Kobayashi Issa Poems

Even on the smallest islands,
they are tilling the fields,
skylarks singing.
...

Approaching my village:

Don't know about the people,
but all the scarecrows
...

Children imitating cormorants
are even more wonderful
than cormorants.
...

Hey, sparrow!
out of the way,
Horse is coming.
...

Last time, I think,
I'll brush the flies
from my father's face.
...

It once happened
that a child was spared punishment
through earnest solicitation.
...

Blossoms at night,
and the faces of people
moved by music.
...

Summer night--
even the stars
are whispering to each other.
...

These sea slugs,
they just don't seem
Japanese.
...

With my father
I would watch dawn
over green fields.
...