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Japanese Haiku Series by Peter Pauper Press #1
Japanese Haiku
Step into a series of dazzling, funny, melancholy, and joyous moments with this collection of haiku masterworks. Beloved translator Peter Beilenson’s goal was twofold: to craft a book of haiku accessible to anyone, and to render his best guess at what the poets would have written in English. His translations preserve the sublime spirit of each verse, conjuring vivid visual and emotional impressions in spare words.
Haiku icon Basho is represented amply here, as are imagery-virtuoso Buson and wry, warm, painfully human Issa. The verses of Shiki, Joso, Kyorai, Kikaku, Chora, Gyodai, Kakei, Izen, and others also appear, all illuminated by lovely woodblock prints. Ranging from exquisite (In the sea surf edge/Mingling with the bright small shells…/Bush-clover petals –Basho) to bittersweet (Dead my fine hopes/And dry my dreaming, but still…/Iris, blue each spring –Shushiki) to silly (Dim the grey cow comes/Mooing, mooing, and mooing/Out of the morning mist –Issa), this collection will stir your senses and your heart.
Haiku icon Basho is represented amply here, as are imagery-virtuoso Buson and wry, warm, painfully human Issa. The verses of Shiki, Joso, Kyorai, Kikaku, Chora, Gyodai, Kakei, Izen, and others also appear, all illuminated by lovely woodblock prints. Ranging from exquisite (In the sea surf edge/Mingling with the bright small shells…/Bush-clover petals –Basho) to bittersweet (Dead my fine hopes/And dry my dreaming, but still…/Iris, blue each spring –Shushiki) to silly (Dim the grey cow comes/Mooing, mooing, and mooing/Out of the morning mist –Issa), this collection will stir your senses and your heart.
61 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
7 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
About the author
Matsuo Bashō
318 books588 followersKnown Japanese poet Matsuo Basho composed haiku, infused with the spirit of Zen.
The renowned Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉) during his lifetime of the period of Edo worked in the collaborative haikai no renga form; people today recognize this most famous brief and clear master.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsuo_...
The renowned Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉) during his lifetime of the period of Edo worked in the collaborative haikai no renga form; people today recognize this most famous brief and clear master.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsuo_...
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 25, 2019
March 4, 19
There are many poets I’ve never read before. Takarai Kikaku, Yamazaki Sōkan, Tan Taigi and others. I wanted to buy another haiku collection until I realized it was part of a series. My Kondo mind didn’t allow me to start from the fourth volume, so here we are. The title, the book cover, nothing looks appealing. Let’s see the content.
*
March 6, 19
The content is lovely, but the presentation… Is there anything more annoying than reading haiku in CAPITAL LETTERS? Honestly, I know I’ve said in this review that the lack of capitalization doesn’t make a poem better, but this is outrageous.
I hear Basho’s high-pitched scream and Ryota’s vociferation but I think it wasn’t their intention. The inexplicably use of capital letters are a disturbance to the serenity and poignancy those haiku were meant to express. A moment of contemplation became pure noise and that detail alone prevented me from actually enjoying this book. Too demanding? The poets are yelling at me, for heaven’s sake. And I will not even rant about the abusive use of ellipsis. A quick mention and I shall move on.
I feel much better quoting this heartwarming poem by Shushiki like a normal editor would.
Or this one:
A famous haiku by Issa that always evokes the same response after I read it – sure, strangers are like friends, looking at them from a safe distance, especially if you're a woman.
Anyway, I don't have the strength to keep reading this series. Such a shame, so many poets I still haven't read.
End of journal.
* Later on my blog.
There are many poets I’ve never read before. Takarai Kikaku, Yamazaki Sōkan, Tan Taigi and others. I wanted to buy another haiku collection until I realized it was part of a series. My Kondo mind didn’t allow me to start from the fourth volume, so here we are. The title, the book cover, nothing looks appealing. Let’s see the content.
*
March 6, 19
The content is lovely, but the presentation… Is there anything more annoying than reading haiku in CAPITAL LETTERS? Honestly, I know I’ve said in this review that the lack of capitalization doesn’t make a poem better, but this is outrageous.
WHITE CLOUD OF MIST
ABOVE WHITE
CHERRY-BLOSSOMS
DAWN-SHINING MOUNTAINS
*
ANGRY I STRODE HOME…
BUT STOOPING IN MY GARDEN
CALM OLD WILLOW-TREE
I hear Basho’s high-pitched scream and Ryota’s vociferation but I think it wasn’t their intention. The inexplicably use of capital letters are a disturbance to the serenity and poignancy those haiku were meant to express. A moment of contemplation became pure noise and that detail alone prevented me from actually enjoying this book. Too demanding? The poets are yelling at me, for heaven’s sake. And I will not even rant about the abusive use of ellipsis. A quick mention and I shall move on.
