a glimpse of the cosmic dance

Furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto

Matsuo Bashô

31 english translations of Bashô's famous frog haiku

Seitei (Shotei) Watanabe 1851-1918 - Two Frogs in a Pond

Frog Haiku Memorial, Tokyo

When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the “newness,” the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance.

Thomas Merton

Seishi from Stefan Werc on Vimeo.

Video by Stefan Werc, Performed by Daisuke Yoshimoto