Haiku: Late Tokugawa Period

The rain has slightly abated but the skies remain menacing. The hot summer days are close by.

Now, instead of Haiku from the early Tokugawa period, such as Matsuo Basho and his school, I will move unto the late Tokugawa period in Japan. For a bit of information on the time period, click here.


As the spring rains fall,               Harusame ni
soaking in them, on the roof,      nuretsutsu yane no
is a child's rag ball.                     temari kana.



Spring rain: and as yet                Harusame ya
the little froglets' bellies              kawazu no hara no
haven't got wet.                          mada nurezu.

Kikugawa Eizan, Courtesans Matsushima of the Matsubaya and Yashio of the Oqiya. Source:
http://centuriespast.tumblr.com/post/16815609928/kikugawa-eizan-japanese-1787-1867-courtesans

And one more to mix things up a bit, plus I really love the imagery.


Scattered petals lie                       Sakura chiru
on the rice-seedling water:           nawashiro-mizu ya
stars in the moonlit sky.                 hoshi-zukiyo.

–Yosa Buson (1716-1784)

Mizuno Toshikata, 1902. Source:
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/japan/ss/JapanHair_10.htm

Again, these have all been taken from the Anthology of Japanese Literature compiled and edited by Donald Keene.