Level: Poetry
Learn to understand real Japanese poetry, with special attention to its vocabulary and grammar.
The texts are listed in reverse chronological order (newest first). To read a text, click on its title or on the link below the description. To learn more about how these texts work, visit the method page.
The texts are listed in reverse chronological order (newest first). To read a text, click on its title or on the link below the description. To learn more about how these texts work, visit the method page.
Text List
Summer Haiku by Natsume Soseki
Natsume Soseki (夏目漱石)
The summer of Japan as reflected in twelve fascinating haiku poems by one of the giants of Japanese literature.
Natsume is famous around the world for his classic novels such as Botchan, Kokoro, and I Am a Cat. Far fewer people outside Japan know that he was also a talented poet - and this is a good chance to get familiar with that side of his work.
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Natsume Soseki (夏目漱石)
The summer of Japan as reflected in twelve fascinating haiku poems by one of the giants of Japanese literature.
Natsume is famous around the world for his classic novels such as Botchan, Kokoro, and I Am a Cat. Far fewer people outside Japan know that he was also a talented poet - and this is a good chance to get familiar with that side of his work.
> Go to text
Free Verse Haiku by Ozaki Hosai
Ozaki Hosai (尾崎放哉)
Twelve poems in bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes.
All the poems a free-verse haiku — a modern Japanese genre that discards the strict formalities of mainstream haiku in favor of unrestricted expression. Such poetry aims to capture the spirit of haiku in an even more spontaneous and direct way than would normally be possible in the standard variety of haiku.
Bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes.
> Go to text
Ozaki Hosai (尾崎放哉)
Twelve poems in bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes.
All the poems a free-verse haiku — a modern Japanese genre that discards the strict formalities of mainstream haiku in favor of unrestricted expression. Such poetry aims to capture the spirit of haiku in an even more spontaneous and direct way than would normally be possible in the standard variety of haiku.
Bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes.
> Go to text
Death Poems
The Japanese tradition of writing death poems (jisei 辞世), which is strongly linked to Buddhism, has a long and rich history and gave birth to some of the best examples of Japanese poetry as a whole.
The ten poems collected in this book were written by some of the most well-known figures in the history of Japan: Ariwara no Narihira (在原業平); Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉); Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康); Date Masamune (伊達政宗); Matsuo Basho (松尾芭蕉); Oishi Kuranosuke (大石内蔵助); Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎); Nogi Maresuke (乃木希典) and his wife Nogi Shizuko (乃木静子); and Akutagawa Ryunosuke (芥川竜之介).
Bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes.
> Go to text
The Japanese tradition of writing death poems (jisei 辞世), which is strongly linked to Buddhism, has a long and rich history and gave birth to some of the best examples of Japanese poetry as a whole.
The ten poems collected in this book were written by some of the most well-known figures in the history of Japan: Ariwara no Narihira (在原業平); Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉); Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康); Date Masamune (伊達政宗); Matsuo Basho (松尾芭蕉); Oishi Kuranosuke (大石内蔵助); Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎); Nogi Maresuke (乃木希典) and his wife Nogi Shizuko (乃木静子); and Akutagawa Ryunosuke (芥川竜之介).
Bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes.
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Spring Haiku by Matsuo Basho
Matsuo Basho (松尾芭蕉)
Ten poems in bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes. All the poems describe spring scenes and contain special season-associated words.
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Matsuo Basho (松尾芭蕉)
Ten poems in bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes. All the poems describe spring scenes and contain special season-associated words.
> Go to text
Spring Haiku by Natsume Soseki
Natsume Soseki (夏目漱石)
Ten poems in bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes. All the poems describe spring scenes and contain special season-associated words.
> Go to text
Natsume Soseki (夏目漱石)
Ten poems in bilingual format with Japanese and romanization, structure analysis, and language notes. All the poems describe spring scenes and contain special season-associated words.
> Go to text