Famous Basho Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Basho poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous basho poems. These examples illustrate what a famous basho poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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Wrapping the rice cakes

by Matsuo Basho
 Wrapping the rice cakes,
with one hand
 she fingers back her hair....Read more of this...

Cold night: the wild duck

by Matsuo Basho
 Cold night: the wild duck,
sick, falls from the sky
 and sleeps awhile....Read more of this...

Fleas lice

by Matsuo Basho
 Fleas, lice,
a horse peeing
 near my pillow....Read more of this...

An old silent pond..

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

First day of spring

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

Taking a nap

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

The dragonfly

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

Coolness of the melons

by Matsuo Basho
 Coolness of the melons
flecked with mud
 in the morning dew....Read more of this...

Moonlight slanting

by Matsuo Basho
 Moonlight slanting
through the bamboo grove;
 a cuckoo crying....Read more of this...

In the cicada's cry

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

Spring rain

by Matsuo Basho
 Spring rain
leaking through the roof
 dripping from the wasps' nest....Read more of this...

Four Haiku

by Matsuo Basho
 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...

A monk sips morning tea

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

Bush warbler

by Matsuo Basho
 Bush warbler:
shits on the rice cakes
 on the porch rail....Read more of this...

A cool fall night

by Matsuo Basho
 At a hermitage:

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

When the winter chrysanthemums go

by Matsuo Basho
 When the winter chrysanthemums go,
there's nothing to write about
 but radishes....Read more of this...

This old village

by Matsuo Basho
 This old village--
not a single house
 without persimmon trees....Read more of this...

Heat waves shimmering

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

A field of cotton

by Matsuo Basho
 A field of cotton--
as if the moon
 had flowered....Read more of this...

Blowing stones

by Matsuo Basho
 Blowing stones
along the road on Mount Asama,
 the autumn wind....Read more of this...

First winter rain

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

Winter garden

by Matsuo Basho
 Winter garden,
the moon thinned to a thread,
 insects singing....Read more of this...

Awake at night

by Matsuo Basho
 Awake at night--
the sound of the water jar
 cracking in the cold....Read more of this...

The squid sellers call

by Matsuo Basho
 The squid seller's call
mingles with the voice
 of the cuckoo....Read more of this...

Staying at an inn

by Matsuo Basho
 Staying at an inn
where prostitutes are also sleeping--
 bush clover and the moon....Read more of this...

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