Table of Contents
Flower haiku poems by Japanese haiku poets
In haiku, flowers are often used as words expressing the season (kigo). Also, the impression given by each flower makes it possible to have a clear image in poems.
By the way, do you know Haiku poem’s definition and format?
Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828)
<Japanese>
正月や 村の小すみの 梅の花
Shogatsu ya/ Mura no kosumi no/ Ume no hana
<English>
It’s New Years.
At the corner of the village,
Ume blossoms.
Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)
<Japanese>
たんほゝを ちらしに青む 春野哉
Tanpopo wo/ Chirashi ni aomu/ Haruno kana
<English>
The dandelions
Are scattered on the green.
It’s spring field.
<Japanese>
風吹て 山吹蝶を はね返し
Kaze huki te/ Yamabuki cho wo/ Hanekaeshi
<English>
The wind blows,
The kerria bounces
The butterfly.
<Japanese>
昼顔の 花に皺見る あつさかな
Hirugao no/ Hana ni shiwa miru/ Atsusa kana
<English>
The convolvulus
Flower shows creases.
It’s a hot day.
<Japanese>
落したか 落ちたか路の 椿かな
Otoshita ka/ Ochita ka michi no/ Tsubaki kana
<English>
Someone dropped
Or dropped by itself on the street
The flower of camellia.
Kawahigashi Hekigoto(1873-1937)
<Japanese>
菜の花に 汐さし上る 小川かな
Nano hana ni/ Shio sashinoboru/ Ogawa kana
<English>
The canola flowers,
And the tide goes back
The small stream.
<Japanese>
ふたかゝえ 三抱えの桜 ばかりなり
Futa-kakae/ Mi-kakae no sakura/ Bakari nari
<English>
The two or three
Armful cherry trees
Are just can be seen.
<Japanese>
紙漉きの 恋に咲きけり 鳳仙花
Kamisuki no/ Koi ni saki keri/ Housenka
<English>
Papermaker’s
Love has a flower of
Balsam.
Takahama Kyoshi (1874-1959)
<Japanese>
茶の花に 暖き日の しまひかな
Cha no hana ni/ Atatakaki hi no/ Shimai kana
<English>
A tea flower,
The warmth days
Come to end.
<Japanese>
提灯に 落花の風の 見ゆるかな
Chochin ni/ Rakka no kaze no/ Miyuru kana
<English>
Around the paper lantern
Fallen blossoms with the wind
Can be seen.
<Japanese>
虎杖の 花に牧歌の 生れけり
Itadori no/ Hana ni bokka no/ Umare keri
<English>
Japanese knotweed
Flowers had just given rise
A pastoral idyll.
Hasegawa Kanajo (1887-1969)
<Japanese>
チユリツプ 影もつくらず 開きけり
Churippu/ Kage mo tsukura zu/ Hiraki keri
<English>
A tulip,
With no shadow,
Blossoms.
<Japanese>
初花に 霰こぼしぬ 小湧谷
Hatsu hana ni/ Arare koboshi nu/ Kowakudani
<English>
On the first flower
The hail dropped
Kowakudani
*Mostly “first flower” means first cherry blossoms in haiku.
*Kowakudani:The hot spring in Kanagawa Prefecture.
<Japanese>
呪ふ人は 好きな人なり 紅芙蓉
Norou hito/ Ha suki na hito nari/ Beni fuyo
<English>
I curse the man
Who is the man loved by me.
A cotten rose.
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Hashimoto Takako (1899-1963)
<Japanese>
わが行けば 露とびかかる 葛の花
Waga ikeba/ Tsuyu tobikakaru/ Kuzu no hana
<English>
When I go,
And get the splashing dewdrops,
A kudzu flower.
<Japanese>
曼珠沙華 はふりのけぶり 地よりたつ
Manjushage/ Hahuri no keburi/ Zi yori tatsu
<English>
A cluster amaryllis.
The smoke by a junior Shinto priest
Rises from the ground.
*A cluster amaryllis is also called “higanbana” in Japan. It means a flower of Higan. Higan is the week surrounding the Vernal Equinox Day or Autumnal Equinox Day. And it is the period that people hold a memorial service for an ancestor or a deceased.
<Japanese>
曼珠沙華 咲くとつぶやき ひとり堪ゆ
Manjushage/ Saku to tsubuyaki /Hitori tayu
<English>
“A cluster amaryllis
Comes out” I mutter
And endure alone.
Four seasons haiku poems by famous haiku poets
