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
The moon is brighter since the barn burned.
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.
With every gust of wind, the butterfly changes its place on the willow.
I hope to have gathered To repay your kindness The willow leaves Scattered in the garden.
Felling a tree and gazing at the cut end - tonight's moon
Just washed, How chill The white leeks!
Traveler's heart. Never settled long in one place. Like a portable fire.
Around existence twine, (Oh, bridge that hangs across the gorge!) ropes of twisted vine.
At the ancient pond the frog plunges into the sound of water
Old pond, leap-splash - a frog.
There is nothing you can see that is not a Bashoflower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.