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. He renders 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. Also the imagery-virtuoso Buson and wry, warm, painfully human Issa.
ps what is Haiku?
A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.