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. に nion
  3. 烏 karasucrow
  4. の
  5. とまりけり
  6. 秋
  7. の
  8. 暮

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