Famous Haiku Poems

See also: Famous Haiku Poets

An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

- Basho (1644-1694)

Over the wintry
forest, winds howl in rage
with no leaves to blow.

- Soseki (1275-1351)

In the twilight rain
these brilliant-hued hibiscus . . .
A lovely sunset

- Matsuo Basho

Toward those short trees
We saw a hawk descending
On a day in spring

- Shiki

The day we saw the hawk
On a churchyard tree
A kite too
Was in the far sky.

- Hekigodo

The wren
Earns his living
Noiselessly.

- Issa

The wren
Earns his living
Noiselessly.

- Issa

From time to time
The clouds give rest
To the moon-beholders.

- Bashō

Over-ripe sushi,
The Master
Is full of regret.

- Buson

Consider me
As one who loved poetry
And persimmons.

- Shiki

In the cicada's cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die.

- Bashō

Blowing from the west
Fallen leaves gather
In the east.

- Buson

Winter seclusion -
Listening, that evening,
To the rain in the mountain.

- Issa

My life, -
How much more of it remains?
The night is brief.

- Shiki

An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

- Bashō

I kill an ant
and realize my three children
have been watching.

- Kato Shuson

Over the wintry
forest, winds howl in rage
with no leaves to blow.

- Soseki

Sparrow's child
out of the way, out of the way!
the stallion's coming through

- Issa

Whitecaps on the bay:
A broken signboard banging
In the April wind.

Richard Wright (1908-1960)

Snow in my shoe
Abandoned
Sparrow’s nest

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)