a frog poem by:Matsuo Basho

Original (Japanese)

(Kanji)
古池や
蛙飛びこむ
水の音

(Hiragana)
ふるいけや
かはづとびこむ
みずのおと

(Romaji)
Furuike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto


Translations


Literal

Fu-ru (old) i-ke (pond) ya,
ka-wa-zu (frog) to-bi-ko-mu (jumping into)
mi-zu (water) no o-to (sound)
  (Fumiko Saisho)


Figurative (various)

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

An ancient pond!
With a sound from the water
Of the frog as it plunges in.
  (W. G. Aston)

An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
  (Harry Behn)

The old pond:
a frog jumps in, –
the sound of the water.
  (R. H. Blyth)
  
An old pond
A frog jumps in —
Sound of water.
  (Geoffrey Bownas and Anthony Thwaite)

Listen! A frog
Jumping into the stillness
Of an ancient pond!
  (Dorothy Briton)

There is the old pond!
Lo, into it jumps a frog:
hark, water's music!
  (John Bryan)

old pond
frog leaping
splash
  (Cid Corman)

Old pond
a frog in-leaping
water note
  (Maeda Cana)

The old pond, aye!
And the sound of a frog
leaping into the water.
  (Basil Hall Chamberlain)

At the ancient pond
a frog plunges into
the sound of water
  (Alan Chng)


The silent old pond
a mirror of ancient calm,
a frog-leaps-in splash.
  (Dion O'Donnol)

Antic pond-
frantic frog jumps in-
gigantic sound.
  (Bernard Lionel Einbond)

The old pond, yes, and
A frog is jumping into
The water, and splash.
  (G. S. Fraser)

The old pond
A frog jumped in,
Kerplunk!
  (Allen Ginsberg)

The old pond -
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.
  (Robert Hass)

Old pond...
a frog jumps in
water's sound.
  (William J. Higginson)

The ancient pond
A frog leaps in
The sound of the water.
  (Donald Keene)

pond
frog
plop!
  (James Kirkup)

ancient pond —
a frog jumping
into its splash
  (R. Clarence Matsuo-Allard)

The still old pond
and as a frog leaps in it
the sound of a splash
  (Earl Miner)

An old pond —
The sound
Of a diving frog.
  (Kenneth Rexroth)

The quiet pond
A Frog leaps in,
The sound of the water.
  (Edward G. Seidensticker)

The old pond!
A frog jumps in—
Sound of the water.
  (Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai)

Аn old pond...
a frog leaps in,
the sound of water
  (Haruo Shirane)

The old green pond is silent; here the hop
Of a frog plumbs the evening stillness: plop!
  (Harold Stewart)

Old pond,
leap-splash –
a frog.
  (Lucien Stryk)

The old pond –
a frog leaps in,
and a splash
  (Makoto Ueda)

The old pond,
A frog jumps in:
Plop!
  (Alan Watts)
 
Ancient pond unstirred
Into which a frog has plunged,
A splash was heard.
  (Kenneth Yasuda)
 
Breaking the silence
оf an ancient pond,
a frog jumped into water–
а deep resonance.
  (Nobuyuki Yuasa)
 
Ancient pond, silent
a frog leaps into it, and
- the water's high note!
  (Robert Kahn)

At the ancient pond
look: a little frog jumps in –
just a gentle splash…
  (Dmitri Smirnov - GFDL)

An ancient pond.
O! a frog jumps in –
a splash...
  (Alexander Sitnitsky - GFDL)

Old pond,
Young frog.
Splash!
  (Jozy Big Mountain)


http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Frog_Poem