I feel much better quoting this heartwarming poem by Shushiki like a normal editor would.
Dead my old fine hopes
and dry my dreaming
but still…
iris, blue each spring
Or this one:
In the city fields
contemplating
cherry-tress…
strangers are like friends
A famous haiku by Issa that always evokes the same response after I read it – sure, strangers are like friends, looking at them from a safe distance, especially if you're a woman.
Anyway, I don't have the strength to keep reading this series. Such a shame, so many poets I still haven't read.
End of journal.
* Later on my blog.
October 26, 2018
slim thoughtful volume
educating from my lap
and when i finish...
When I was at university I become acquainted with a group who would text exclusively in haiku, and this was actually my introduction to the form. I’d occasionally receive anonymous texts along the lines of:
evening o John Donne
fancy a party tonight?
text back for address
The messages tended to be funnier and more eloquent but unfortunately I never thought to save them. Browsing my parents’ poetry shelves recently I came across this volume Japanese Haiku and picked it up, intrigued to read some authentic examples.
The introduction is illuminating and provides some clues about how to read these traditional poems, stating that the form ‘is not expected to be always a complete or even a clear statement, the reader is supposed to add to the words his own associations and imagery, and thus to become a co-creator of his own pleasure in the poem.’ In light of which I’ll discuss three poems from the collection.
friend, that open mouth
reveals your whole interior...
silly hollow frog!
Anon.
The ambiguity of this poem is its particular pleasure for me and a good example of what the introduction describes as the ‘implied identity between two seemingly different things’ characteristic of good haiku. The poem is addressed to a friend and a frog. Final lines of haiku sometimes express what appear to be unrelated thoughts or ideas but the ‘open mouth [which] reveals your whole interior’ connects the friend with the frog. Is the friend an actual frog? Haiku do frequently address animals and inanimate objects anthropomorphically. Or is the poem about a human friend whose open mouth reminds the poet of a frog? For me the poem is a reproach against a person whose ‘open mouth’ talks too much and ill-advisedly reveals their whole hollow interior, unveiling their their vanity through their loquacity.
vendor of bright fans
carrying his pack of breeze...
suffocating heat
Shiki
I enjoy the irony of this poem and the image it creates for me of a man bent over double carrying his pack of fans, struggling in the ‘suffocating heat’ with this load of goods whose purpose is precisely to alleviate the symptoms of such weather. The idea of his ‘pack of breeze’ also suggests a light pack, one which weighs as little as the breeze, though I see its weight in the heat as the cause of the man's suffocation. The poem reminds me of a conversation I had recently about how doctors often look after themselves far worse than their patients - the doctor carries his pack of medicine but suffocates under the burden of his responsibility - and in this sense the poem illustrates the absurdity of the human condition. I like the fact that ‘suffocating heat’ has no grammatical connection to the first two lines and so it is totally up to the reader to link these disparate images and ‘co-create’ the poem's meaning.
describe plum-blossoms?
better than my verses ... white
wordless butterflies
Reikan
Finally, having written my undergraduate dissertation largely about metapoetics in Latin and Greek verse, poetry about poetry intrigues me. I love the pessimistic idea contained in the phrase ‘better than my verses’. Reikan sullenly (or philosophically?) tells us that nature is more beautiful than human creation, developing the idea with ‘white *wordless* butterflies’. The poem talks to me of our inability to do nature justice with our words and in a sense the futility of writing. And yet, ironically, the poet writes.
educating from my lap
and when i finish...
When I was at university I become acquainted with a group who would text exclusively in haiku, and this was actually my introduction to the form. I’d occasionally receive anonymous texts along the lines of:
evening o John Donne
fancy a party tonight?
text back for address
The messages tended to be funnier and more eloquent but unfortunately I never thought to save them. Browsing my parents’ poetry shelves recently I came across this volume Japanese Haiku and picked it up, intrigued to read some authentic examples.
The introduction is illuminating and provides some clues about how to read these traditional poems, stating that the form ‘is not expected to be always a complete or even a clear statement, the reader is supposed to add to the words his own associations and imagery, and thus to become a co-creator of his own pleasure in the poem.’ In light of which I’ll discuss three poems from the collection.
friend, that open mouth
reveals your whole interior...
silly hollow frog!
Anon.
