Les Haiku de Ryokan

some english translations from the french versions by joan titus-carmel (Paris: Editions Verdier, 1986)


aomitaru
naka ni kobushi no
hanazakari

in the green brush
a single magnolia flower
in full bloom

aki hiyori
senba suzume no
haoto kana

clear autumn sky
ten thousand sparrows fly
the sound of their wings

ake mado no
mukashi o shinobu
sugare yume

the open window
the whole past returns to me
better than a dream

ame no furu
hi wa aware nari
Ryokan bo

days of rain
flooded with sadness
the monk Ryokan

ara ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
oto mo nashi

the new pond
a frog jumps in
no sound at all

iza saraba
ware mo kaeran
aki no kure

let's go, it's over!
I, too, am running away--
autumn dusk

uguisu ni
yumesama sareshi
asage kana

Ah! the rooster
his song thrusts me from a dream
morning rice

oi oo ga
mi wa sama ni uzu
yuki no dake

a very old man
his body seized by the cold
bamboo under snow

ochitsukeba
koko mo Rozan no
shigure kana

a great peace
here, just as in Rozan
autumn mist

onajiku ba
hana no moto ni te
hito yonen

right at this spot
beneath the blossoming cherry
sleep the night through

kakitsubata
ware kono tei ni
yoi ni keri

an iris
not far from my hut
intoxicates me

kakimogi no
kintana samushi
aki no kaze

picking persimmons--
my golden spheres seized
by the autumn wind

knon miya ya
kobushi no hana ni
chiru sakura

in this sanctuary
fallen on the magnolia--
cherry blossoms

koraya kora
kora ga te o toru
tsutsuji kana

children, let's go!
but these azalias offer themselves
to their hands

shiba taite
shigure kiku yo to
nari ni keri

burning some dead wood
with evening comes the sound
of autumn rain

Suma tera no
mukashi o toeba
yamazakura

Suma temple
that we may know it's story--
wild cherry trees

tsuto nisen
Yoshino no sato no
hanahatami

so that I recall
the country of Yoshino
a basket of flowers

tetsubachi ni
asu no kome ari
yuusuzumi

tommorow's rice
in this iron bowl
evening freshness

hibi hibi ni
shigure no fureba
hito oinu

day after day
the falling of gentle rain
oh! how we grow old