218Haiku 俳句
雲の峰幾つ崩れて月の山
くものみねいくつくずれてつきのやまKumo no mine ikutsu kuzurete tsuki no yama
“How many cloud peaks have crumbled away — and here, the mountain under the moon.”
The meaning
All day, mountains of cloud built themselves and fell apart; at night, the real mountain remains beneath the moon. Agitations pass, the essential stays.
At the origin
Composed by Bashō at Mount Gassan during his northern journey (1689).
The characters
- 雲 kumoclouds
- の noof (linking)
- 峰 minepeaks
- 幾つ
- 崩れて
- 月
- の
- 山
のParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.
In practice
When evening comes, tell apart what crumbled from what remains.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 101 月に叢雲、花に風 Over the moon, gathering clouds; over blossoms, wind.
- 168 菜の花や月は東に日は西に Field of rapeseed — the moon in the east, the sun in the west.
- 067 歳月人を待たず The years wait for no one.
- 104 山高きが故に貴からず A mountain is not noble because it is tall.
- 108 月日は百代の過客にして The days and months are travelers of a hundred generations.