214Haiku 俳句
梅が香にのつと日の出る山路かな
うめがかにのっとひのでるやまじかなUme ga ka ni notto hi no deru yamaji kana
“Plum blossom scent — and suddenly the sun appears on the mountain path.”
The meaning
Scent first, light after: morning arrives by successive surprises. The poem keeps intact the raw joy of a day's beginning.
At the origin
A haiku from Bashō's final year (1694), famous for its "notto" — the sudden rising.
The characters
- 梅 umeplum tree
- が gaof (possessive)
- 香 kascent
- に
- のつと
- 日
- の
- 出る
- 山路
- かな
がParticleMarks the subject: the one who does, or what is.
In practice
Tomorrow morning, let the day surprise you instead of starting it at a run.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 212 山路来て何やらゆかしすみれ草 Mountain path — something quietly moving: a wild violet.
- 078 待てば海路の日和あり Wait, and fair weather will come for the crossing.
- 104 山高きが故に貴からず A mountain is not noble because it is tall.
- 106 秋の日は釣瓶落とし The autumn sun drops like a well bucket.
- 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.