The main theme of Basho's haiku is the nature.

 The author wants to describe the

human efforts in finding a harmony with a natural world. This idea is repeated in
many haiku. His tale is a travel diary of the trip through Northern Japan.

Many, many things

they bring to mind-

cherry-blossoms = Symbolizes the beauty of Spring time and Sakura.

On a withered branch

A crow has settled-

Autumn nightfall.

=In Japan, there is a belief that if a crow settles on the roof of a house and begins
cawing, a funeral will soon follow. Did the gloomy Bashō foresee his own death?

Around existence twine

(Oh, bridge that hangs across the gorgel!)

ropes of twisted vine.

Cool it is, and still

Just the tip of a crescent moon

over Black-wing Hill.

The summer grasses grow.

Of mighty warriors’ splendid dreams the

Afterglow

Old pond: = “Old pond” means the deserted scene and there is no sound around the
pond. A frog breaks the silence by jumping into the pond by the sound of water. And
after the jumping, the silence comes again. The haiku poem would evoke the image and
sound that Matsuo Basho saw and heard.

=The old pond symbolizes ancient knowledge and reverence

frog-jump-in=Haiku poets decided a theme at a haiku gathering and it was “frog” at the
day. So, Basho had to put the word into a poem. “Frog” is a spring season word. Since
there was the pond at the hermitage, he possibly heard the sound of the water.

water-sound.

How rough a sea

and, stretching over Sado Isle,

the Galaxy-

Haiku is but one type of Japanese poetry, based on syllabic count.

It consists of three lines, arranged in a five, seven, five, syllable form.

Each completed poem contains a seventeen syllable total.

The purpose of Haiku, is to provide a picture without completeness. The last two lines
comment upon the first, yet they are independent of the first line. This separateness
should be as two poles, between

which a spark must leap to be effective. The reader must complete the

poem by supplying memories, which connect the two poles.

Matsuo Basho, was the first master of Haiku. During his lifetime

( 1644-1694) he studied Zen Buddhism, which accounts for his concentration of

mystical awareness in Haiku. The next master was

Taniguchi Buson ( 1715-1783 ), who wrote of nature and used correlating vignettes. The
modem follower of Basho and Buson was Masaoka

Shiki ( 1867-1902 ) who presented pictures of everyday situations.

Haiku is but one type of Japanese poetry, based on syllabic count.

It consists of three lines, arranged in a five, seven, five, syllable form.

Each completed poem contains a seventeen syllable total.

The purpose of Haiku, is to provide a picture without completeness. The last two lines
comment upon the first, yet they are independent of the first line. This separateness
should be as two poles, between

which a spark must leap to be effective. The reader must complete the

poem by supplying memories, which connect the two poles.

Matsuo Basho, was the first master of Haiku. During his lifetime

( 1644-1694) he studied Zen Buddhism, which accounts for his concentration of

mystical awareness in Haiku. The next master was

Taniguchi Buson ( 1715-1783 ), who wrote of nature and used correlating vignettes. The
modem follower of Basho and Buson was Masaoka

Shiki ( 1867-1902 ) who presented pictures of everyday situations.

Japanese poetry provides circumstance, by which people seek consolation. This

accompaniment involves nature, loneliness, and poverty.

The reader must supply the inclinations, to complete each connotation

effectively.

Autumn 1680

Matsuo Bashō has by the autumn of 1680 now achieved fame. Moreover, he has just
moved from Edo across the Sumida River to the Fukagawa neighborhood where he
lives in a simple hut with a new banana tree, a gift from a student. A bridge had yet to
be built across the river.

At the age of 36 Bashō was experiencing what we would call a Mid-Life crisis, he was
cut off, dissatisfied, and lonely. In a couple of years he would begin his epic journey to
the North. But for now, he took up the practice of Zen meditation, but it seems not to
have calmed his mind.

This haiku has more than 30 published and hundreds of online translations. Why so
many variations? Why so many attempts?
Zen

The answer, I suppose, lies in Zen’s ineffability. For Zen’s essence is to understand
directly Life’s Meaning, without being misled by language. Life is what we view directly,
no more, no less.

Bashō sees a crow perched upon a withered branch. It is autumn, more precisely, an
autumn evening as the dusk settles in and darkness descends. The air is still or
perhaps there is a gentle breeze. Then a crow stops upon a withered branch. Its crow
and tree become one color against the ever deepening blue of the evening sky.

Bashō, like the crow, stops for a moment. And in that suspended moment this haiku is
formed.

The Crow, 烏, Karasu

Do I need to say that the crow is a bad omen? In Japan, there is a belief that if a crow
settles on the roof of a house and begins cawing, a funeral will soon follow. Did the
gloomy Bashō foresee his own death? Did Basho in his own unique way presage Yates
who wrote, “An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick.” Is there not
a little of Edgar Allen Poe’s Raven to be heard tapping at one’s door?

A melancholy thought, for which I have little to add other than that I love the repetition of
the “k” throughout the haiku which must bring to mind the cawing that Bashō must
have heard.