The ambiguity of this poem is its particular pleasure for me and a good example of what the introduction describes as the ‘implied identity between two seemingly different things’ characteristic of good haiku. The poem is addressed to a friend and a frog. Final lines of haiku sometimes express what appear to be unrelated thoughts or ideas but the ‘open mouth [which] reveals your whole interior’ connects the friend with the frog. Is the friend an actual frog? Haiku do frequently address animals and inanimate objects anthropomorphically. Or is the poem about a human friend whose open mouth reminds the poet of a frog? For me the poem is a reproach against a person whose ‘open mouth’ talks too much and ill-advisedly reveals their whole hollow interior, unveiling their their vanity through their loquacity.
vendor of bright fans
carrying his pack of breeze...
suffocating heat
Shiki
I enjoy the irony of this poem and the image it creates for me of a man bent over double carrying his pack of fans, struggling in the ‘suffocating heat’ with this load of goods whose purpose is precisely to alleviate the symptoms of such weather. The idea of his ‘pack of breeze’ also suggests a light pack, one which weighs as little as the breeze, though I see its weight in the heat as the cause of the man's suffocation. The poem reminds me of a conversation I had recently about how doctors often look after themselves far worse than their patients - the doctor carries his pack of medicine but suffocates under the burden of his responsibility - and in this sense the poem illustrates the absurdity of the human condition. I like the fact that ‘suffocating heat’ has no grammatical connection to the first two lines and so it is totally up to the reader to link these disparate images and ‘co-create’ the poem's meaning.
describe plum-blossoms?
better than my verses ... white
wordless butterflies
Reikan
Finally, having written my undergraduate dissertation largely about metapoetics in Latin and Greek verse, poetry about poetry intrigues me. I love the pessimistic idea contained in the phrase ‘better than my verses’. Reikan sullenly (or philosophically?) tells us that nature is more beautiful than human creation, developing the idea with ‘white *wordless* butterflies’. The poem talks to me of our inability to do nature justice with our words and in a sense the futility of writing. And yet, ironically, the poet writes.
May 18, 2009
One of my favorite works. This is a skinny little book, with a brief introduction to Haiku (3 lines, 5 syllables for the first and third and seven for the second). As the editor of this volume points out (page 3):
"There is almost always in it the name of the season, or a key word giving the season by inference. . . .But there is also, in a good haiku, more than a mere statement of feeling or a picture of nature: there is an implied identity between two seemingly different things."
But the key aspect of this work is the 200+ poems. It is hard for me to believe how much power can come with 17 syllables and three lines. I guess that's why I love this genre (and I have even tried to write in this genre, to indifferent result).
One of Shushiki's poems:
"Dead my old fine hopes
And dry my dreaming but still. . .
Iris, blue each spring."
Jokun's poem (and pretty poignant for me!):
"Ah! I intended
Never never to grow old
Listen: New Year's bell!"
My favorite of the poets is Basho. In his verse here, he, in 17 syllables, mirrors Shelley's great poem "Ozymandias":
"Here, where a thousand
Captains swore grand conquest. . .tall
Grass their monument."
A very nice little compilation. I think I bought this in graduate school a long time ago. But I still enjoy revisiting this slender volume. . .
"There is almost always in it the name of the season, or a key word giving the season by inference. . . .But there is also, in a good haiku, more than a mere statement of feeling or a picture of nature: there is an implied identity between two seemingly different things."
But the key aspect of this work is the 200+ poems. It is hard for me to believe how much power can come with 17 syllables and three lines. I guess that's why I love this genre (and I have even tried to write in this genre, to indifferent result).
One of Shushiki's poems:
"Dead my old fine hopes
And dry my dreaming but still. . .
Iris, blue each spring."
Jokun's poem (and pretty poignant for me!):
"Ah! I intended
Never never to grow old
Listen: New Year's bell!"
My favorite of the poets is Basho. In his verse here, he, in 17 syllables, mirrors Shelley's great poem "Ozymandias":
"Here, where a thousand
Captains swore grand conquest. . .tall
Grass their monument."
A very nice little compilation. I think I bought this in graduate school a long time ago. But I still enjoy revisiting this slender volume. . .
February 28, 2024
This a lovely little collection of poems.
December 27, 2022
The first in a series of four small books of haiku I was given as a gift. They were published in the 1950's. A lot of the translations are more flowery and verbose than more modern translations, causing them to be awkward at times. Contributing to the awkwardness is the translator's insistence on forcing the 5-7-5 syllable structure.
For example, Issa's famous haiku written after his child died:
Dew evaporates
And all our world is dew... So dear,
So fresh, so fleeting
Compared to my favorite translation:
This dewdrop world
Is a dewdrop world
And yet, and yet
Sometimes, however, the translations are charming, like this one, also from Issa:
I must turn over...
