In haiku, flowers are often used as words expressing the season (kigo). Also, the impression given by each flower makes it possible to have a clear image in poems.
By the way, do you know Haiku poem’s definition and format?
Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828)
<Japanese>
正月や 村の小すみの 梅の花
Shogatsu ya/ Mura no kosumi no/ Ume no hana
<English>
It’s New Years.
At the corner of the village,
Ume blossoms.
Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)
<Japanese>
たんほゝを ちらしに青む 春野哉
Tanpopo wo/ Chirashi ni aomu/ Haruno kana
<English>
The dandelions
Are scattered on the green.
It’s spring field.
<Japanese>
風吹て 山吹蝶を はね返し
Kaze huki te/ Yamabuki cho wo/ Hanekaeshi
<English>
The wind blows,
The kerria bounces
The butterfly.
<Japanese>
昼顔の 花に皺見る あつさかな
Hirugao no/ Hana ni shiwa miru/ Atsusa kana
<English>
The convolvulus
Flower shows creases.
It’s a hot day.
<Japanese>
落したか 落ちたか路の 椿かな
Otoshita ka/ Ochita ka michi no/ Tsubaki kana
<English>
Someone dropped
Or dropped by itself on the street
The flower of camellia.
Kawahigashi Hekigoto(1873-1937)
<Japanese>
菜の花に 汐さし上る 小川かな
Nano hana ni/ Shio sashinoboru/ Ogawa kana
<English>
The canola flowers,
And the tide goes back
The small stream.
<Japanese>
ふたかゝえ 三抱えの桜 ばかりなり
Futa-kakae/ Mi-kakae no sakura/ Bakari nari
<English>
The two or three
Armful cherry trees
Are just can be seen.
<Japanese>
紙漉きの 恋に咲きけり 鳳仙花
Kamisuki no/ Koi ni saki keri/ Housenka
<English>
Papermaker’s
Love has a flower of
Balsam.
Takahama Kyoshi (1874-1959)
<Japanese>
茶の花に 暖き日の しまひかな
Cha no hana ni/ Atatakaki hi no/ Shimai kana
<English>
A tea flower,
The warmth days
Come to end.
<Japanese>
提灯に 落花の風の 見ゆるかな
Chochin ni/ Rakka no kaze no/ Miyuru kana
<English>
Around the paper lantern
Fallen blossoms with the wind
Can be seen.
<Japanese>
虎杖の 花に牧歌の 生れけり
Itadori no/ Hana ni bokka no/ Umare keri
<English>
Japanese knotweed
Flowers had just given rise
A pastoral idyll.
Hasegawa Kanajo (1887-1969)
<Japanese>
チユリツプ 影もつくらず 開きけり
Churippu/ Kage mo tsukura zu/ Hiraki keri
<English>
A tulip,
With no shadow,
Blossoms.
<Japanese>
初花に 霰こぼしぬ 小湧谷
Hatsu hana ni/ Arare koboshi nu/ Kowakudani
<English>
On the first flower
The hail dropped
Kowakudani
*Mostly “first flower” means first cherry blossoms in haiku.
*Kowakudani:The hot spring in Kanagawa Prefecture.
<Japanese>
呪ふ人は 好きな人なり 紅芙蓉
Norou hito/ Ha suki na hito nari/ Beni fuyo
<English>
I curse the man
Who is the man loved by me.
A cotten rose.
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Hashimoto Takako (1899-1963)
<Japanese>
わが行けば 露とびかかる 葛の花
Waga ikeba/ Tsuyu tobikakaru/ Kuzu no hana
<English>
When I go,
And get the splashing dewdrops,
A kudzu flower.
<Japanese>
曼珠沙華 はふりのけぶり 地よりたつ
Manjushage/ Hahuri no keburi/ Zi yori tatsu
<English>
A cluster amaryllis.
The smoke by a junior Shinto priest
Rises from the ground.
*A cluster amaryllis is also called “higanbana” in Japan. It means a flower of Higan. Higan is the week surrounding the Vernal Equinox Day or Autumnal Equinox Day. And it is the period that people hold a memorial service for an ancestor or a deceased.
<Japanese>
曼珠沙華 咲くとつぶやき ひとり堪ゆ
Manjushage/ Saku to tsubuyaki /Hitori tayu
<English>
“A cluster amaryllis
Comes out” I mutter
And endure alone.
Four seasons haiku poems by famous haiku poets
