Matsuo Basho Poems

Following are several translations
of the 'Old Pond' poem, which may be
the most famous of all haiku:
...

A bee
staggers out
of the peony.
...

Autumn moonlight--
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.
...

A snowy morning--
by myself,
chewing on dried salmon.
...

A field of cotton--
as if the moon
had flowered.
...

A monk sips morning tea,
it's quiet,
the chrysanthemum's flowering.
...

A caterpillar,
this deep in fall-
still not a butterfly.
...

Waking in the night;
the lamp is low,
the oil freezing.
...

Sick on my journey,
only my dreams will wander
these desolate moors
...

Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.
...