The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches
Matsuo Bashō
Top 10 Best Quotes
“When a country is defeated, there remain only mountains and rivers, and on a ruined castle in spring only grasses thrive. I sat down on my hat and wept bitterly till I almost forgot time. A thicket of summer grass Is all that remains Of the dreams and ambitions Of ancient warriors.”
“Days and months are travellers of eternity. So are the years that pass by. Those who steer a boat across the sea, or drive a horse over the earth till they succumb to the weight of years, spend every minute of their lives travelling. There are a great number of ancients, too, who died on the road. I myself have been tempted for a long time by the cloud-moving wind - filled with a strong desire to wander.”
“It is only a barbarous mind that sees other than the flower, merely an animal mind that dreams of other than the moon.”
“Searching for the scent of the early plum, I found it by the eaves Of a proud storehouse.”
“Here is a greedy man who keeps to himself The beautiful pears ripe in his garden.”
“Had I crossed the pass Supported by a stick, I would have spared myself The fall from the horse.”
“The River Mogami has drowned Far and deep Beneath its surging waves The flaming sun of summer”
“Many things of the past Are brought to my mind, As I stand in the garden Staring at a cherry tree.”
“From long ago, many place names have been preserved in poetry and passed down to us; but hillsides slide into rivers and are swept away; roads are rebuilt, and stones vanish, buried beneath earth; old trees wither, replaced by saplings; times change, generations diverge, and traces of the past are lost in uncertainty. Here, however, at a stone memorial undoubtedly a thousand years old, the ancients stood before my eyes, and I peered into their hearts. This is one of the rewards of a pilgrimage, one of the joys of being alive; forgetting the drudgery of the road, I simply wept.”
“Coming home at last At the end of the year I wept to find My old umbilical cord.”
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Book Keywords:
pears, death, fall, travelling, endings, scent, horse, time, greed, travel-quotes, spring, haiku, nature, change, defeat, travel-writing, garden, plum, poetry, weeping, japanese-literature, basho, travel, matsuo-basho
