Autumn

Buson
UNREGARDED DIADEM
Dew on the brambles delicately worn At sunrise:
One clear drop on every thorn.

Basho
NO RESPITE
Feast of the Dead: but even on this day,
Smoke from the burning-ground is blown away.

Issa
INTO THE SHINING SEA
The sunlit dews dry up and disappear;
This world defiles: they would not linger here.

Kikaku
THE LIGHT OF TRANQUILLITY
The frenzied dash and dart of dragonflies
Is stilled: a crescent moon begins to rise.

Ho-Ho
SEASIDE SKETCH
A gloomy downpour, pierced by shafts of lig ht;
Out on the glittering sea, the sails are white.

Shido
CRESCENTS
A new moon's silver fin ascends the dark,
As waves engulf the crescent-bladed shark.

Ranko
DETACHED
The withered reeds break off, and day by day
go drifting down the stream that flows away...

Kishu
SILENT TRAVELLER
The autumn sun goes down. Without a cry,
A crow has flown across the orange sky.