Daily Haiku Archive
Reading One Bashō Haiku Slowly
Bashō’s “old pond” is among the world’s best-known haiku. Its force lies less in explaining what the frog symbolizes than in letting the reader experience the meeting of stillness, movement, and sound.
Buson and the Visual Image in Haiku
Yosa Buson, also an accomplished painter, is often admired for visual composition in haiku. In “spring sea,” the scene and the slow repetition of notari notari create both image and bodily rhythm.
Issa and the Small Lives Around Us
Kobayashi Issa often turns toward sparrows, frogs, insects, and other small beings. In “come play with me, sparrow without parents,” observation and human feeling stand close together, showing that haiku’s attentiveness and compassion need not be opposites.
When One Haiku Scene Stays With Us
Masaoka Shiki’s persimmon-and-bell haiku brings taste, sound, timing, and place together in a simple event. Eating a persimmon and hearing a temple bell make Hōryūji unforgettable as a moment rather than a description.
