I love the Everyman's Pocket Library: tough little hardbacks that fit in your pocket and have a bookmark; these are truly beautiful books. These anthologies have insightful forewords and always a mix of classic selections and often unusual ones. The anthology is divided into different themes: Buddha nature, happiness, phases of the moon, birds, creatures, spring, summer etc. As well as a strong canon from Japanese poets, this collection has Western haiku stars and interestingly excerpts culled from masters like Shelley and Hopkins so that pieces of their verses become haiku. This selection introduced me to two 'Western' poets whose work I'm now hungry for - Stanford Forrester and Anita Virgil. Here are some snippets I liked
'Scooping up the moon
In the wash-basin
And spilling it'
- RYUHO
'The skylark:
Its voice alone fell,
Leaving nothing behind'
- AMPU
'In one single cry,
The pheasant has swallowed
The broad field'
-YAMEI
'The shell of a cicada:
It sang itself
Utterly away'
-BASHO
'Under a passage of wild geese,
Over the foot-hills,
A moon is signed'
-BUSON
'Having slept, the cat gets up,
And with great yawns,
Goes love-making'
-ISSA
'Early dusk:
The mouth of the toad
Exhales the moon'
-SHIKI
'Frost at midnight:
I would sleep, borrowing
The sleeves of a scarecrow'
-BASHO
'Peeling a pear
Sweet drops trickle down
The knife'
-SHIKI