Old pond, leap-splash – a frog.
MATSUO BASHO
MATSUO BASHO
More from Matsuo Basho
Calm and serene The sound of a cicada Penetrates the rock.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Spring rain leaking through the roof dripping from the wasps’ nest.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Summer grasses — all that remains of great soldiers’ imperial dreams.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Learn the rules, and then forget them.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or to the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo. And in doing so, you must leave your subjective preoccupation with yourself. Otherwise you impose yourself on the object and you do not learn.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Don’t imitate me / we are not two halves / of a muskmelon.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho This autumn- why am I growing old? bird disappearing among clouds.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Farewell, my old fan. / Having scribbled on it, / What could I do but tear it / At the end of summer?
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Awakened at midnight by the sound of the water jar cracking from the ice.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho No matter where your interest lies, you will not be able to accomplish anything unless you bring your deepest devotion to it.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho A weathered skeleton in windy fields of memory, piercing like a knife.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Every moment of life is the last, every poem is a death poem.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho Come, butterfly It’s late- We’ve miles to go together.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho How I long to see among dawn flowers, the face of God.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho April’s air stirs in Willow-leaves, a butterfly Floats and balances.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho
Original quotes
From our community writers
They bleed not in the mouth but through their ink – indelible and dark.
Juana GarciaJuana Garcia I would rather shoot my arrows than keep them in my bow, I would rather risk it all than risk nothing at all.
ShamaShama I wish I knew then all of the things I know now that I am enough.
TMCTMC I feel like I’m on fire, fighting for a moment on respite – I’m not placing bets.
M.K. StandbyM.K. Standby I found him in all the chaos, and that was when my world started making sense again.
MoomerMoomer The judgement that people cast on you for how you do or do not appear is nothing more than just a projection of their own wounds.
Taj AroraTaj Arora Be grateful for what you have now, even if it’s not everything you wanted.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis It seems strange how we look in the same mirror, yet what stares back, is so painfully different.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin