Long Matsuo Poems

Long Matsuo Poems. Below are the most popular long Matsuo by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Matsuo poems by poem length and keyword.


Origins of Bamboo Night

Bamboo Night origins - Story behind the epic haiku poem “Bamboo Night”

It is a tribute poem to Matsuo Basho.   In 1674, December 20th. The 354th. day of the year. It was a Thursday if I remember correctly; The epic haiku poem takes place in the solitude of the bamboo forest in Ueno Japan at precisely 2:35 am near where the Sumida and Ara Rivers meet in the dead of night and depths of Winter. A handful of twinkling stars fight their way through scattered gray clouds. A soft light breeze holds tiny snow flakes suspended, then lands them ever so gently on solid green bamboo shoots and related surfaces in absolute silence, in absolute cold, with no one around to witness the solemn event. There are no discernible sounds at all in the dark green forest.
A perfectly round moon stands up above totally remote, hovering, suspended in time, an inanimate gray white object almost bright, frozen on the distance, settles, shines down, just to the northwest of the regions coldest location. Some snow flakes land temporarily, shake in a frenzy on the soft wind, to hold on but are lifted again off the surface of the bamboo, drift away silently into oblivion. Certain flakes remain intact on the green, pretend to be green. By dawn they turn, in an ever so slower process, into a clear liquid, evaporate in the mist of morning. The conditions are verging on warmth but are still too cold to be called warm. The snow then begins to disappear forever, one tiny flake at a time. Some white remains but mostly green is seen at the dawn of day. Calm and silence can be soothing under the shimmering stars and tranquil frozen moon. Snow becomes a memory by high noon. By December 21st. evening, new snow comes forth from sleeping clouds, to repeat the cycle once more in Ueno forest.

                                   Bamboo Night - Haiku

melting by star light
slow, tranquil, solemn moon cold
snow on bamboo white
Form: Verse


Premium Member HOKKU to HIKU a historical sketch -and translation test

So Japanese
was
the Hokku

  'til the master
came into view

then via Haikai

 on
along  the way

Matsuo Munefusa
  aka
    Bashó
   mastered 
 haiku
a phonetical&cultural
 'onji' *(in sound symbols)
came to be

  traditionally
per·pen·dicu·lar
 as a single line
        in particular


now
HIKU * in English
  to me  or you

  *Hiku is the English language tristich (three line) version(including translations)with similar economy of words  including the THOUGHT PAUSE prompt (often indicated by an ellipsis .....the SENSE PAUSE the aesthetic point of insight flowing from perception & ONE BREATH LENGTH to correspond to the aforementioned Japanesese 17 onji sounds.
The essence without "telling all" (thereby to ' show ' conforming to the key of all  true imagist poetry),&avoids  'as'&'to' & the use of past tense verbs (& is often without verbs,adverbs,adjectives )A verse freed from strict syllabic constraint within its triplicity of format& is inherently enigmatic & often with a caesura and surprise ending( VERSUM )to give a 'turning' to the line.The hiku maybe a horizontal  single* line,(often  broken at the caesura),a vertical line(usually a painting(haiga see note) ,a couplet** or a tristich***
Form: Didactic

Matsuo Basho: English translations of Haiku about Winter 2

Matsuo Basho: English translations of Haiku about winter, cold, rain, rains, frost, frosts, snow, snowflakes, wind, children, childhood, hail, hail stones, winter life. 

Mushroom-gathering,
rushing to beat
cold evening rains.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Ceremonious
hailstones
assail my hinoki hat.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Caught hatless
in a winter shower?
So it goes.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

How many frosts
have tested
this pine’s mettle?
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

A winter drizzle
obscures
the field’s freshcut stubble.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The drinkers’ faces
paler than the snow:
a flash of lightning.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The polished mirror
clear as snowflake petals.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The relentless wind
sharpens rocks and stones,
topples cedars.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Cold fear
desolate as a deserted
frost-crusted shack.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

How marvelous,
the winter snow
will return as rain.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Children come running,
dodging jewels:
hailstones.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

At least the world has left,
unblemished and unbegrimed,
a single wooden bowl.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The bowl in question had been left by Rotsu in Osaka, and was returned undamaged seven years later. Rotsu was a Basho disciple.

The mud snail’s closed lid:
winter confinement.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Inside my hut,
watching my own breath:
winter confinement.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

So weary of Kyoto,
of the withering wind
and winter life.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I will soon be included
among the fortunate ones:
beyond winter.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Form: Haiku

Premium Member STRAND REVIEW Sep 13

Sarumino -BASHO MONKEYS RAINCOAT is unique in Renku ,the ancient collaborative form(36 stanza linked verse poems)with examples from Basho(and his disciples...)namely Winters First shower/Summer moon/Katydid/and Plum young herbs, considered to the most typical of Basho's mature style conveying his attitude to life & compiled during his 1689 'Back Roads' pilgrimage ,the translator/editor adds both a cultural commentary for each stanza therein and an index of informative notes thereto


A haikuist was Matsuo Basho
his masterwork,Kasen *you know
He practiced this long poetic sequence
a 36 stanza poem recited in length

*www.jstor.org/stable/2718744

Matsuo Basho: English translations of Haiku about Summer 2

Matsuo Basho: English translations of haiku about summer, trees, firefly, fireflies, cuckoos, rice fields, rice paddies, bush-clover, Iris, Irises, temple, temples, Japanese culture, light, daylight, lit, boat, boats.

Fireflies
turn our trees
into well-lit lodges.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

A noontime firefly,
dim by daylight,
hides behind a pillar.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Firefly watching,
the tipsy boatman
rocks the boat.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Rising above fields of rice and barley,
the cry of the summer cuckoo.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Tedious life!
Plowing the rice field
back and forth...
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Lying in the summer grass,
discarded like a king’s robe,
the snakeskin.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The shrubby bush-clover?
How impudent
her appearance!
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Glistening dew
sways without spilling
from the bush-clover.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I bow low
to the venerable
rabbit-eared Iris.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Rabbit-eared Iris,
pausing to chit-chat,
one joy of my journey.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The rabbit-eared iris
inspires
another hokku.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Rabbit-eared Iris,
admiring your reflection?
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Inside Uchiyama,
unknown to outsiders,
blossoms full-bloom.
—Matsuo Basho, translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Uchiyama was a temple little-known to the outside world. In fact, uchi means “inside.”
Form: Haiku


Premium Member I Write

Mr. Matsuo Basho
danced his words with delight
making better poets of us all.


Here I sit pen and paper in my hand
Mind is like a tornado whirling around and around
Many letters and words I need to find.


Today my computer and I have a really hot date,
typing out all the words I want to say.
Saying what I want to say,
is not always so easy.
Sometimes good for all to hear,
sometimes bad~naughty.
Sometimes happy~hooray,
sometimes sad and I want to cry.
Sometimes oh so serious,
sometimes, funny as can be.
Here I sit writing away,
I do it each new day just for you.



Date Written: 4/25/2022 

1 Place 

POEM ON POETRY MUSEContest Judged:4/29/2022  
Sponsored by:Beata Agustin 

Note: Mr. Matsuo Basho Lived 1644 to 1694.
I took 3 poems blended and added to make 1 new write.

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