Matsuo Basho, Free verse on Basho themes
January 2026

I spend a winter day hunkered down. I draw a picture of Mt. Fuji on a piece of paper. I compose a poem. The cold wind sings a song of sorrow. A rat finds the ice is bitter. My tea is cold. I listen to a distant bell on the hour. Across the river lies Edo. The snow falls on the bridge that is newly built. People hurry home. An insect sings his final song in the winter garden. The moon fades as I watch. A muffled voice, a sweet song within the palanquin passing on the way to the mountain castle. Where are the warriors in shining armor. The cold of winter, this winter night. A life of peace. Goodnight.

mono no aware, 物の哀れ, the pathos of small things.

Here is a Basho haiku I have not previously come across.

京に飽きて
この木枯や
冬住ひ
Kyō ni akite / kono kogarashi ya / fuyuzumai

I tire of city life,
I long to hear the cold wind whisper —
I retreat to my winter cottage.
.
Tired of this city,
I hear the cold wind calling,
I seek my cottage

— Matsuo Basho, Kyoto, 1691

Composed in the autumn of 1691. Either the cold wind whispers or it calls Basho back to Edo and his humble cottage. It would be his last trip home to Edo. What was home to Basho. First, Ueno where he was born, then the castle where he served his master. Then to Kyoto to study. Then Edo. Then the road itself, as a wandering poet. like Saiygo…

Yamanashi explains: It has been two years since Basho and Sora completed the journey, Oku no Hosomichi (1689). Preparing the book to be, Matsuo Basho has grown tired of Kyoto. He wishes to return to Edo… I long for a rural life where I can hear the cold wind whisper. Or, more likely, when I hear the cold wind call, I long to return.

A greeting poem to the samurai, Suganuma Gon’emon (haiku name, Kōgetsu).

京に飽きて, Kyōni akite, literally, at (に) Kyoto (京), I am bored.

You can also read Gabi Greve’s slightly different translation and explanation.