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
Clapping my hands with the echoes the summer moon begins to dawn.
How much I desire! Inside my little satchel, the moon, and flowers
Winter garden, the moon thinned to a thread, insects singing.
Poverty's child - he starts to grind the rice, and gazes at the moon.
The moon is brighter since the barn burned.
Felling a tree and gazing at the cut end - tonight's moon
Harvest moon: around the pond I wander and the night is gone.
All my friends / viewing the moon – / an ugly bunch.
The moon and sun are travelers through eternity. Even the years wander on. Whether drifting through life on a boat or climbing toward old age leading a horse, each day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.
There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.
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.
At the ancient pond the frog plunges into the sound of water