Beware of local earthquakes
Bedfellow cricket
All in all, an interesting and occasionally fun little book of haiku, but generally I'd recommend more recent translations.
For example, Issa's famous haiku written after his child died:
Dew evaporates
And all our world is dew... So dear,
So fresh, so fleeting
Compared to my favorite translation:
This dewdrop world
Is a dewdrop world
And yet, and yet
Sometimes, however, the translations are charming, like this one, also from Issa:
I must turn over...
Beware of local earthquakes
Bedfellow cricket
All in all, an interesting and occasionally fun little book of haiku, but generally I'd recommend more recent translations.
February 14, 2025
4.5 ☆
Winter's morning light--
A cool wind turns a page of
This book in my hand.
I got this little book second-hand with a love letter written inside the cover. I understand why the structure of the poems in this specific collection may seem frustrating, but I was personally able to overlook it in most cases. I don't know. There is something so pleasant and comforting about reading the work of poets from almost half a millennium ago about the ephemeral nature of things and seeing that we have not changed in how much we appreciate the light of the moon, the ripples in a stream, or the first bloom of a flower in the spring.
If you think you wrote the love letter, or that the love letter was written to you and you have just remembered the existence of this book, feel free to reply to this!
Winter's morning light--
A cool wind turns a page of
This book in my hand.
I got this little book second-hand with a love letter written inside the cover. I understand why the structure of the poems in this specific collection may seem frustrating, but I was personally able to overlook it in most cases. I don't know. There is something so pleasant and comforting about reading the work of poets from almost half a millennium ago about the ephemeral nature of things and seeing that we have not changed in how much we appreciate the light of the moon, the ripples in a stream, or the first bloom of a flower in the spring.
If you think you wrote the love letter, or that the love letter was written to you and you have just remembered the existence of this book, feel free to reply to this!
July 1, 2020
You already lose a lot by reading a translation of Japanese haiku, so I wish they'd preserved the 3 line format of the poems. Instead nearly all of the haiku are displayed in 4 lines with the middle line broken in two. It throws off the flow of reading in my opinion.
They did this to accommodate woodcut style graphics which are next to each poem. They are nice but rarely have anything to do with the content of the poems, so they don't add much except a formatting problem.
Anyway, layout issues aside, I enjoyed it.
They did this to accommodate woodcut style graphics which are next to each poem. They are nice but rarely have anything to do with the content of the poems, so they don't add much except a formatting problem.
Anyway, layout issues aside, I enjoyed it.
April 2, 2023
I first read this when I came across it (and three subsequent haiku collections from Peter Pauper Press) at a used bookstore in 1986, and it made me fall in love with haiku. I just reread it yesterday. It's a beautiful book filled with haiku by old masters Basho, Issa, Buson, and many others, translated by Peter Beilenson, plus small images of woodcuts. An absolutely beautiful little book.
July 11, 2022
Some fantastic haikus! Very calming, read with some tea or at a cafe, just very nice! If you want to see my choice of favorite poems you can probably see them on my reading updates for this book because I posted for every page.
July 9, 2017
Torches! Come and see
the burglar I have captured . . .
Oh! My eldest son!
Sokan
the burglar I have captured . . .
Oh! My eldest son!
Sokan
April 19, 2020
220 examples of 17 syllable poems. All great.
February 3, 2022
Elegantly beautiful
June 27, 2022
I do not have a poetry shelf. I found the introduction most interesting. I enjoy many of the haiku pieces. A totally different type of read for me.
July 15, 2022
I feel blessed to have fun this little gem in Ann Arbor. A great read.
November 16, 2023
Each poem is like a perfectly captured moment. Loved this book! Will definitely keep it by my bedside to read again & again.
May 6, 2024
A tattered old book/picked up at a used book sale/Japanese Haiku.
September 20, 2024
It was boring
October 7, 2024
Summer coffee cold,
Autumn approaches,
with gold.
Sofa king comfy.
Autumn approaches,
with gold.
Sofa king comfy.
July 22, 2011
These are translations by Peter Bielenson. They are very tasteful and sensitive, and I have enjoyed them greatly. I would recommend this as one of several translations to read simultaneously.
March 9, 2013
longtime favorite. a treasure full of gems.
April 6, 2014
Small book of hundreds of haiku by Basho, Buson, Issa and others. Fun to 'dip' into now and again.
April 25, 2017
It is amazing how many images and emotions can be contained in 17 syllables. Although the translation and the restriction of syllables and lines sometimes does violence to my sense of grammar and style, many of the haikus are very artfully done.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews