ga naku |
Spring rain falls and
Those remaining uneaten
Ducks begin to quack. |
'Simply moving and elegant'