= Great Haiku Masters 
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[desc="1644—1694. Edo Period Poet"]
==  Matsuo Bashō
Matsuo Basho was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative _haikai no renga_ form. After centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku.
Two famous Haiku poems by Matsuo Bashō are featured below:

=== In Kyoto 
[verse]
In Kyoto, 
hearing the cuckoo, 
I long for Kyoto.

=== First Winter Rain 
[verse]
First winter rain— 
even the monkey 
seems to want a raincoat.

 

[desc="1716—1784. Edo Era Poet and Painter"]
== Yosa Bousan 
Yosa Buson or Yosa no Buson was a Japanese poet and painter of the Edo period.Buson is considered among the greatest poets of the Edo Period. He is also known for completing haiga as a style of art,working with haibun prose, and experimenting with a mixed Chinese-Japanese style of poetry. Two famous Haiku poems by Yosa Bousan are featured below:

=== The Light of a Candle
[verse]
The light of a candle
Is transferred to another candle —
spring twilight.

=== On the one-ton temple bell
[verse]
On the one-ton temple bell 
A moonmoth, folded into sleep, 
Sits still.

[desc="1763—1828. Edo Period and Priest"]
== Kobayashi Issa
Kobayashi Issa was a Japanese poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū. He is known for his haiku poems and journals. 
Reflecting the popularity and interest in Issa as man and poet, Japanese books on Issa outnumber those on Buson and almost equal in number those on Bashō.Two famous Haiku poems by Kobayashi Issa are featured below:

=== All the time I pray to Buddha
[verse]
All the time I pray to Buddha
I keep on
killing mosquitoes.

=== On a Branch
[verse]
On a branch
floating downriver
a cricket, singing.
