When composing a verse let there not be a hair’s breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy.
MATSUO BASHOAt the ancient pond the frog plunges into the sound of water.
More Matsuo Basho Quotes
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Seek not the paths of the ancients; Seek that which the ancients sought.
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Traveler’s heart. Never settled long in one place. Like a portable fire.
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The journey itself is my home.
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Calm and serene The sound of a cicada Penetrates the rock.
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A flute with no holes is not a flute.
MATSUO BASHO -
The oak tree: not interested in cherry blossoms.
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The fact that Saigyo composed a poem that begins, “I shall be unhappy without loneliness,” shows that he made loneliness his master.
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At the ancient pond the frog plunges into the sound of water.
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The sea darkens And a wild duck s call Is faintly white.
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Between our two lives there is also the life of the cherry blossom.
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Make the universe your companion, always bearing in mind the true nature of things-mountains and rivers, trees and grasses, and humanity-and enjoy the falling blossoms and the scattering leaves.
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This autumn- why am I growing old? bird disappearing among clouds.
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Poverty’s child – he starts to grind the rice, and gazes at the moon.
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I hope to have gathered To repay your kindness The willow leaves Scattered in the garden.
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Clapping my hands with the echoes the summer moon begins to dawn.
MATSUO BASHO






