A Haiku for the inhabitants of Frog End

Here's a Haiku for Daughter-who-takes-photos (author of Rambles from Frog End which is the name of their home) and Son-in-law-and-friend-who-loves-otters which I found on Ruby's blog:-

Furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto

The old pond;
a frog jumps in —
the sound of the water.

This Haiku was written by Matsuo Bashô (1644-1694) and this page has 31 translations of it. It is probably the most famous poem in Japan, and after three hundred and more years of repetition, it has, understandably, become a little stale for Japanese people. But the scope for some brilliant translations continues here in English. Many more versions can be found in Hiroaki Sato’s One Hundred Frogs (Weatherhill, 1995), which includes over 100 translations plus a number of adaptations and parodies.

My favourites are:-

The ancient pond
A frog leaps in
The sound of the water.

The old pond,
A frog jumps in:
Plop!

Old pond
leap — splash
a frog.

old pond
a frog in-leaping
water-note


pond
frog
plop!