According to a Chinese saying, the fragrance of the plum blossom comes from “winter’s bitter cold,” meaning that hardship makes us better. For Matsuo Basho, a lingering cold snap keeps the fragrance around longer. Two interpretations are given. A third meaning is buried in the alternative meaning of sakana.

The scent of plum blossoms chased back by cold.
The fragrant plum … cold, come back.

梅が香に　追いもどさるる　寒さかな

Ume ga ka ni oimodosaruru samu sa kana

Matsuo Basho, date unknown

Translation note. Ume (plum) ga ka ni (fragrance, odor, smell) oimodosaruru (come or push back) samu (cold) sa kana. Interestingly, sakana is a homophone for “fish” (魚).

In Kansas, flowering trees like Bradford pears (Callery pear) produce beautiful white blossoms that stink like rotting fish.

Spring, when it comes, is delightful, but the North wind is frightful.

It is not yet Spring
Still the birds sing,
Thank God, the Wind stopped

Bashō no yōna, Spring 2023

A cold morning on a mountain path, suddenly the sun rises filling the air with the smell of the plum blossom. This is Matsuo Basho’s last spring.

The fragrant plum and
suddenly the sun appears
on a mountain path! 

梅が香にのつと日の出る山路かな
ume ga ka ni notto hi no deru yamaji kana
ume ga ka ni no tsuto hi no deru yamaji ka na

Matsuo Basho, Spring 1694

Translation note. ume (plum) ga ka (smell of) ni (upon, implying that the smell of the plum and the sun arrive together) no tsuto (suddenly) hi no deru (sun appears, sunrise) yamaji (mountain path) kana (emphasis)