Classic Haiku

Sparrows Playing hide-and-seek Among the tea blossoms. Kobayashi Issa Haiku, the traditional Japanese verse form composed of seventeen syllables, can express a dramatic scene or philosophical idea in a single line of verse. In this collection, haiku poet Yuzuru Miura has selected and translated poems by past masters such as Basho and Buson, as well as haiku by contemporary poets. Fireflies, pheasants, a summer shower, winter snow, camelliasall the favorite haiku subjects are included among the o