Spring rain
Spring rain
leaking through the roof
dripping from the wasps' nest.
Translated by Robert Hass
poem by Matsuo Basho
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A monk sips morning tea
A monk sips morning tea,
it's quiet,
the chrysanthemum's flowering.
Translated by Robert Hass
poem by Matsuo Basho
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Cold night: the wild duck
Cold night: the wild duck,
sick, falls from the sky
and sleeps awhile.
Translated by Robert Hass
poem by Matsuo Basho
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The Narrow Road to the Deep North: Prologue
Behind this door
Now buried in deep grass
A different generation will celebrate
The Festival of Dolls.
poem by Matsuo Basho
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There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.
quote by Matsuo Basho
Added by Lucian Velea
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When the winter chrysanthemums go
When the winter chrysanthemums go,
there's nothing to write about
but radishes.
Translated by Robert Hass
poem by Matsuo Basho
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Bitter–tasting ice —
Kori nigaku enso ga nodo o uruoseri
Bitter–tasting ice —
Just enough to wet the throat
Of a sewer rat.
poem by Matsuo Basho
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Staying at an inn
Staying at an inn
where prostitutes are also sleeping--
bush clover and the moon.
Translated by Robert Hass
poem by Matsuo Basho
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A cool fall night
At a hermitage:
A cool fall night--
getting dinner, we peeled
eggplants, cucumbers.
Translated by Robert Hass
poem by Matsuo Basho
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In this world of ours,
Yo no naka wa kutte hako shite nete okite
Sate sono ato wa shinuru bakari zo
In this world of ours,
We eat only to cast out,
Sleep only to wake,
And what comes after all that
Is simply to die at last.
poem by Matsuo Basho
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