古池や
蛙飛び込む
水の音
ふるいけや
かわずとびこむ
みずのおと
furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
Old Pond, popularly known as Frog Haiku, is a haiku by Matsuo Bashō, a 1700th century Japanese poet. This poem is generally said to have been penned in 1686, although it may have been later; regardless, it is a cultural touchstone an is considered an prime example of his work at the peak of his career.
Old pond
frog jump
sound of water
Google translate, 2020
As this is one of Bashō's most famous poems, it is also one of his most translated. While there are many, many translations, they tend to share essentially the same vocabulary, and approximately the same form. There are some words that give hints to the poet's intended tone. Ya is an anticipatory conjunction, indicating that there is a pause but also an expectation of action. The final two lines do not have a suggested break between them. Oto is onomatopoeic, and thus might be translated as 'plop' or 'splash'. But many different translators have put their own spin on these words:
Ancient silent pond
Then a frog jumped right in
Watersound: kerplunk
Translated by John S. Major
The old pond is still
a frog leaps right into it
splashing the water
The Monkey’s Straw Raincoat,
trans. Earl Miner and Hiroko Odagiri, 1981
An old pond —
The sound
Of a diving frog.
Translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Ancient pond, patient...
quick frog cannonballs into
a soft plink of water
Cunningly reworded by Tem42