Many scholars agree that “Old Pond” (1686) by Matsuo Bashō is one of the most—if not the most—famous haiku of all time. The term “haiku” translates as “play verse,” and though “Old Pond” appears whimsical and simple—a frog jumping into water and the subsequent splash—Bashō utilizes various literary devices such as key words and onomatopoeia to ensure this three-line poem is both didactic and enjoyable. “Old Pond” is instructional, especially for its use of common haiku tropes like a set syllabic pattern and nature imagery, and enjoyable because there are myriad translations and analyses of this deceptively straightforward poem. This study guide references the translation by Robert Hass, a former US Poet Laureate.

Poet Biography

Bashō (1644-1694) is a Japanese poet famous for his mastery of haiku—a poetic form he helped popularize. Born in the 17th century as Matsuo Kinsaku near what is now Kyoto, Japan, Bashō first became acquainted with literature by serving at Ueno Castle for a minor lord. After leaving Ueno Castle, Bashō studied under the renowned poet Kigin. Around this time, he began exploring Taoism and Chinese poetry and became involved with writing collaborative poetry known as haikai no renga (a popular form of Japanese linked verse); it is from this collaborative poetry that haiku was born. Poets took the first portion of the renga, called the hokku (a verse with three unrhymed lines containing five, seven, and five syllables) and made it a standalone poem focusing on nature. Bashō published his haiku in several anthologies under differing pseudonyms.

Bashō later moved to Tokyo (then called Edo), where he received a student’s gift of Bashō trees from which his most known pseudonym derives. He joined the city’s burgeoning literary community and began incorporating Zen Buddhism into his poetry. One day a fire destroyed Bashō’s home (and much of Tokyo), so he set out to travel the world by foot. This action resulted in Bashō creating a new form of writing linking poetry and prose in a reflective form of travel writing known as haibun. Haibun contain haiku interspersed with the writer’s thoughts. Bashō’s Oku no Hosomichi, or Narrow Road to the Interior (published posthumously in 1702), is his most popular haibun. Narrow Road to the Interior documents the five months-long journey Bashō undertook with his disciple Sora, which weaves literary references from other poets into its musings on nature, time, silence, travel, and lightness. Bashō revised Narrow Road up until his death in 1694.

Poem Text

Furuike ya

kawazu tobikomu

mizu no oto

- Bashō

Word-For-Word Translation

Fu-ru (old) i-ke (pond) ya,

ka-wa-zu (frog) to-bi-ko-mu (jumping into)

mi-zu (water) no o-to (sound)

- Translated by Fumiko Saisho

Translation

The old pond-

a frog jumps in,

sound of water.

- Translated by Robert Hass

Bashō, Matsuo. "The Old Pond." 1686. Poem Hunter.

Summary

The haiku’s first line, “the old pond-” (Line 1), sets the scene by focusing on the pond itself, while the middle, longer line, “a frog jumps in” (Line 2), introduces the poem’s action when a lone frog jumps into the pond. The last line, “sound of water” (Line 3), shifts attention from sight to sound as the frog splashes into the pond’s water.