Four Haiku by Yosa Buson

White blossoms of the pear
and a woman in moonlight
reading a letter.


Coming back—
so many pathways
through the spring grass.


The short night—
the peony
has opened.


The two plum trees—
I love their blooming!
one early, one later. 


(Translations by Robert Hass)

"Koshigaya in Musashi Province," 1858, Ando Hiroshige, from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji