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
Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought.
Every moment of life is the last, every poem is a death poem.
Every 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.
Operating superficially, the mind is random in its activity and stale in its insights and images. However, with practice and experience the mind is freed from the skull, and the fresh and new can appear as though for the first time. It
Year by year, the monkey's mask reveals the monkey
Come, butterfly It's late- We've miles to go together.
The oak tree: not interested in cherry blossoms.
the universe and its beings are a complementarity of empty infinity, intimate interrelationships, and total uniqueness of each and every being.
Old pond, frog jumps in - plop.
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.