summer haiku d’été – frog pond = mare aux grenouilles = stagno delle rane

summer haiku d'été – frog pond = mare aux grenouilles = stagno delle rane  




frog pond
in Amazonia –
fried frog

mare aux grenouilles
en Amazonie –
grenouille frite

stagno delle rane
in Amazzione –
rana fritta

Richard Vallance 

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summer haiku… or not haiku d’été… oui ou non – Shrödinger’s frog = la grenouille de Shrödinger

summer haiku... or not haiku d’été... oui ou non  – Shrödinger’s frog = la grenouille de Shrödinger

in the new old pond
Shrödinger’s frog croaks
and croaks and not




dans l’étang sans âge
la grenouille de Shrödinger
coasse oui et non

Richard Vallance 

Why did I repeat the word croaks in the English haiku? Think about it.  

I do not expect too many people to get this one, but if you do, great!

Canadian variant of Basho’s Old Pond haiku

Canadian variant of Basho’s Old Pond haiku

the beaver pond... 
a frog leaps -
plop! splash!




To head off criticisms that I should not have said plop! and then ... splash!, think about it. When a small amphibian such as a frog leaps into water, the first sound we hear is plop!... and then splash!

l’étang des castors ...
la grenouille y saute -
plouf ! grand plouf ! 

Richard Vallance

You can compare this with 32 translations of the Old Pond haiku, here:
http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-frog.htm

Canadian equivalent of Basho’s “old pond” haiku REVISED = équivalent canadien du haiku « vieil étang » de Basho RÉVISÉ

Canadian equivalent of Basho’s “old pond” haiku REVISED = équivalent canadien du haiku « vieil étang » de Basho RÉVISÉ

beaver pond
frog springs
plop



étang des castors
la grenouille s’élance
plouf

Richard Vallance

3 excellent translations of the original haiku from:



original haiku:

furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto



translations:

old pond
frog leaping
splash 

Cid Corman

the old pond,
a frog jumps in:
plop! 

Alan Watts

the old pond —
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.

Robert Hass



2 horrible translations:

A lonely pond in age-old stillness sleeps . . .
Apart, unstirred by sound or motion . . . till
Suddenly into it a lithe frog leaps. 

Chris Hidden Page

The old pond, yes, and
A frog-jumping-in-the-
Water’s noise! 

G. S. Fraser

from the Commentary on this page:

Ya is a cutting word that separates and yet joins the expressions before and after. It is punctuation that marks a transition — a particle of anticipation.
Though there is a pause in meaning at the end of the first segment, the next two segments have no pause between them. In the original, the words of the second and third parts build steadily to the final word oto. This has penetrating impact — “the frog jumps in water’s sound.” Haiku poets commonly play with their base of three parts, running the meaning past the end of one segment into the next, playing with their form, as all artists do variations on the form they are working with. Actually, the name “haiku” means “play verse.”

It is highly advisable to read this entire commentary.