Buson - An evening orchid, Hidden in its scent, The flower's whiteness

夜の蘭香にかくれてや花白し (yoru no ran ka ni kakurete ya hana shiroshi): the orchid at night, hidden in its scent; the flower is white. 夜の蘭 is the orchid at night, 蘭 an autumn season word; 香にかくれてや is hidden in its scent, with や an exclamation at the hiding; 花白し is a plain statement, the flower is white, the one visible thing given back at the end. In daylight an orchid is a shape; at night it is a smell, and the smell grows as the shape goes, until the flower seems to have withdrawn into what it gives off. The verse stands in the 蕪村句集 of 1784, the poet's own late selection, in the autumn section after the morning-glory verses. The English follows R. H. Blyth's, from his Haiku of 1952.