Japanese haiku by Issa

The Japanese haiku is a poem seventeen syllables long, usually divided into three lines of five, seven and five syllables each, often infused with mystical zen awareness. Usually, the brief haiku leads the reader to visualise a season through a key word, and to associate other thoughts and imagery from one’s own experience, thereby inviting the reader to become a participant in creating joy from the poem.

Autumn breezes shake
The scarlet flowers my poor child
Could not wait to pick

Issa (1763-1827), Quoted with permission from The Four Seasons, Translation by Peter Beilenson, The Peter Pauper Press

Woodblock print by Miyagawa Shuntei (1899), Japanese Art Open Data Base, www.ukiyo-e.org