A Year of Bashō

Twelve haiku translations from Bonsai, PIE Books, Tokyo, 2011, translated by Emiko Miyashita and Michael Dylan Welch in January and February of 2011. Also shared on the Seattle Japanese Garden Community Blog (date unknown), with many of the poems also displayed individually at the garden’s entry kiosk. +

『盆栽』　芭蕉句

The First Month

一月

幾霜に心ばせをの松かざり

ikushimo ni kokorobase o no matsukazari

after years of frost

the unchanged green heart

of the New Year pine decoration

The Second Month

二月

春もややけしきととのふ月と梅

haru mo yaya keshiki totonou tsuki to ume

gradually spring—

the land just so

with moon and plum

The Third Month

三月

はるなれや名もなき山の朝がすみ

harunare ya namonaki yama no asagasumi

truly spring—

nameless mountains

in a thin morning mist

The Fourth Month

四月

あらたふと青葉若葉の日のひかり

aratōto aoba wakaba no hi no hikari

how brilliant—

leaves both green and young

in the sun’s light

The Fifth Month

五月

するが地や花橘も茶の匂ひ

surugaji ya hanatachibana mo cha no nioi

Suruga road—

even the wild orange blossoms

smell of green tea

The Sixth Month

六月

六月や峯に雲置くあらし山

rokugatsu ya mine ni kumo oku arashiyama

sixth month—

clouds resting on the peaks

of Arashiyama