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
In this poor body, composed of one hundred bones and nine openings, is something called spirit, a flimsy curtain swept this way and that by the slightest breeze. It is spirit, such as it is, which led me to poetry, at first little more than a pastime, then the full business of my life. There have been times when my spirit, so dejected, almost gave up the quest, other times when it was proud, triumphant. So it has been from the very start, never finding peace with itself, always doubting the worth of what it makes.
Learn how to listen as things speak for themselves.
An autumn night - don’t think your life didn’t matter.
Old pond, frog jumps in - plop.
Seek not the paths of the ancients; Seek that which the ancients sought.
Plunge Deep enough in order to see something that is hidden and glimmering.
All my friends / viewing the moon – / an ugly bunch.
April's air stirs in Willow-leaves...a butterfly Floats and balances
The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.
Learn about a pine tree from a pine tree, and about a bamboo plant from a bamboo plant.
When your consciousness has become ripe in true zazen-pure like clear water, like a serene mountain lake, not moved by any wind-then anything may serve as a medium for realization.
Come out to view / the truth of flowers blooming / in poverty.
The journey itself is my home.
How I long to see among dawn flowers, the face of God.