Quotes from Faubion Bowers

mihotoke ni / shini mukeoreba / tsuki suzushi4 I've turned my back On Buddha How cool the moon!

hito iyashiku / ran no atai o / ronji keri Men are disgusting. They argue over The price of orchids.

In an old pond a frog ages while leaves fall

kore hodo to / botan no shikata / suru ko kana "The peony was as big as this, "Says the little girl Opening her arms.

hana no kage / aka no tanin wa / nakari keri Under cherry-flowers, None are utter strangers.

The world of dew is, yes, a world of dew, but even so

Third of the four "Greats of haiku. His father was a peasant farmer and packhorse hostler, in what we today call the Japan Alps. "Issa" literally means "one tea," indicating that life is as empty as froth on a cup of tea.

A fallen blossom returning to the bough, I thought — But no, a butterfly. SDC aoyagi no / mayu kaku kishi no / hitai kana2 Green willows Paint eyebrows on the face of the cliff CAC

Sir George Sansom (1883–1965) defined them as "little drops of poetic essence.

sakura saku koro / tori ashi nihon / uma shihon2 When cherry trees bloom birds have two legs horses four

kono aki wa / hiza ni ko no nai / tsukimi kana6 This autumn I'll be looking at the moon With no child on my knee.

Harold Henderson (1889–1974), who made haiku a part of our own literature, dubbed them "meditations . . . starting points for trains of thought." R. H. Blyth (1898–1964), who published six volumes of haiku translations, made the extravagant claim that "Japanese literature stands or falls by haiku.

Among the graffiti The name of Beloved you. AK

koe nakaba / sagi koso yuki no / hitotsurane4 If only noiseless they would go, The herons flying by Were but a line of snow Across the sky CHP

Even after waking From the dream I'll see the colors of irises.

waga oya no / shinuru toki ni mo / he o kokite3 Even at the time When my father lay dying I still kept farting.

If only noiseless they would go, The herons flying by Were but a line of snow Across the sky

Confucian axiom "If one's mind is elsewhere, one will look but not see, listen but not hear

michinobe no / mukuge wa uma ni / kuware keri16 The roadside thistle, eager To see the travellers pass, Was eaten by the passing ass! CHP Mallow flowers By the side of the road — Devoured by my horse. DK

nashi no hana / tsuki ni fumi yomu / onna ari A woman Reading a letter by moonlight Pear blossoms.

mono iwazu / kyaku to teishu to / shiragiku to Saying nothing: Guest and host and white chrysanthemum.

tama ni ge ni / mokut? ya tada / michi no tsuki In spirit and in truth silent prayer . . . just the moon on the road

a flying squirrel sits chewing on a bird withered field (Yosa Buson`s farewell haiku)

Lo! willow leaves have gone, Without getting grey-haired.