The Essence of Modern Haiku

by Seishi Yamaguchi

Genres: Poetry

330 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kelly D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read modern haiku by English poets, but I haven't had a chance to read modern Japanese haiku until this book. The introduction was very helpful for putting this poet's work into a larger perspective of the haiku tradition.

Below are some of my favorite haiku:

The summer river
Immersing the scarlet end
Of an iron chain.

A frozen harbor --
What was once a Russian town
There and nothing more.

The Lord’s hands and feet,
With the nails hammered through them --
Dewdrops on blossoms.

The lily she held
In her hand as she passed by
Left its fragrance here.

The protracted glow
Of the fleeing firefly
Once out of the cage!

Ripened persimmons --
Streetlamps illuminating
The way up the hill.

A firefly’s light
Ensnared in a spider’s web,
Swiftly devoured.

[Kailey Kraus · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite style of poetry translation, with the original Japanese characters followed by the English transliteration, then the translation and authors comments, then vocabulary notes. It really helps in pealing apart and considering the translation choices. The translator has done an excellent job of maintaining the character of the original verses while keeping the 5-7-5 format.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good haikus. What is additionally great is that each page has Japanese characters, then in latin alphabet, followed by English translation. Then there's some composition information and lastly vocabulary and points of interest.