Collected Haiku of Buson

"For a translator to be faithful and readable, as Mr. Merwin always is, is no small achievement."—The New York Times

"From Latin to Russian to Japanese, translator [W.S. Merwin]'s oeuvre suggests an intrepid quality as well as a scrutinizing sympathy."—Boston Review

This is the first complete bilingual (Japanese/English) translation of the Buson Kushu, a comprehensive collection of the haiku of Yosa Buson (1716–83). Buson's haiku brim with paradox: they are bawdy yet delicate, sparse yet powerful. W.S. Merwin and Takako Lento worked for a decade to co-translate these poems into English-language versions as luminous as the original Japanese. An essential volume of world literature.

"187"

keisei wa
nochi no yo kakete
hanami kana

Courtesans come out
to see the cherry blossoms
as though they were betting on their next life

Yosa Buson (1716–1783) was one of the great poets of Japan's Edo period. His work is technically adroit and finely attuned to visual details. A true maverick of interdisciplinary arts, Buson was also founder of the haiga—a small watercolor or black-and-white painting bordered by a haiku.

W.S. Merwin was US Poet Laureate from 2010–11 and won his second Pulitzer Prize for The Shadow of Sirius (Copper Canyon Press, 2009) and the National Book Award for Migration: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2005). He lives in Hawaii and France.

Co-translator Takako Lento holds an MFA in poetry and translation from the Iowa Writers' Workshop.