Frog Haiku – Basho

古池や
蛙飛び込む
水の音

ふるいけや
かわずとびこむ
みずのおと

furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto

———-

Old pond — frogs jumped in — sound of water.
Translated by Lafcadio Hearn

A lonely pond in age-old stillness sleeps . . .
Apart, unstirred by sound or motion . . . till
Suddenly into it a lithe frog leaps.
Translated by Curtis Hidden Page

Into the ancient pond
A frog jumps
Water’s sound!
Translated by D.T. Suzuki

The old pond;
A frog jumps in —
The sound of the water.
Translated by R.H. Blyth

An old pond —
The sound
Of a diving frog.
Translated by Kenneth Rexroth

Pond, there, still and old!
A frog has jumped from the shore.
The splash can be heard.
Translated by Eli Siegel

Old pond
and a frog-jump-in
water-sound
Translated by Harold G. Henderson

The old pond, yes, and
A frog-jumping-in-the-
Water’s noise!
Translated by G.S. Fraser

The ancient pond
A frog leaps in
The sound of the water.
Translated by Donald Keene

old pond
frog leaping
splash
Translated by Cid Corman

The old pond,
A frog jumps in:
Plop!
Translated by Alan Watts

Breaking the silence
Of an ancient pond,
A frog jumped into water —
A deep resonance.
Translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa

The quiet pond
A frog leaps in,
The sound of the water.
Translated by Edward Seidensticker

The old pond —
A frog leaps in,
And a splash.
Translated by Makoto Ueda

old pond
a frog in-leaping
water-note
Translated by Cana Maeda

The old pond
A frog jumped in,
Kerplunk!
Translated by Allen Ginsberg

The old pond is still
a frog leaps right into it
splashing the water
Translated by Earl Miner & Hiroko Odagiri

old pond . . .
a frog leaps in
water’s sound
Translated by William J. Higginson

Old dark sleepy pool
quick unexpected frog
goes plop! Watersplash.
Translated by Peter Beilenson

Listen! a frog
Jumping into the stillness
Of an ancient pond!
Translated by Dorothy Britton

Old pond
leap — splash
a frog.
Translated by Lucien Stryk

The old pond;
A frog jumps in —
The sound of the water.
Translated by Robert Aitken

The old pond —
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.
Translated by Robert Hass

At the ancient pond
a frog plunges into
the sound of water
Translated by Sam Hamill

dark old pond
:
a frog plunks in
Translated by Dick Bakken

Ancient silent pond
Then a frog jumped right in
Watersound: kerplunk
Translated by John S. Major

old pond
a frog leaps in —
a moment after, silence
Translated by Ross Figgins

ancient is the pond —
suddenly a frog leaps — now!
the water echoes
Translated by Tim Chilcott

pond
frog
plop!
Translated by James Kirkup

old pond
a frog jumps into
the sound of water
Translated by Jane Reichhold

There once was a curious frog
Who sat by a pond on a log
And, to see what resulted,
In the pond catapulted
With a water-noise heard round the bog.
Translated by Alfred H. Marks

Within aging pond
frogs jumping vibrate the calm
water’s resonance
Translated by Sarah Isbell

———-

Cái ao cũ —
Con nhái nhảy vào
Tiếng nước động.

Ao cũ —
Con nhái nhảy vào
Tiếng nước xao.

———-

Notes:

Image is Basho’s calligraphy.

Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉 – Tùng Vĩ Ba Tiêu, 1644 – 28 November 1694)

http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-frog.htm

https://briefpoems.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/frogs-bashos-many-english-frogs/

http://www.japanpitt.pitt.edu/essays-and-articles/culture/matsuo-bashō-and-art-haiku

http://basho-imagery.blogspot.com/2012/11/basho-in-sumi-wood-bronze.html?m=1