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Yosa Buson Poems

A collection of select Yosa Buson famous poems that were written by Yosa Buson or written about the poet by other famous poets. PoetrySoup is a comprehensive educational resource of the greatest poems and poets on history.

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 A bat flits
in moonlight
above the plum blossoms....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa



 Before the white chrysanthemum
the scissors hesitate
 a moment....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Blow of an ax,
pine scent,
the winter woods....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Buying leeks
and walking home
 under the bare trees....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Calligraphy of geese
against the sky--
 the moon seals it....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa



 Coolness--
the sound of the bell
 as it leaves the bell....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Dawn--
fish the cormorants haven't caught
swimming in the shallows....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 STILL as the holy of holies breathes the vast,
Within its crystal depths the stars grow dim;
Fire on the altar of the hills at last
 Burns on the shadowy rim.


Moment that holds all moments; white upon
The verge it trembles; then like mists of flowers
Break from the fairy fountain of the dawn
 The hues of many hours.


Thrown downward from that high...Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Early summer rain--
houses facing the river,
 two of them...Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Evening wind:
water laps
 the heron's legs....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Harvest moon--
called at his house,
he was digging potatoes....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 His Holiness the Abbot
is shitting
in the withered fields....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Lighting one candle
with another candle--
 spring evening....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Listening to the moon,
gazing at the croaking of frogs
in a field of ripe rice....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 My arm for a pillow,
I really like myself
under the hazy moon....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Old well,
a fish leaps--
 dark sound....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Sparrow singing--
its tiny mouth
 open....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 The spring sea rising
and falling, rising
 and falling all day....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 Below are eleven Buson haiku
beginning with the phrase
'The short night--'


The short night--
on the hairy caterpillar
beads of dew.

The short night--
patrolmen
washing in the river.

The short night--
bubbles of crab froth
among the river reeds.

The short night--
a broom thrown away
on the beach.

The short night--
the Oi River
has sunk two feet.

The short night--
on the outskirts of the village
a small shop opening.

The short night--
broken, in the shallows,
a...Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa
 White blossoms of the pear
and a woman in moonlight
 reading a letter....Read more of this...
by Buson, Yosa

Book: Shattered Sighs