UC Press is sharing a selection of haiku in celebration of the Winter Solstice and the publication of Bashō: The Complete Haiku of Matsuo Bashō, which offers 980 poems in English. Andrew Fitzsimons’ translation includes a number of Bashō’s headnote and is the first to adhere strictly to form: all of the poems are translated following the syllabic count of the originals.
68
At long last it’s here
At long last it’s here at last
The end of the year
nari ni keri / nari ni keri made / toshi no kure
279
First snow of the year
what happiness to be here
in my own small hut
hatsuyuki ya / saiwai an ni / makariaru
285
Writing “moon” and “snow”
how I have indulged myself
the end of the year
tsuki yuki to / nosabari kerashi / toshi no kure
326
In the winter sun
I am on horseback frozen
become my shadow
fuyu no hi ya / bashō ni kōru / kagebōshi