By the summer of 1694, Basho was not feeling well and he knew the end was near. As if to sum up his life, he wrote this haiku.
making my way in life, in a small rice patch, back and forth . 世を旅に代かく小田の行戻り yo o tabi ni shiro kaku oda no yuki modori — Matsuo Basho, late summer, 1694
As you like it:
traveling this world, a lifetime working a rice patch, back and forth — Bashō no yōna, Thoughts on Basho while walking, Summer 2025
世を旅に
Yo o tabi ni
making my way in life,
代かく小田の
shiro kaku oda no
in a small rice patch
行戻り
yuki modori
back and forth
Back and forth, Sowing and reaping, Seeking answers never found. — Bashō no yōna, Thoughts on the Dao, 2025
Matsuo Basho wrote this haiku in the summer of the 7th year of the Genroku era. It is 1694, the year Basho’s life would come to an end.
A spark of lightning in my hands in the darkness — this paper candle . 稲妻を . 手にとる闇の . 紙燭哉 inazuma o . te ni toru yami no . shisoku kana — Matsuo Basho, June (?), 1694
It was 1694, the last year of Matsuo Basho’s life. I suppose without knowing for sure, it was summer and raining. Matsuo Basho sat up late, writing by the light of a lamp. Perhaps, the lamp light went out, then lightning, then Basho lit a paper candle to find his way in the darkness.
For me, it is in the middle of June, early morning and raining. My dog Lucy hides in a corner in the closet, afraid of the thunder and lightning. Why, I wonder?
Gentle Reader:
You may disagree with my translation. You may draw other conclusions. This is reasonable for haiku are meant to be personal. Like the way my dog Lucy reacts to the lightning and thunder.
Inazuma (稲妻) translates to “lightning,” or “flash of lightning,” that is, the cosmic spark of divinity that lights up the sky at night. As a metaphor, it symbolizes the ability to cut through ignorance and delusion, the way a lightning bolt illuminates the darkness. Buddhism expresses the thought as a transitory moment. I see, but only for a moment.
Then comes the phrase te ni toru yami no (手にとる闇の) which means “take the darkness in your hands.” This is followed by shisoku kana (紙燭哉), meaning a small paper candle or torch. Lacking matches, the Japanese of Basho’s time, lit these paper candles from another source then carried them about to either light the way or illuminate a lamp.
As an aside, let me quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” So, dear friend, be the light and not the darkness.
Before he left Edo for the last time, Matsuo Basho’s disciple Shisan (子珊) gave him a going-away party.
紫陽草や薮を小庭の別座敷 ajisai ya yabu o koniwa no betsu zashiki
among the bushes and hydrangea — a little garden off the tatami room — Matsuo Basho, May, 1694
Ajisai
“Say it with flowers.” An advertising slogan by florists
Asked by the host to begin the festivities with a haiku, Basho wrote about hydrangea. In Japanese culture, the pretty blue, white, and pink flower is associated with the emotions of gratitude and apology. An emperor, the story goes, gave a blue hydrangeas to the family of the girl he loved as an apology for neglecting her and show how much he really cared for her.
After the party Matsuo Bashō left Edo for the last time, spending time in Ueno, the town where he was born, and Kyoto, where he had been a student, before heading to Osaka. In November, surrounded by friends and disciples, he passed away.
Matsuo Basho’s remains were then interred at the Gichū-ji a Buddhist temple in Ōtsu on the southern shore of Lake Biwa. Just to the north of Lake Biwa is quiet Lake Yogo which features thousands of hydrangea bushes.
Ajisai (hydrangea) ya . yabu (bush) o koniwa (small, little) no . betsu (extra, separate) zashiki (tatami room)
Zashiki (座敷) a tatami room, akin to a sitting room, a parlor, with woven tatami mats made of rush grass.
Let us set the stage with the death poem of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), who brought order to a warring Japan:
like dew dropping down, like dew, then disappearing could that be me — maybe all that I’ve done in Osaka, a dream within a dream — Tototomi Hideyoshi 豊臣 秀頼, 1598
露と落ち 露と消えにし 我が身かな 難波のことは 夢のまた夢 tsuyu to ochi / tsuyu to kienishi / waga mi kana / naniwa no koto wa / yume no mata yume — 豊臣 秀頼, 1598
Then, Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川 家康 (1543-1616), who brought peace for a very long time.
Happy I am To wake up again And want to sleep some more
To dream of a floating world And the sky at dawn — Tokugawa Ieyasu (1616)
嬉しやと 二度覚めて 一眠り うき世の夢は 暁の空
Ureshi ya to/ Futatabi same te/ Hito-nemuri/ Ukiyo no yume ha/ Akatsuki no sora — 徳川 家康, 1616
Then, too, we have our beloved Matsuo Basho 松尾 芭蕉, who died on the road.
sick on my journey, dreams on a withered field go wandering
旅に病んで 夢は枯野を かけ廻る tabi ni yande/ yume wa kareno wo/ kakemeguru — Matsuo Basho, Death Haiku, 1694
Or, if you like,
sick on my journey dreams lost in a barren field running, round and round
On Death
What got me thinking of death today?
Was it Shakespeare who gave the doomed King Richard II this speech?
Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs; Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth,
Let’s choose executors and talk of wills: And yet not so, for what can we bequeath Save our deposed bodies to the ground? … — William Shakespeare, King Richard II
Was it the fact it has been too hot for late September. That last night it stormed and rained, and this morning the clouds remain?
Whatever it was, let’s leave it at that, … And live! — Bashō no yōna, Fall, 2024
October 9, 1694, from Oi Nikki, the Backpack Diaries, Near the End
The scent of chrysanthemums, In Nara, Ancient Buddhas 菊の香や奈良には古き仏たち kiku no kaya . Nara ni wa . furuki hotoketachi
Matsuo Basho, October 9, 1694
[kiku no kaya (the smell of chrysanthemums) . Nara ni wa (in Nara) . furuki hotoke tachi (ancient Buddhas)]
Nara was the 8th century capital of Japan. Today it is known as the home to the Todai-ji Temple and the statue of the Great Buddha (Daibutsu-sama).
In China, as well as Japan, the chrysanthemum is a symbol of autumn, flower of the ninth moon, symbol of longevity. Chrysanthemum throne is the name given to the Imperial throne and symbol of the emperor. Chrysanthemum Day is the ninth day of the ninth moon. A chrysanthemum petal placed in a glass of wine was thought to prolong life.
Matsuo Basho was nearing his end. He died in Osaka on November of 1694.
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