The topic of the present paper is to investigate and identify how two translators, Reginald Horace Blyth and David Landis Barnhill, differ in their translation of Japanese Haikus by Matsuo Bashô to English. Three focal points of the study are; the translation of Haiku rythm, the translation of kireji (a word for separating the Haiku) and the translation of kigo (seasonal word). These three components are fundamental parts of Japanese Haiku poetry and Haiku experience, however there are no set rules on how to translate these Haiku components to English. This study contains a comparative detailed analysis of five of Bashô´s Haikus, in translation by Blyth and Barnhill. Sample Haikus were selected from Blyth´s books A History of Haiku Vol.

This essay will examine the seasonal word known as kigo ?? which mainly appears in the japanese Haiku. The purpose is to offer a suggestion of how a systematic explanation of the semantic peculiarities of kigo could be conducted. The object of this semantic analysis is the kigo tsuki ? (moon).