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30 April, 2009

Poem o' the Day

I love haiku. I especially love haiku translations that capture the sense of the original: short, sweet and to the point.

Basho

Summer grasses:
all that remains of great soldiers’
imperial dreams
Traveling this high
mountain trail, delighted
by violets
The old pond,
A frog jumps in:
Plop!

 Issa

A world of dew,
and within every dewdrop
a world of struggle

Cherry blossom shade
no one an utter
stranger

Spring breeze–
a mouse licking up
Sumida River


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1 comment:

  1. ChrisMay 1, 2009 at 5:06 AM

    A NIGHT MOORING NEAR MAPLE BRIDGE

    While I watch the moon go down, a crow caws through the frost;

    Under the shadows of the maple-trees a fisherman moves with his torch;

    And I hear, from beyond Su-chou, from the temple on Cold Mountain,

    Ringing for me, here in my boat, the midnight bell.

    -Chang Chi (Witter Bynner trans.)

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