Matsuo Basho Poems

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• Best Matsuo Basho Poems
• Matsuo Basho Quotes

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 A bee
staggers out
 of the peony....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 A caterpillar,
this deep in fall--
 still not a butterfly....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 At a hermitage:

 A cool fall night--
getting dinner, we peeled
 eggplants, cucumbers....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 A monk sips morning tea,
it's quiet,
 the chrysanthemum's flowering....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 A snowy morning--
by myself,
 chewing on dried salmon....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again. ...Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 Autumn moonlight--
 a worm digs silently
 into the chestnut....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 First day of spring--
I keep thinking about
 the end of autumn....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 First snow
falling
 on the half-finished bridge....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 First winter rain--
even the monkey
 seems to want a raincoat....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 Spring:
A hill without a name
Veiled in morning mist.

The beginning of autumn:
Sea and emerald paddy
Both the same green.

The winds of autumn
Blow: yet still green
The chestnut husks.

A flash of lightning:
Into the gloom
Goes the heron's cry....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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From time to time
The clouds give rest
To the moon-beholders....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 Heat waves shimmering
one or two inches
 above the dead grass....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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In the cicada's cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die. ...Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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In the twilight rain
these brilliant-hued hibiscus . . .
A lovely sunset...Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 Taking a nap,
feet planted
 against a cool wall....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 The dragonfly
can't quite land
 on that blade of grass....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 The oak tree:
not interested
 in cherry blossoms....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 Following are several translations
of the 'Old Pond' poem, which may be
the most famous of all haiku:

Furuike ya 
kawazu tobikomu 
mizu no oto

 -- Basho



Literal Translation

Fu-ru (old) i-ke (pond) ya, 
ka-wa-zu (frog) to-bi-ko-mu (jumping into) 
mi-zu (water) no o-to (sound)






 The old pond--
a frog jumps in,
 sound of water.


Translated by Robert Hass



Old pond...
a frog jumps in
water's sound.


Translated by William J....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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 Winter solitude--
in a world of one color
 the sound of wind....Read more of this...

by Basho, Matsuo

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