Kono michi ya!
Yuku hito nashi ni,
Aki no kure.
–Bashō
17th-century pilgrimage poet, Matsuo Bashō, wrote that haunting haiku in the autumn of his travels. The poem’s shape shifts effortlessly in the hands of different translators as they try to walk down Bashō’s road. Here are two of my favorites:
All along this road
not a single soul–only
autumn evening comes
My way–
noone on the road
and it’s autumn, getting dark
Both translations, for me, capture the spirit of the original. I’m only sorry that I can not credit the anonymous translators I found online while tracing Bashō’s footsteps. Even so, I think their translations are beautiful . . . and they’ve inspired me to try my own variation (reinvention?) of the original:
Down this road–alone
silent, solitary, still
watching autumn fall.
Why not share your version of Bashō’s autumn journey with me?
Haiku-doodle 
Good suggestion for a haiku about autumn. What haiku is and isn’t.
BY KIKAKU, A STUDENT OF BASHO’S
DARTING DRAGON-FLY …
TAKE ITS SHINY WINGS, NOW LOOK…
BRIGHT RED PEPPER-POD. KIKAKU
BASHO’S Reply (THAT’S NO HAIKU, HERE):
BRIGHT RED PEPPER-POD …
GIVE IT SHINY WINGS. O, SEE:
BRILLIANT DRAGONFLY. BASHO
Outside, the leaves fall,
Inside, I read, alone, gold
covering the lawn.
Another translation I like (by Makoto Ueda):
The road here —
No traveler comes along
This autumn evening.
My version:
night fall —
and there’s no one
nearby to help
Thanks, Margaret, fun post. 🙂
That’s one of my favorite haiku…the first one I dared to paraphrase myself, too. My version:
Lonely road
No one to greet
This autumn evening.
This looked like fun, so I thought I’d give it a shot:
Alone on this road
Autumn’s darkness all around
Walking in the dark
Thank you, Eric. Basho’s poem has inspired quite a few readers here to try their hands at an interpretation, and I am grateful for them all! Thank you, too, for introducing me to your sites. I love the pictures of bare trees you have up right now, as I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about how I’ll feel once the leaves here finally fall . . .
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