Old Pond - Bashō

When I first began discovering haiga, renga, and waka poetry, books on these subjects invariably referred to master poet Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉) as the father of haiku, whose most fameous poem was Old Pond .

In 1686 Bashō included  Old Pond in the book Frog Contest (kawazu awase) so you might naturally suspect the poem to conjure images of a frog, jumping, and an old pond - Bashō does not disappoint.

This haiku of Bashō's was indeed a masterpiece.  The poem evokes a beautiful serene moment, a simple motion, and a sound which breaks the silence.

"Old Pond"	Poet: Bashō
English	Japanese
Old pond a frog jumps the sound of water .	Furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto .

Here is the Haiga painted by Bashō - he also inscribed the calligraphy.
(click on picture)

Such a poem, once it has become famous, can have unpredictable ripple affects!

Ripple Affect:  100 years after Bashō created Old Pond, it remained so famous that many people wanted paintings of Bashō to also include his poem, which would then be added by a professional calligrapher.  Some calligraphers however refused to "subjugate" their art by providing such highly commercial services while others begrudgingly accepted the commissions.

So, around the year 1800 Suzuki Nanrei painted just such a picture of Bashō, then asked scholar/ calligrapher Kameda Bōsai to inscribed Old Pond onto it. 

Instead of refusing the job, Nanrei  tweaked the poem, just a little, then inked it onto the painting.  Nanrei obviously had a wry sense of humor; here is what he wrote:

Old pond

after jumping
no frog!

I'm not sure who would hang this one on their wall, but here it is:
(click on picture)

Incidentally, I also like the following translation by Nobuyuki Yuasa:

Breaking the silence
Of an ancient pond
A frog jumped into water—
A deep resonance

References I used for his post primarily were:
1.  The narrow road to the Deep North, and other travel sketches
2.  Haiga : Takebe Sōchō and the Haiku-painting tradition