A caterpillar,
this deep in fall—
still not a butterfly.
Notes
Translated by Robert Hass
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I'm laughing at this haiku. Just Sunday I was with my daughter (8 years old)at a farm. As we were just standing around, she spotted a brown and black furry caterpiller crawling towards the road. We found it odd that the little guy had not transformed into a butterfly, and now, Basho's work from the 1600's confirms that he, too, found it strange the caterpiller he saw had not changed. I am hoping Basho's caterpiller had a chance; I think ours got runned over by a car.
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THis has always been one of my favorite poems, it just three short lines it says so much. Basho, I can honestly say, is one of my favorite poets. His words are simple, but say so much. This is an outstanding poem.
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Then there is still hope for us late bloomers? I like Basho's simple but deep insight into both the physical and mental worlds, and then I profit from his humor at the same time. Quite a combination!
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Very simple and yet profound. I am beginning to appreciate his style even more now. This has very nice imagery and the play of words is brilliant! I admire how he inserted a season {kigo} as well in L2, i.e., the season of fall. Really nice!
-Charishma -
nice
magic of words is there. i love his simple style
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