Let's read together 📖 Matsuo Basho's Haiku 300 Day 5.

9. Tanda Sume If you live, even a village becomes a capital Today's moon Tonight's bright moon As long as it's clear, Living here is like being in the capital (1667) 10. Withered and bowed The world is upside down Snow on bamboo (1667) Today's vocabulary: Capital - Miyako Withered - Shiore 9: Haiku usually consists of 17 syllables in a 5-7-5 pattern. Although this poem by Basho, written when he was 23 years old, has only 17 syllables, it demonstrates his skill in manipulating the sounds and meanings of words. The literal translation is roughly "As long as it's clear/Living here is like being in the capital/Today's moon." The phrase "sumeba miyako" (if you live, even a village becomes a capital) is a common proverb in Japan. The wordplay technique known as "kakekotoba" is used in the poem, where "sumeba" and "sumezu" in the first and second lines have the same pronunciation "sume" in Japanese. The word for "today" in the afternoon is pronounced "kyo," which is homophonous with "kyo" meaning "capital" or "city." The poem incorporates the proverbial saying "sumeba miyako" (if you live, even a village becomes a capital; staying somewhere for a long time brings a sense of belonging). Bai Juyi's poem "Chongti" has the line "With a peaceful heart, the body is at ease, the home is in Chang'an." 10: This poem has a preface - "In a household where a child has died." The original Japanese poem consists of 6-7-5 syllables, totaling 18, which breaks the usual pattern of haiku and creates a "broken tone" phrase. Basho occasionally wrote haiku that deviated from the norm. He once told his disciples that if a haiku had three or four extra syllables, or even five or seven, they need not worry as long as they felt the whole poem was good. However, if any syllable felt forced and lacked meaning, they should think and refine it with all their effort.