Connie’s Reviews > Soseki Natsume's Collected Haiku: 1,000 Verses from Japan's Most Popular Writer > Status Update

a wild waterfall;
　the whole mountain's young leaves all aquiver
あら瀧や滿山の若葉皆震ふ
ara taki ya manzan no wakaba mina furu

a sudden evening shower pelting into the lake
　what vigor
夕立の湖に落ち込む勢かな
yūdachi no umi ni ochikomu kioi kana

red and white lotus
　blooming in a mortar
紅白の蓮播鉢に開きけり
kōhaku no hasu suribachi ni hirakikeri

lonely though I be
　the moonflower is at its peak
淋しくもまた夕顔のさかりかな
samishiku mo mata yūgao no sakari kana

the morning after;
　the bamboo-grass field out back is thick with dew
きぬぎぬや裏の篠原露多し
kinuginu ya ura no shinohara tsuya ōshi

new-growth bamboo;
　beside an anonymous gravestone
若竹や名も知らぬ人の墓の傍
wakatake ya na mo shiranu hito no haka no soba

cracking a whip
　dust rises from a horse cart;
　　early summer
鞭鳴す馬車の埃や麥の秋
muchi narasu basha no hokori ya mugi no aki

though I thought to cross
　no bridge spans the valley
　　a cuckoo
渡らんとして谷に橋なし閑古鳥
wataran toshite tani ni hashi nashi kankodori

silently, the mosquito stabs deep;
　Tabaruzaka
鳴きもせでぐさと刺す蚊や田原坂
naki mo sede gusa to sasu ka ya Tabaruzaka*
(*site of a major battle in the Satsuma Rebellion in March 1877)

chemistry
　magical arts begetting fireworks
化學とは花火を造る術ならん
kagaku to wa hanabi o tsukuru jutsu naran

red sun
　the heat as it sinks into the sea
赤き日の海に落込む暑かな
akaki hi no umi ni ochikomu atsusa kana

foolish you may be
　yet you, alone, are cool
愚かければ獨りすずしくおはします
orokakereba hitori suzushiku owashimasu

listening alone;
　the wild cries of an old nightingale in summer
ひとりきくや夏鶯の亂鳴
hitori kiku ya natsu uguisu no midarenaki

shining in the early autumn breeze
　a spider's thread
立つ秋の風にひかるよ蜘蛛の糸
tatsu aki no kaze ni hikaru yo kumo no ito