KANAE
216Haiku 俳句

枯朶に烏のとまりけり秋の暮

Kareeda ni karasu no tomarikeri aki no kure

“On a bare branch a crow has settled — autumn evening.”

Attributed to Matsuo Bashō · Edo

The meaning

Three strokes of ink: a branch, a bird, the evening. Nothing else — and everything is there. Bareness can hold more than abundance.

At the origin

One of the founding haiku of Bashō's style (1680).

The characters

  1. 枯朶 kareedabare branch
  2. nion
  3. karasucrow
  4. とまりけり

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

ParticleThe point of arrival: a place, a moment, a destination.

In practice

Describe your day in only three strokes: what essential remains?

Themes

In the collections · Yohaku, Aki, Haijin

Similar proverbs

Related expressions

See also