Matsuo Basho
Matsuo Basho
Matsuo Bashō, born 松尾 金作, then Matsuo Chūemon Munefusa, was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku. Matsuo Bashō's poetry is internationally renowned; and, in Japan, many of his poems are reproduced on monuments and traditional sites. Although Bashō is justifiably famous in the West for his...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionPoet
CountryJapan
At the ancient pond the frog plunges into the sound of water
Old pond, leap-splash - a frog.
Old dark sleepy pool... Quick unexpected frog Goes plop! Watersplash!
The old pond, ah! A frog jumps in: The water's sound.
Breaking the silence Of an ancient pond, A frog jumped into water - A deep resonance.
Old pond, frog jumps in - plop.
Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought.
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.
There is nothing you can see that is not a Bashoflower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.
Friends part foreverwild geese lost in cloud
First snow-falling-on the half-finished bridge.
The fact that Saigyo composed a poem that begins, "I shall be unhappy without loneliness," shows that he made loneliness his master.
The sea darkens And a wild duck s call Is faintly white.
Do not resemble me-Never be like a musk melon Cut in two identical halves.